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Never Miss a Chance to Do the Most Good

Please enter your name, email and zip code below to sign up!

Please enter your first name
Please enter your last name
Please enter a valid email address
Please enter a valid zip code

Never Miss a Chance to Do the Most Good

Please enter your name, email and zip code below to sign up!

Please enter your first name
Please enter your last name
Please enter a valid email address
Please enter a valid zip code

Never Miss a Chance to Do the Most Good

Please enter your name, email and zip code below to sign up!

Please enter your first name
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The Salvation Army serves all without discrimination throughout our Nation's Capital Image

The Salvation Army serves all without discrimination throughout our Nation's Capital


We serve all

Every day, we help thousands of people throughout the DMV. We offer unique, local programs, designed to meet the specific needs of each community we serve. Explore the ways we provide services to every ZIP code in the Southern territory or find your nearest location to discover local programming.

The people we serve

Thanks to generous donations The Salvation Army NCAC serves more than 100,000 people living in the nation’s capital region every year. The individuals and families we serve come from variety of backgrounds. Anyone who comes through our doors for assistance are served according to their need and our capacity to help – regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.

The people we employ

The Salvation Army employs people of many different faiths and orientations. Our hiring practices are open to all, and The Salvation Army adheres to all relevant employment laws, providing benefits accordingly.

The Community who supports us

Many people across the community – including those in the LGBTQ+ community support The Salvation Army with time and financial resources helping us to meet the need where the need is greatest. Our common cause and commitment is to serve those in need.

Since its founding more than 153 years ago, The Salvation Army helps families and individuals in crisis every day. We are committed to:

  • Serving ALL people without discrimination
  • Respecting the dignity of each individual we serve
  • Caring for the whole person or family, while addressing their most urgent needs
  • Offering a safe space and compassionate support to young mothers and their children
  • Providing long-term solutions to return people to fulfilling lives

The Salvation Army cannot accomplish its mission on its own.  Our uniformed Officers and professional staff provide solutions to the suffering and isolation of addiction, poverty, and hunger in our community. Together we offer hope and restoration to those in our community who need help the most.

Need HELP for yourself or a loved one?

The Salvation Army offers emergency assistance to families and individuals in every zip code across the region. Click on the GET HELP button for additional information and to get started.

Get Help

For more than 100 years The Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Centers have provided spiritual, social, and emotional assistance for men and women who have lost the ability to cope with their problems and provide for themselves. Centers offer residential housing, work, and group and individual therapy, all in a clean, wholesome environment. The physical and spiritual care that program participants receive prepares them to re-enter society and return to gainful employment. Many of those who have been rehabilitated are reunited with their families and resume a normal life. 

Within the National Capital Area Command, there are two Adult Rehabilitation Centers. Each Center also operates Thrift Stores. The Salvation Army operates a fleet of trucks that pick up donations directly from people's homes to benefit the Thrift Stores. Donations of clothing, furniture, and other household items can be scheduled online at SATruck.org. 

You'll find ARC Thrift Stores and Donation Centers in Hyattsville, Waldorf, Savage, Gaithersburg, Rockville, MD, Alexandria, Manassas, and Woodbridge, Virginia.

 

The Salvation Army Washington Adult Rehabilitation Center 

3304 Kenilworth Ave
Hyattsville, MD 20781

(301) 277-7878

The Salvation Army Northern Virginia/Alexandria Adult Rehabilitation Center

6528 Little River Turnpike
Alexandria, VA 22312

(703) 642-9270

 

 

Visit our website.

Visit our website.

 

Every Christmas there are children who do not receive gifts because their families are struggling financially and cannot afford the expense. The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program has been running for over 40 years to ensure that these children have a wonderful holiday season with their families. The Salvation Army Angel Tree Program is one of the largest in-kind corporate giving programs in the National Capital Area! 

Become a 2023 Angel Tree Sponsor

For questions regarding Angel Tree, please contact: Ruth Mulenga Mwanza, Community Outreach Manager Ruth.Mwanza@uss.salvationarmy.org 202-756-3923

The red shield represents a beacon of compassion; of immediate aid, psychological support, and spiritual counsel to individuals and families whose lives have been disrupted or shattered by forces beyond their control.

Salvation Army disaster services response teams, coordinated and directed by commissioned officers and trained personnel, supported by volunteers, are “on-call” to serve at all disasters and civil disorders that place a community or its populace at risk or which may disrupt or destroy family security and well-being.

Whether it is a local incident or a major disaster, The Salvation Army relief staff and volunteers are often the first on the scene and are some of the last to leave. In most communities in America, The Salvation Army is already at work providing needed assistance with our programs, honoring a century-old commitment to serve those in need at the time of need and at the place of need.

Would you like to volunteer with one of our disaster service teams? Click here to view our volunteer options.

In 1983, The Salvation Army launched a mobile, feeding the homeless, outreach program, to meet the basic needs of the increasing homeless population in Washington D.C. Later named the Grate Patrol, because many of the people being served used sidewalk heating grates for warmth during the cold weather months.

With the help of dedicated volunteers, from more than two dozen local churches and civic organizations, The Salvation Army has been able to offer support to the homeless and hungry. Grate Patrol serves approximately 120-150 evening meals every night of the year.

The Salvation Army employs two full-time drivers and an Outreach Coordinator who keeps the Grate Patrol operation running. The van is equipped with material assistance such as blankets, hats, gloves, hygiene kits, work boots, coats, and other resources. Each “Fresh Start” kit is supplied with basic needs such as body soap, washcloths, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, disposable razors, hand sanitizers or wipes, and first aid items.

Dispensing meals have provided a foundation of trust and respect between the Salvation Army and those in need. However, food alone does not begin to address the root of the problem and factors contributing to living on the streets. Grate Patrol’s Outreach Coordinator maintains an active caseload to help clients meet basic needs, as well as establishing long-term goals to help break the cycle of homelessness. This includes providing help to complete applications for housing, Social Security benefits, veterans’ benefits, medical care, and substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation services. In instances where The Salvation Army cannot provide the necessary service, Grate Patrol clients are referred to other service providers. Often, substance abuse treatments and permanent supportive housing placements are secondary auxiliary problems.

Across the National Capital Area Command, we have Corps and Community Centers in:

Washington, DC:

Maryland:

Virginia:

Breaking the Cycle of the Poverty 

The Salvation Army’s Pathway of Hope’s goal is to prevent the epidemic of homelessness at its root. Rather than treating the symptoms of homelessness, the Salvation Army’s pivotal shift approach wants to solve the long-term issue. We do this by helping families overcome barriers like unemployment, unstable housing, and lack of education. By doing so, we can break the cycle of crisis and vulnerability. This helps lead families down a path of increased stability and ultimately self-sufficiency- a Pathway of Hope that will profoundly affect generations to come.

The Pathway of Hope approach includes:

  • Catalyzing community collaboration in service of shared clients
  • Moving families from crises and vulnerability to stability and eventually self-sufficiency, tracking family progress along the way
  • Bringing all The Salvation Army’s internal resources to bear, aligned to the goals of clients
  • Focus on hope as a measured outcome, which represents the distinctly relational, spiritual outcome that The Salvation Army seeks in the work it does
  • Strengths-based case management services

The Salvation Army Alexandria Citadel Corps Railton Residence, located in Alexandria, VA is a 2-year transitional housing program for men who recently graduated from The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center but are not yet ready to live on their own. Residents are required to take random drug tests, pay minimal rent, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and take part in weekly church services. Each resident receives counseling, financial classes and pastoral care.

Young single mothers across the region face an uphill struggle. The Salvation Army offers these women a partner through Turning Point, a two-year transitional housing program that gives them a safe haven to learn how to live independently and prepares them for the road ahead.

Case management and counseling services help keep them on course, but intensive classes—in budgeting, parenting, and housekeeping, as well as building healthy relationships and preparing for jobs—help them move ahead. Staff members work with the mothers to help them stay in school or employed and to make decisions about their future, and the mothers build a group support system as their families move together through the program.

In a testament to the need for—and success of—the program, more than three times as many mothers apply as the 26 units at Turning Point can hold. Those who graduate credit the life-skills training above all with preparing them for independent living.

Every summer, hundreds of local youth children come to one of Salvation Army’s ten Corps Community Center across the DMV. When there, the children participate in engaging and fun activities, within a safe and nurturing environment. This gives them a sanctuary to learn positive values and important life skills that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Most of these children come from families with a low-income background. These summer days at the Corps Community Centers give them the opportunity to participate in extra-curricular activities. The time spent at these centers allows the children to forget about their current circumstances at home and at school. Instead, they can focus on developing their talents in an enjoyable way. The Salvation Army is creating opportunities for the youth in our community daily.

These extra-curricular activities include music lessons, afterschool homework assistance, and chapter-building scouting programs. In addition, The Salvation Army runs children’s camps in Richardsville, VA over the summer.

For more information about summer camps and our other year-long programming for children, please contact The Salvation Army location near you.

Learning Enrichment Centers 

When Covid-19 began, many parents were left stranded between helping their children through virtual schooling and maintaining a job.  To help these struggling parents, the Salvation Army Corps Community Centers began offering learning enrichment Centers.  These centers allow for parents to drop-off their children for the school day so that they have a safe, fun, and reliable environment to continue school.  To find a Learning Enrichment Center near you, please contact your local Salvation Army office.

Summer Camps

Campers participate in group activities and educational opportunities as well as enjoying the 180 acres of recreational amenities including archery, hiking, swimming, team sports, and a challenge high and low ropes course. Both programs are accredited by the American Camping Association*, a member of the Christian Camp & Conference Association, and participates in the USDA Summer Food Service Program.

The summer camp programs consists of week-long program sessions for children and teens from June through August.

Camp Rappahannock

Located about 70 miles south of Washington, D.C. in Richardsville, Virginia (Culpeper County), Camp Happyland, is a summer destination for youth from communities that the Salvation Army serves in the Washington, D.C. metro area, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Children learn about their faith through an enjoyable outdoor camping experience.

 

Where We Serve

We are The Salvation Army National Area Command, serving communities in Washington DC, Maryland, and Northern Virgina. We are part of the Southern Territory in the United States. The other U.S. territories are: West, East and Central.

See What's Happening at Your Local Salvation Army