It appears that greed is at the root of an unconscionable act being perpetrated by one of the largest charitable organizations in this country. This past Tuesday, lawyers for the Salvation Army acting like hard nosed, heartless Scrooges hand-delivered 30-day eviction notices and had the process filmed for legal evidence. Women are being evicted from buildings which had been "donated to the Salvation Army decades ago specifically to provide housing for women of modest income."
In They need Salvation from Army by Juan Gonzalez writes:
The Salvation Army, the second-largest charity in America, is quietly evicting nearly 200 women, many of them elderly and low-income, from a pair of 18-story Manhattan buildings...Tenant leaders at the two single-room occupancy hotels...say officials from the charity have been harassing them for months and have already frightened many long-term residents into moving out.
Please read more below the jump.
Is this move on the part of the Salvation Army driven by greed? According to the article by Juan Gonzalez, the sale of the two Manhattan buildings could yield approximately $200 million:
You would think the charity had enough money, considering they got a $1.5 billion grant a few years ago from Joan Kroc, widow of McDonald's magnate Ray Kroc. The money was earmarked to build 25 community centers around the country, DeBuys said.
But now the Salvation Army says it must raise more money to operate those centers, one of which will be on Staten Island.
A Democractic woman is on the case:
State Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan), a former tenant advocate, says the Salvation Army is callously trying to cash in on Manhattan's sizzling real estate market. She claims the group is taking advantage of the charity's exemption from rent-stabilization laws. Those laws would normally give tenants certain protections from eviction in a building sale.
They need Salvation from the Army
Doing the Most Good? That's the slogan posted on first page that comes up when you select the first link by searching google for "Salvation Army". They're asking for donations to help the Gulf Coast. Doing the most good for the nearly 200 women they're evicting in Manhattan? Not so much.
Here are some numbers that I found:
- Melissa Temme, Spokeswoman for The Salvation Army
703-519-5890
Melissa_Temme AT usn DOT salvationarmy.org
- National number to donate or volunteer: 1-800-SAL-ARMY
- Milwaukee Salvation Army: 414-302-4300
- Omaha Salvation Army: 402-898-5908
I first learned about this unsettling story on this morning's edition of Democracy Now!, and was surprised not to find a diary about it here on Daily Kos.
````
peace