Cleveland, Tennessee’s Salvation Army has come up with a way for the homeless community to protect their person property.
The Salvation Army in Cleveland is doing that with outdoor, weatherproof lockers that are built into the back side of their building. So, if it rains or snows, there is a safe place for their friends without homes to put their belongings.
“They love having a place where they know something can be secured. They do not have to drag it around with them all day,” Ruthie Forgey said.
One of the things Ruthie Forgey the Core Officer for the Salvation Army has noticed over the years while working with the homeless is that they do not have a place to keep their belongings.
“When it rains and they have a sleeping bag, that sleeping bag or blanket gets wet they have no option but to throw it away. In the winter time that is a hardship. Also, if they have backpacks, which that most of them do, they get stolen a lot and they also get wet when it rains,” Forgey said.
That led Forgey to come up with the idea of the free lockers.
She said that will reduce the Salvation Army of having to replace sleeping bags, backpacks, IDs, and birth certificates multiple times a year.
The process to has taken over a year to make everything possible and weeks ago it became reality.
“We got them up and now as you can see behind me, they have pad locks on them, they are combination locks so they do not have to keep up with a key and they are able and just big enough for a sleeping bag, backpack, and some other personal items,” Forgey said.
The lockers can be reserved until a person is housed.
Anyone without a home can request a locker and there's an agreement that has to be signed.
One of the rules is not keeping any illegal drugs, weapons, or alcohol inside of the lockers.
“Also, that they will respect the space and keep them cleaned up. They can't write on them, graffiti, or any of that stuff. Also, they are aware that we can enter those lockers at any point that we want to. About once a month or so we will have the police department to come down with drug dogs to make sure we are protecting the integrity of the lockers and keep our people safe,” Forgey said.
As of now there are 20 lockers, additional ones will be added over time.
