Your Spring Cleaning Could Freshen a Person’s Life

It’s finally getting nice outside. But you could feel even nicer on the inside by giving household goods to people in need. With the spring cleaning season upon us, there’s no better time to clean out those closets and donate your unwanted items – especially housewares.

The Salvation Army Harbor Light Shelter in Minneapolis needs your new or used kitchen supplies, bedding, towels, toiletries and other household items for men and women in its Rapid Exit program.  

Rapid Exit aims to get people into permanent housing soon after they arrive at Harbor Light for the first time. Onsite case workers help eligible men and women find a permanent place to live and can often provide assistance with application fees, deposits and other expenses.
 
“We try to catch people in the first 90 days, before their stay here goes on and on,” said Harbor Light Business Administrative Assistant Bethany Tjornhom.

Rapid Exit began in January. The first person to use the program was an Indiana woman who moved to Minnesota but could not find work. She eventually found a job at a fast-food restaurant, but had no place to sleep other than Harbor Light.

“Right away our case workers found her a place to live,” Tjornhom said. “Now she has an even better job. I asked her what she would have done without Rapid Exit. She said, ‘I’d still be at Harbor Light.’”

It is people like this who need your help. “Your donation of household goods will bless these men and women with some of the ‘little things’ they need to get their lives back on track,” said Major Darryl Leedom, commander of the Twin Cities Salvation Army. “Please support this noble and worthwhile effort.”

To help, please contact Bethany Tjornhom at 612-767-3119 or by email at Bethany.Tjornhom@usc.salvationarmy.org. 

Rapid Exit is a joint effort between the Twin Cities Salvation Army, Simpson Housing Services and Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.