/R E P E A T -- One Year Later, The Dignity Project Continues to Make a Difference/

The Salvation Army Offering Innovative Ways and New Programs

TORONTO, March 20, 2012 /CNW/ - Today, The Salvation Army is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the launch of The Dignity Project, which is designed to educate and inform the public about the challenges facing society's most vulnerable people.

Last March, The Salvation Army launched this initiative with the release of a report, The Dignity Project: Debunking Myths about Poverty in Canada, which explored common misconceptions regarding poverty. The report was supplemented with a series of events across Canada that were designed to inspire and educate the public about what it means to live in poverty.

"Over the last year The Salvation Army has made significant strides towards its goal of putting a sense of dignity within reach for the three million Canadians living in poverty today," said Graham Moore, Public Relations & Development Secretary for The Salvation Army in Canada & Bermuda. "As we recognize the one-year anniversary of launching The Dignity Project, we acknowledge that our work is far from over and we will continue to innovate to ensure that providing a sense of dignity to our clients remains a priority."

During the past 12 months, The Salvation Army, has started a variety of unique social service programs to meet client needs in new ways. Some of these services include:

• Sally's Community Kitchen in Sussex, N.B. which teaches single moms and others to learn how to live within their budgets and provide healthy meals for their families.
  
  
• The New Hope Community Centre in Newfoundland offers a 12-week retail skills employment training program boosting participant's self-esteem and giving them confidence to succeed in the workplace.
  
  
• A bus riding course offered by The Salvation Army in Hamilton teaches people with developmental and cognitive disabilities how to use the bus, promoting independence and restoring dignity.
  
  
• In Winnipeg, The Salvation Army offers a new driver-training program for immigrants that is designed to make their lives easier, especially for those with a language barrier.
  
  
• Fireside Addiction Services is a new Salvation Army clinic in Chilliwack, B.C. that provides an intensive six-week program with group and individual therapy.

"Throughout 2012, The Salvation Army will continue to develop and support new programs that promote dignity, including the opening of The Salvation Army Barbara Mitchell Family Resource Centres in Winnipeg and Calgary that will be funded through a generous donation from The W. Garfield Weston Foundation," said Moore. "These new centres will provide a variety of much needed services to people of all backgrounds and languages enabling them to overcome barriers such as lower education levels, limited work experience and a lack of employment skills."

As the largest nongovernmental service provider in Canada, The Salvation Army provides direct, compassionate, hands-on service to more than 1.7 million people across the country each year, restoring hope and dignity to the most vulnerable in society. As an international Christian church that welcomes everyone, The Salvation Army's faith motivates its mission to serve and treat everyone with dignity and respect.

Learn more at www.SalvationArmy.ca

About The Salvation Army:
The Salvation Army is an international Christian organization that began its work in Canada in 1882 and has grown to become the largest non-governmental direct provider of social services in the country. The Salvation Army gives hope and support to vulnerable people today and everyday in 400 communities across Canada and more than 120 countries around the world. The Salvation Army offers practical assistance for children and families, often tending to the basic necessities of life, providing shelter for homeless people and rehabilitation for people who have lost control of their lives to an addiction. When you give to The Salvation Army, you are investing in the future of marginalized and overlooked people in your community.

News releases, articles and updated information can be found at www.SalvationArmy.ca

Andrew Burditt
National Director of Marketing and Communications
The Salvation Army
416-845-8231
[email protected]
www.SalvationArmy.ca