The Salvation Army still wants to establish transitional housing in Livingston after initial plans were temporarily put on hold.
The Salvation Army and Genesis House flirted with the idea of building transitional housing in Livingston back in 2023, but Salvation Army Outreach Coordinator Luke Eldridge said the process stopped when the Salvation Army had a change in leadership. Eldridge said the Salvation Army is now preparing to return to the idea. Eldridge said a big piece of the project is funding.
“We are talking about another option to look at getting some more money to do a capital campaign to start putting the vision out there even on, just put it more on paper, put it more on, this is what our vision is over the next few years,” Eldridge said.
Eldridge said it may be tougher to raise funding for the project due to the current economic climate. Eldridge said he is hoping to bring more partners to the table to help get the project off the ground.
“There’s been some change in the direction when it comes to just you know, what we thought we were going to do this, we’ve got to do a little bit more recon, if you will, to land in the appropriate place, because we don’t want to just open something up,” Eldridge said. “We want to make sure the foundation is there, and typically these things take a little bit, and obviously money.”
Eldridge said a partnership with Genesis House is not off the table, as the initial plan was to serve as the next step for individuals in Genesis House. Eldridge said the Salvation Army believes there is still a need for transitional housing in Livingston.
“It’s transitional, they can live there, get solidified, and then when housing comes open, we put them into that,” Eldridge said. “I think it needs to be transitional. I think it needs to be six months to a year. So where do we land? And that’s finding the place. Maybe finding someone willing to donate land, but those are things we still have to work through.”
Eldridge said the transitional housing would likely start with one facility before building multiple housing facilities. Eldridge said the Salvation Army is likely years away from having something built.
