Alameda County Services
They operate in Oakland, Hayward, Union City, Fremont, Newark and satellite sites in between to fight hunger, poverty, and homelessness. They serve children, youth, women, seniors, and families as well as provide emergency services, shelter, and education. Because the Salvation Army of Alameda County is such a diverse operation, it’s very fortunate to have Alameda County Coordinators whose backgrounds and skills support all the various services Salvation Army provides in our community.
Major James Lloyd and Major Beverly Lloyd are the Alameda County Coordinators running this operation. They and their team not only provide emergency disaster services, they also distribute resources to facilities and satellites throughout the county, assist people in need to pay their utilities, and, support fundraising, marketing, public relations, payroll, and hiring for all facilities and programs.
“To see the hope in someone’s eyes, to witness their sigh of relief, knowing I can give them hope,” explains Major James Lloyd, “... what I do is what gets me up in the morning.”
Significant among their many programs is Emergency Disaster Services, which provides food and counseling to firefighters and officers right at the site of a disaster. The team sets up mobile canteens at disaster sites to answer the needs of first responders. Globally, teams like theirs have helped at the Louisiana floods and Central Italy’s earthquake zone. Recently, the Lloyds’ Alameda County team has supported firefighters in Clayton, California. First responders consider their services so fundamental that The Salvation Army is called upon locally to participate in drills that prepare first responders for emergencies. They are often the first disaster relief agency to arrive at the site of a disaster, and often the last to leave.
It’s remarkable that the same team providing Emergency Disaster Services also manages a daily program to distribute food to several different programs throughout Alameda County. Whether it’s meals for seniors, or groceries for distribution to families, schools, camps and shelters, this team gathers donations in its warehouse and distributes them to a variety of programs. Between those deliveries to all the programs, they also deliver food to the VFW hospital, and make the rounds of three satellites in Alameda County each week, distributing food to the needy directly from the truck.
It’s even more impressive that in addition to these programs, the Alameda County Coordinators also oversee Relief for Energy Assistance through Community Help (REACH), partnering with Pacific Gas & Electric to provide critical financial assistance for utilities to families in need.
So, what does it take to deliver such a diverse array of programs to a widespread community? The Lloyds’ families have been in The Salvation Army for generations, and the Lloyds themselves have been in The Salvation Army for twenty years. Having arrived in Alameda County in the summer 2016, this is their sixth assignment in twenty years. They’ve had the opportunity in those years to participate in many types of ministry, including food banks, summer camps and shelters. Major Beverly Lloyd is grateful that their past experiences equip the team so well for their new responsibilities. “Here, it’s just a lot more programs. We get to help the local officers with all of their programs.”