$50 million gift to address homelessness crisis in San Diego
$50 million gift to address homelessness crisis in San Diego
6 February 2018
Philanthropists Ernest and Evelyn Rady, who donated $50 million to The Salvation Army's homelessness program in San Diego.
The Salvation Army in the United States Western Territory has received a $50 million donation, one of the largest charitable gifts ever given to support homelessness and the third largest donation in Army’s 153-year history.
Philanthropists Ernest and Evelyn Rady announced the donation during a private event at The Salvation Army’s Door of Hope centre in San Diego, California.
The gift will support construction of the new 32-unit Rady Residence at Door of Hope, which will enable The Salvation Army to help two-parent families for the first time, in addition to the single mothers, children, single women, and women in recovery who currently live and participate in programs at Door of Hope.
A second facility, the Rady Center for single men, will be built in the inner-city after The Salvation Army raises the additional $30 million to complete a capital campaign, designed to address the city’s homelessness crisis.
San Diego County has the fourth largest homeless population in the country, and 62 per cent of them are unsheltered. The Salvation Army in San Diego County helps more than 267,000 of the people in the community each year, and its current inner-city program boasts a 78 per cent success rate in returning participants to permanent housing.
“We are happy to put our resources in The Salvation Army’s hands, and we look forward to a successful conclusion,” said Ernest Rady, 80, who founded real estate development company American Assets and insurance company ICW Group Holdings. Evelyn Rady has made a career as a “professional do-gooder,” according to her husband of 58 years – working as a social worker, probation officer, and for Jewish Family Services of San Diego, among other roles.
The Radys’ donation to The Salvation Army comes on the heels of their $20 million commitment to Jewish Family Service of San Diego just last week. When asked about their long history of charitable giving, Ernest Rady replied, “What else am I gonna do? I can’t take it with me, so I might as well do something with it while I’m here.”
The largest donation The Salvation Army has ever received was in 2004, a $1.5 billion bequest from McDonald’s heiress Joan Kroc. The second largest was a bequest from Jack MacDonald, a lawyer at the Seattle office of the US Department of Veterans Affairs, who left The Salvation Army $56.7 million after his death in 2013.
“The Salvation Army is deeply moved and inspired by Mr and Mrs Rady’s generosity and caring,” said Major George Baker, Sierra del Mar Divisional Commander. “Our vision for helping the homeless better their lives and find homes will now become a reality for our community. The centres will serve as a new standard for effective programs and housing for homeless across the United States.”
USA Western Territorial Commander Commissioner Kenneth G. Hodder addressed the Radys, acknowledging their partnership as he recited lines from Salvation Army Founder William Booth’s “I’ll Fight” speech.
“We are deeply humbled by the trust [the Radys] have put in us,” Commissioner Hodder said. “They believe, as we do, that men should not be sleeping underneath freeway overpasses in our communities. And they believe, as we do, that no woman should have to endure the scourge of domestic violence ... God bless you on behalf of those The Salvation Army serves.”
This story was first published in New Frontier Chronicle, the USA Western Territory’s news source
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