The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army’s Cambridge corps is a church and social service center serving Cambridge, Arlington, Medford and Somerville. Its programs include a pop-up food pantry and feeding programs open to all, a drop-in day shelter, Thanksgiving and Christmas assistance, and youth programs aimed at giving young people the tools to get their lives back on track. It also runs Our Place Day Care Center, which helps families break the cycle of homelessness and move toward self-sufficiency.

Like every Salvation Army unit, the Cambridge corps is led by officers who are ordained pastors and also act as executive directors, handling everything from serving food to balancing the books. The organization traces its roots to 1865 in London, where William Booth started the East London Christian Mission and described its work as providing soup, soap and salvation. Its stated mission is to preach the gospel and meet human needs in Jesus’ name without discrimination, and the corps also gathers for worship.

What to Know

• Captains Bree Barker and Trisha Smouse are the corps’ officers.
• An annual Back-to-School Celebration with TD Garden prepares more than 3,000 Boston-area children for the school year.
• The pop-up pantry can also be accessed by appointment.
• The Salvation Army has worked in the eastern United States since 1880 and serves in 130 countries.