A Party of Five

(Photo/Austin Wideman)

Captains Danielle and Yuco Hall reflect on how parenthood has changed them and their ministry at The Salvation Army in Times Square.

Less than two years after their first child, Carmela, was born, Captains Danielle and Yuco Hall, corps officers at the Salvation Army Times Square Corps, welcomed twins Francesca and Benicio. Growing from a family of three to a party of five has strengthened the Halls’ faith, reshaped their Times Square ministry, and reminded them of the importance of community.

Just a year earlier, in July 2025, the pastors had already fulfilled a personal goal. They brought Carmela, at 8 months old, to her first Old Orchard Beach (OOB) camp meetings in Maine. The Halls introduced Carmela to a part of their calling far away from the bright lights and city surroundings of Times Square. Carmela also saw her mother take the stage at the OOB Seaside Pavilion to sing with the Eastern Territory Staff Songsters.

“Carmela got to see her mom do what she loves,” Yuco said at the time. “Danielle and I prayed to God to bring our daughter into the world. Now, we’re seeing the fruits of the Lord’s blessings.”

Our God is a God of abundance. His blessings never arrive as less than what we need or more than we can handle. The Halls count among the approximately one in 33 pregnancies in the United States that results in twins. Raising twins is a journey that involves simultaneous diaper changes, double strollers, and synchronized chaos that other parents (and nonparents) look upon in curiosity, wonder, and fear.

The addition of Francesca and Benicio means children now outnumber the adults of the Hall household. At this writing, Danielle and Yuco are taking time off for parental leave, though Yuco still leads Sunday services at the Times Square Corps. Life is busier than ever, but the Halls wouldn’t have it any other way.

A new perspective

Danielle was born to Salvation Army officer parents. She was one of the last babies to be delivered at The Salvation Army’s Booth Memorial Hospital in New York, before the hospital was sold and renamed.

When Danielle turned 18, her parents left their roles as Army pastors.

“I identified so much as a child of officers that I struggled to find my identity outside of that,” she remembers.

In 2012, at a joint Salvation Army Vacation Bible School, Danielle, who was working at the Manhattan Citadel, met Yuco Hall, an employee of the Harlem Temple.

Yuco Hall was introduced to The Salvation Army through a job with the Harlem Temple Corps, where he also began his relationship with the Lord. Danielle, a child of Salvation Army officers, grew up in the Army. They became officers in back-to-back sessions at the College for Officer Training. The two grew closer and married in October 2020. (Photo/Antonio DiCaterina)

“In the five years that I worked for the Army in Harlem, the Lord transformed me. Before that, I had no relationship with God at all. I had never even read Scripture,” says Yuco. “But the Lord brought people into my life who showed me the relationship they had with Christ. It opened the door for my own relationship with Him too.”

Danielle was commissioned in 2016 with the Messengers of Light session. In 2017, Yuco was commissioned with the Joyful Intercessors session. They had spent a year in training together and grew closer in the following years. After an engagement that lasted through the 2020 coronavirus lockdowns, Danielle and Yuco got married that October.

“COVID-19 was difficult for many people, but as a couple, Yuco and I have good memories of that time,” says Danielle.

In 2024, Danielle and Yuco became first-time parents. During a visit to the Salvation Army Territorial Arts Ministries Conservatory, Danielle taught a lesson on John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The familiar verse took on a deeper meaning for Danielle, who had brought Carmela with her.

“Being a parent puts God’s love for us in a new perspective. I cannot imagine what it is like to love the world so much that one would sacrifice their own child,” says Danielle.

Pastors and parents

Their view of ministry has changed as well, says Yuco. Their standards for the services and programs they oversee at the corps is higher than ever before.

“Being a pastor and a parent, you’re always taking care of someone,” says Danielle. “And if you’re pregnant or have newborn twins, you need to find balance in caring for yourself and caring for the congregation.”

“We talk about being a ministry and a church that is made for people,” says Yuco. “And that means looking at everything we do, especially children’s ministries, and asking ourselves, ‘Would we want our child to be part of this program too? Are we behaving as people whom others would trust with their children?’”

Captain Danielle Hall (top left) performs with the Salvation Army Eastern Territory Staff Songsters at the General’s Congress in June 2026 as Captain Yuco Hall and their daughter, Carmela, watch. (Photo/Antonio DiCaterina)

Danielle knows firsthand what comes with being a child of pastors. Yuco understands the importance of having a personal relationship with the Lord, no matter when in your life it comes. Serving the Army is a calling for the family, but it will be up to the children to see in what way they fit into that calling, if any.

“My parents always let my sister and me know how much they appreciated that we were along for the ride with them,” says Danielle. “It would be beautiful if my children were all part of ministry, but more importantly, they are going to know that their identity is not shaped by what their parents do, but rather by their relationship with Christ.”

“I’d be very happy if they were involved with the Army in some way,” agrees Yuco. “But even if they’re not, they will still have a personal, thriving connection with the Lord, and it’s going to start at home.”

It takes a corps

That’s not to say that the Times Square Corps won’t be involved in helping the Halls. In fact, Danielle says her first year of being a parent would have been much more difficult without the love and support of their congregation. Parents are always happy to share important milestones in a child’s life with others, and the corps has become an extended family for the Halls.

“When we arrived at the Times Square Corps, there was already a beautiful community to welcome us. We cultivated it and let it continue to grow. Now, we need them as much as they need us,” says Danielle.

On Sundays, the women and children of the corps are happy to help care for Carmela and the twins while Yuco and Danielle minister. Even more importantly for Carmela, the older children at the corps know and love her, giving her a strong sense of familiarity and belonging. Building that kind of foundation is especially important for a child who has gone from being an only child to suddenly becoming a big sister to two siblings. The Halls have already begun to see signs that Carmela is developing a heart for ministry, even at a young age. She instinctively approaches those who seem sad, offering hugs and quiet comfort.

The Halls have seen their oldest daughter, Carmela, develop a heart for ministry, even at a young age. (Photo/Antonio DiCaterina)

“Because of the Times Square Corps, it’s not going to feel strange to her to have more children in our home,” says Danielle.

On Carmela’s first birthday, the ladies of The Salvation Army in Times Square threw a party to celebrate her dedication to the corps. The Halls found out they would be expecting twins only a few days later.

“At the party, we were already a family of five,” says Danielle. “It felt appropriate, because we couldn’t ask for a better system of support than we have here at the Times Square Corps.”