Dignity Is Served

The Salvation Army in Burlington, Vt., has a bathroom open to individuals who are living on the street. It can be expensive to maintain a clean, functional public bathroom, but the service is appreciated.

“I’ve had to call plumbers to come in because needles were being flushed in the toilet,” says Envoy Stacy Liskey, who is in charge of the Burlington Corps Community Center. “So, I put a case to dispose of them safely. I was scolded for it, because some thought that I was encouraging drug use. But I wasn’t. I was looking out for the safety of the people who use the facility while trying to keep it running.”

One man who used the bathroom told her that he was grateful to have somewhere to safely dispose of his diabetes medicine and needles.

“I’ve seen the needles and other sanitary issues of cities with a large homeless population,” says Liskey. “Giving someone privacy is giving them back some dignity they feel like they’ve lost living on the streets.”

That dignity carries over to another Salvation Army ministry in Burlington: the Friendly Kitchen, a feeding program that serves a meal for the community six days a week. Almost 100 people come to enjoy dinner with salad, dessert, coffee, and more. During the summer months, the numbers of attendees can double.

“When I arrived at this corps in July of 2024,” says Liskey, “this program was already running. We kept its name but took it from five nights a week to six, Monday through Saturday. Dinner is important for this community, because there are a lot of places that serve breakfast and lunch, but none that serve dinner as often as we do.”

Outside of the Burlington Corps, a line of people wait to enter the Friendly Kitchen each afternoon by 6 p.m. Some patrons are experiencing homelessness. There are also immigrant families and individuals going through financial hardships and hoping to save some money. Liskey encourages anyone from the community, whether they have a place to live or not, to keep coming to The Salvation Army for a meal, so they can use what money they have for other things they need.

“Burlington is closer to Canada and the Empire Division of The Salvation Army than to most other Northern New England corps,” she says. “I used to serve in Maine and thought that the cost of living was high there, but I think everything is somehow more expensive here. My phone is always ringing, asking about rental assistance and utility help.”

Burlington is a mission corps, which means it depends on other corps for assistance. Despite the corps’ limits, Liskey says that God has filled her eyes and her heart with ways they can grow, not just through funds but through support and volunteers for its programs such as the Friendly Kitchen. The city of Burlington is a college town, and the corps welcomes volunteers from the colleges and high schools who are eager to accumulate required community service hours.

“People have said to me that serving in a state like Vermont can make it hard to talk about Jesus, and if we do so, we might not get the help or funding we need,” she says. “But that doesn’t matter to me. Christ is always at the forefront of what we do. He’s asking us to love and serve people, and we do the best that we can.

“In every conversation that we have with someone we serve, we encourage them to spend more time with us through prayer, Sunday services, or any of our other ministries. All the work done here is in the name of God. I want Him to shine His light on Burlington.”