LAKELAND, Fla. — Salvation Army Capt. Jeremy Mockabee still has a tough time believing the hard work is finally coming to fruition.

What You Need To Know

  •  Salvation Army of Lakeland opens an expanded portion of their facility in Polk County

  •  The new facility includes 20 new rooms for dozens of families and new hope homes where people can live in beautiful homes for low rent

  •  Most of the families staying in their facilities are domestic violence survivors or people experiencing homelessness

“This is what all the rooms look like,” Mockabee said, while giving a tour of a new room at Salvation Army’s facility in Polk County.

He’s been with the Salvation Army in Polk County for a few years now and said he has seen the progress on its 50-plus acres in Lakeland.

For the last eight years, the facility has had 20 shelters for families experiencing things like homelessness or domestic violence. Now, as of Oct. 20, that’s doubled with the addition of the new rooms.

“What we're doing is it offering a safe place for families to come,” Mockabee said.

The fully furnished rooms will have bedding and restrooms for families to spend up to 90 days in so they can have time to get back on their feet.

Mockabee said it's necessary after the organization saw what was happening in the wake of the pandemic.

“With COVID, there was a moratorium on evictions, but once that was raised, we kind of just saw this big tsunami of need coming are coming our way,” Mockabee said.

He said that at the facility's previous capacity, the Salvation Army would have to turn away about a dozen families each night. When the new spots open, he said they anticipated being completely full on the first night.

“There's a lot of success that we have had in this program,” Mockabee said. “And that's what we're trying to show here, is that we're not trying to invent the wheel, we're just really increasing what we already know works in our community.”

It's something that means a lot to Mockabee — he’s a fifth-generation officer with the Salvation Army and now has a family of his own. He said that if the shoe were on the other foot, he would hope that there would be places like the Salvation Army for his family to go.

“It's a large piece of property,” Mockabee said. “But we also know that part of having been blessed with this much property that we can expand on is the fact that we can expand on.”

Not only with new shelters, but with triplex apartments where families can spend a longer time, and in brand new Homes of Hope that, once fully furnished, will be available to families for a low rent.

“Sometimes all families need is just a place to stay,” Mockabee said.

Mockabee said the new portion of the shelter will be open to new families on Oct. 30. He said the Homes of Hope will be available for families as soon as they’re able set up furniture, which has been delayed because of ongoing supply chain issues.