EMERGENCY LODGE

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30339, 15 January 1964, Page 5

EMERGENCY LODGE

Salvation Army Work Christmas and New Year festivities had brought a few clients to the Salvation Annys emergency lodge, said the officer in charge of the lodge (Captain M. L. Love). Unlike many others who had passed through the lodge, which accommodates women and children in times of emergency, the holiday clien'.s often stayed for only s few hours. Some of the 167 persons who lived at the lodge during 1963 had stayed for several months. The emergency lodge had been operating for eight years, and was fulfilling a reel need in Christchurch, said Captain Love. “It doesn't matter where you are, you elways find problem people,” she said. Persons were brought to the lodge by almost every social agency in Christchurch. They might have been evicted from their homes for a variety of reasons, or be involved in marriage problems or some other personal worries. They did not go again until the poblem was solved, or they decided to leave. Captain Love said. Captain Love has been in charge of the 10-bed lodge for the last three years, and runs it single-handed, except for part-time help by volunteers. Although the job is a full one, she finds it has its amusing side as well as its sad side. She does all the house-keeping and cooking besides helping those staying at the lodge to sort out their problems. Although many were distressed when they arrived, most settled within a day or two, and started to help themselves, she said. Captain Love is also in charge of the Samaritan department, which is at the lodge. The department provides clothes and other goods required by families in need. The emergency lodge is one of two run by the Salvation Army in New Zealand. The other, a larger one, is in Auckland.