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Vail Valley chapter of the Salvation Army finds a new, temporary home in EagleVail

Local nonprofit can spend the next year in the Vail Daily building

The local chapter of the Salvation Army has found a temporary home in the Vail Daily building.
Vail Daily archive

The Vail Valley chapter of the Salvation Army now has a year to find a permanent home. The new temporary home is on the second floor of the Vail Daily building in EagleVail.

The new headquarters will house the nonprofit’s offices and food pantry, although the food pantry won’t be open until early November.

The Salvation Army had for 13 years been located on the Traer Creek property in Avon. The group was notified in September it needed to move by Oct. 11, as the landowners were moving forward with plans to develop the property on the valley floor between City Market and the Piedmont apartments.



That notice came just two days after new chapter director Monica Villalobos-Russell started work.

Fortunately, former chapter director Tsu Wolin-Brown was still on the job for a few weeks before retiring after more than 40 years of work for the organization.

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“We could not have done what we’ve done without (Wolin-Brown) there,” Villalobos-Russell said. “She knew everybody, and everybody came out to support the organization.”

That support has come from the Eagle County Board of Commissioners, which last week passed a resolution allowing the Salvation Army to store its headquarters building and other structures on a county-owned site near the Eagle River mobile home park in Edwards.

More support came from Bob Brown of Questor Corp. That company used to be Swift Communications, which formerly owned the Vail Daily.

Other corporate help came from Traer Creek, which is moving the Salvation Army’s structures to the storage sites.

If you need food aid

Food Bank of the Rockies will have a truck at the parking lot of the Sun & Ski store in Avon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 21 and Monday, Oct. 28.

“We’re beyond grateful (to Traer Creek) for allowing us to have that site for 13 years,” Villalobos-Russell said. “They’ve helped every single aspect of our move.”

Many other people have come to the Salvation Army’s aid, Villalobos-Russell said. “We’ve been collecting their names, and their generosity will not be forgotten,” she said.

With the present accounted for, the Salvation Army’s staff and volunteers can focus on the last portion of the year, among the busiest from a service standpoint of the year. There will be a place to build holiday food baskets for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the focus can return to the holiday bell-ringing efforts, one of the nonprofit’s primary fund-raising efforts.

The staff can also focus on rent assistance and help for locals who need help paying utility and other bills.

Villalobos-Russell said she’s hopeful that the search for a permanent home can bear fruit by next spring, so the Salvation Army’s garden and greenhouse can be established in a new location. The garden and greenhouse, along with the food pantry, are the “bread and butter” of the organization, Villalobos-Russell said.  

The search for a new home has also been a stark reminder of the work the Salvation Army does for others.

“We had 30 days to vacate, and the entire community came to our support,” Villalobos-Russell said. “But there are many individuals and families that are in the same situation, that have to vacate in 30 days. This is what the Salvation Army does for individuals and families, to be there in times of crisis. That’s important for the public to know.”


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