Fond farewell for Salvation Army captains
Tory and Martin Ross bound for Salvation Army’s division headquarters in Sacramento
Captains Martin and Tory Ross of the Salvation Army will soon report to a new location as they continue their mission to create positive change in communities. It’s part of the goal they set when they began their training with the organization in 2001.
“We wanted to help some people along the way so that our living is not in vain,” Martin Ross said.
This husband and wife team that leads the Lodi Salvation Army will be in Lodi until June 26 before heading to their next appointment at the Salvation Army Divisional Headquarters in Sacramento on June 29.
In Sacramento, the couple will hold the titles of Divisional Secretaries of the Harvest Institute and the Social Service Secretaries of Sacramento.
The two have come a long way in their service with the Salvation Army, having served in Compton and Modesto before coming to Lodi in 2012.
Martin Ross, originally from Orangevale, has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He has also recently completed his MBA in from California State University, Monterey Bay and has enjoyed using blending his skills with his service as a Salvation Army captain.
Tory Ross’ hometown is Danville, Ill. She attended UC Berkeley and later California State University, Sonoma, where she became licensed as a marriage and family therapist — a useful tool in her work helping others.
Their new roles will be to help build a workforce development strategy for an area covering most of Northern California and Nevada, based on the major strides they have made working with the Lodi community.
“Lodi is seen as a model in a lot of ways for other cities. People have been flying in from all over the Western United States to see what Lodi’s been doing,” Martin Ross said.
Both have pushed the concept of
giving a “hand up instead of a handout,” helping move people to a better station in life and giving them the skills they need to continue that success.
“I think we’ve been able to change the perspective on whether or not the disenfranchised or the addicted can be contributing citizens. The best example of that is the culinary arts program,” Martin Ross said.
Several people have gone through and graduated from the program since it began in 2008, moving on to work for local restaurants such as Wine & Roses, Lodi Health and Richmaid. This is an area in which Ross would like to see Salvation Army expand its offerings to other areas of the workforce, he said.
Salvation Army has been able to engage the community to with the goal to help maintain Lodi as a livable and lovable and push the concept
of there being “one Lodi” and not a divided city, he said.
There has been a great partnership with local churches and businesses, which have helped support the efforts of the Salvation Army Hope Harbor shelter. Many have joined forces to create the homeless outreach fairs that go on every Friday, as well as put on events to give a voice to and support those in need.
As one of their last community efforts in Lodi, the Rosses will put on Peace Lodi, a peace walk on Sunday, June 5 from 2 to 4 p.m. The walk will begin in the All Veterans Plaza next to city hall on 211 W. Pine Street. The community will gather with city officials and leaders to promote peace over things like gang violence and hate, and give voice to those people in the community who need to be heard.
Their efforts in the community have left a strong impression on city leaders who remarked about their passion and dedication.
“(Martin) has gotten a lot of people together who didn’t work together in the past,” said Lodi Police Chief Tod Patterson. “This has been a great stop in his career. He’s improved the situation surrounding him at Hope Harbor and has continued to advance the notion and belief in trying to help those less fortunate.”
Lodi Mayor Mark Chandler, who has worked with both Martin and Tory through Salvation Army’s community efforts and Tory through the Lodi Rotary Club, commented on their leadership and guiding faith as well as Martin’s strength as a strategic thinker.
“They both have the complete respect of the city,” Chandler said.
Filling in their spots at the Lodi Hope Harbor Shelter will be majors Mark and Michelle Thielenhaus, coming most recently from Billings, Mont., where they have been serving for the past year. The couple have been officers for 19 years, serving as Corps Officers in Federal Way for five years, in Homer, Alaska for eight years, as Divisional Youth Secretaries in Alaska for three years, and in Centennial, Colo. for two years. The pair has two daughters ages 17 and 13, and are very musical, peopleoriented and love the Lord, Ross said.
Ross said that Lodi is in good hands since Salvation Army has an eye on the town after sending officers as liaisons to headquarters.
“Lodi will always have great officers heading their way, as long as Lodi continues to set the standard as it has been the few years,” he said.