If you walk into the rear of the Salvation Army building on 2219 Main St. in Columbus today, you’ll see a vast space in desperate need of tender, love and care, being used for storage.
Capt. Nisha Spears, the commanding officer for Columbus’ Salvation Army chapter, has a different vision for the space – a renovated gym with a game room that will serve as a community youth center.
“It’s not the best shape of a gym (right now), so we’re seeing how we can fix it up so kids have some place to go after school that their parents don’t have to pay for,” said Spears, who moved to Columbus in January to lead the chapter. “… My plans really revolve around the youth. That’s my vision. I’ve prayed about this, and I believe that my vision aligns with the Lord’s. … I’ve heard parents come up here and ask, ‘What do you have for the youth?’ And I’m like, ‘Nothing.’ But I do want something.”
It’s a fitting aim, considering Spears first became involved with Salvation Army as a 7-year-old through the Boys and Girls Club in Decatur, Georgia. There, she met chapter leaders, called officers, that introduced her to the Salvation Army’s mission, and she has felt called to the work ever since.
“I grew up in the Salvation Army,” she said. “It’s a church. A lot of people don’t know that. … The forefront of our doctrine is ‘Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.’ We believe everybody needs Christ.”
She spent five years in Chattanooga, Tennessee, leading youth centers for Salvation Army – one with a pool across from housing projects and a separate stint at a music and arts school – before spending three years helping the homeless at a Center of Hope in Lynchburg, Virginia.
From there, Spears came to Columbus to replace Lt. Jason Houser, who died unexpectedly in August at age 41.
Spears did not personally know Houser, but she knew his reputation as an enthusiastic, happy, well-liked person to whom people gravitated.
The admittedly introverted Spears brought a much more subdued personality to the Columbus chapter office.
“People don’t gravitate toward me,” she said, laughing. “I’m more of a serving person than anything. I’m not a jokester or anything like that.”
Despite any personality differences between Spears and her predecessor, she said she found a smooth transition in Columbus due to a capable staff and volunteers.
“They really knew what they were doing, so I just came in here to be their leader,” she said.
The staff has appreciated Spears’ influence just as much. And to hear social services worker Melissa Baynard tell it, the new commander may be selling her funny bone a little short.
“She fits in really well here. She has such great ideas and an amazing sense of humor,” Baynard said.
One of those ideas was a ‘80s-themed event Thursday celebrating National Salvation Army Week, where the staff dressed in garb from the era and served hot dogs outside the organization’s thrift store, also on Main Street.
“It was probably the funnest day I’ve had at work,” Baynard said.
The Columbus Salvation Army runs a food pantry and provides utility assistance to residents in need. This month alone, Spears said, the chapter has provided food assistance for more than 80 families. It also sponsors an Angel Tree program each Christmas to provide Christmas presents to children. The organization relies on donations throughout the year, as well as its annual Red Kettle Campaign fundraiser during the holidays, to fund its efforts.
Spears said she does not plan to wait until close to Christmas to recruit bellringers or generate interest in the Salvation Army. She is starting now, hitting the civic club circuit, visiting churches and even visiting schools to promote the effort to students who need volunteer hours.
“A lot of times, you see organizations when they want something, not when people need something,” she said. “So I want to get there now and say, ‘This is me. This is the Salvation Army. This is what we’re doing.’”
All her efforts feed back into the Salvation Army’s mission and why she decided to do this work in the first place.
“I love getting to know people and telling them about Jesus,” she said. “You do that by your words, but most importantly, by your actions. … That’s why I think being a servant is so much better than anything I could ever say.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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