Under his guidance, the local chapter went from virtual obscurity to providing unprecedented services in the community.
By BETH N. GRAY
Published June 12, 2004
BROOKSVILLE - Capt. Tim Williford's tenure in Hernando County has been marked by unprecedented growth in the services offered by the local Salvation Army corps.
But after five years, Williford, 41, is being transferred to Fort Walton Beach in the Panhandle, where his next assignment is an ambitious construction program.
"We get orders from our bosses, just like in the regular military," said Williford, who has been with the Salvation Army for 20 years.
Williford came to Hernando in 1999 to lead a Salvation Army unit that was characterized by years of limited activity and low visibility. In 2000, the organization sold one of its buildings to Hernando County and relocated from downtown Brooksville to a 5-acre site at Cortez Boulevard and Arizona Street. That year the corps also unveiled plans for a church, gym and administrative offices at its new site.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the nosedive in the stock market, the capital campaign for that project was never approved, and Williford and his staff continue to occupy modular buildings. Still, under Williford's leadership the local Salvation Army unit grew in its charity and outreach efforts, which include social services, disaster response services and a misdemeanor probation program.
"We've seen our misdemeanor probation program explode over the last few years," Williford said of the initiative that provides counseling for those convicted of driving under the influence, shoplifting and similar offenses.
"As Hernando County has grown, so has the crime rate," Williford said.
From the pool of some 600 individuals on misdemeanor probation, the program director sees about several dozen probationers, and three paid counselors each handle 150 to 200 probationers.
"That's about what a counselor can handle," Williford said.
During Williford's tenure in Hernando, the Salvation Army has seen more and more people seeking help to pay for electric, water and gas bills.
The organization serves about 380 families a month for utility and food assistance from the food pantries, Williford said.
Services are funded primarily from the pre-Christmas red-kettle contributions collected by volunteers ringing handbells at supermarkets and shopping malls. Under Williford's watch, annual kettle donations ranged from $57,000 to $63,000. Another $60,000 is donated annually through the mail.
"It's stayed pretty consistent," he said.
The Salvation Army also operates two thrift stores, but those are managed out of the Salvation Army's Tampa headquarters.
Like the other charities, the Salvation Army was called on to help after the Sept. 11 attacks. Williford was summoned to Tampa International Airport to fly to Washington, D.C., where for 14 days he coordinated purchasing supplies for about 4,000 people who were handling the cleanup and investigation at the Pentagon.
Despite the excitement of such out-of-town missions, Williford said he most enjoyed pastoring during his time in Hernando.
"The Salvation Army is a church," said Williford, who graduated from the Salvation Army College for Officer Training in Atlanta in 1984.
While Williford looks forward to planning construction of a social service building and a transitional housing shelter in Fort Walton Beach, his replacement, Capt. Chris Nicholls, will be charged with completing plans for a senior citizen high-rise apartment complex on the Salvation Army's 6-acre site at 15464 Cortez Blvd.
The complex will be financed by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, while a housing consultant will handle the HUD application process.
"All we do is provide the land and the management," Williford said.
Capt. Nicholls, who is being reassigned from Pinellas Park, will also have the task of trying to complete the vision of a church, gym and administrative buildings at the Cortez Boulevard location. Although tough economic times put the brakes on that $3-million project, Williford said the Hernando corps can try to tap into the $1.5-billion donated to the Salvation Army by Joan Kroc, the late wife of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc.
"It's all for bricks and mortar," Williford said of the Kroc donation.
Williford, his wife, Denise, and their children, ages 5 and 10, will leave their Spring Hill home for the Panhandle after June 20.
