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The Santa Barbara Corp's mission is to meet human need wherever it is found without discrimination through services that provide emergency and rehabilitation assistance, health care, youth development services, and community programs targeting families, youth, homeless individuals, seniors and families with HIV/AIDS. The Salvation Army provides service to all without regard to religious affiliation, sexual orientation, race, gender or other discrimination.
The Salvation Army was founded in England by Reverend William Booth in 1865, brought to the United States in1879, arriving in Los Angeles in 1884.
The Salvation Army has been in Santa Barbara since 1889. Services to the homeless began during the Great Depression and the Hospitality House, providing both food and shelter, opened its doors in downtown Santa Barbara to homeless men and women in the early 1960's. The Corps relocated to its present site near the corner of Hollister and Turnpike in 1974, providing worship and family social services including a daycare program were established.