Hopkinsville Salvation Army scales down ambitious plans for new facility, over $5 million needed

Salvation Army leaders presented a scaled-down shelter plan to the Hopkinsville City Council this week.

By Daynnah Carmona September 17, 2025 10:54 am

Salvation Army Shelter building in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Sept. 6, 2023 (Lily Russell)

HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – “We serve families, veterans, single families, and children each with their own struggles, but all deserving dignity and hope,” said Lt. David Donegan with the Hopkinsville Salvation Army during the Sept. 16 Hopkinsville City Council meeting. The organization shared a proposal for a $7.5-8.5 million building, suggesting a partnership with the city to further assist the homeless population with a new facility.

Chris Head, the senior divisional resource development director for Kentucky/Tennessee division of the Salvation Army, gave a presentation to the council, saying that their organization is the logical response to controlling the growing homeless issue in the city.

In May of this year, the Hopkinsville Salvation Army had pitched plans for a major expansion and new design at a Pennyrile Area Development District meeting. Due to the lack of support for this massive facility, they have now come back with scaled down plans that will allow for needed improvements on the 50-year-old shelter while keeping their bed count the same and consolidating all of their services into one building with 24/7 access.

New plan, location and funding issues

“Quite frankly, the community would not support a $12 million building,” said Head. “We wanted it bigger, we wouldn’t mind a few extra beds, we are turning people away every day. Unfortunately, one of the comments that came up was that the Salvation Army shouldn’t have the nicest building in the community.”

Head disclosed that the organization did a feasibility and campaign study to determine the needs of the community and what they would want to see out of an updated facility. It concluded that significantly growing the Salvation Army at its currently location in downtown Hopkinsville is still a deal breaker for most people in the community, even at a smaller scale.

While a potential location is still not set, they have already secured $2.4 million from the Kentucky Economic Cabinet for the project and $500,000 in pledges from private donors but would still require $5.6 million to make it happen.

They are hoping that a partnership with the city could help facilitate the remaining funding. Head and Donagan added that they are committed to moving this plan forward for the next two years and will re-evaluate after that if progress is not made.

No action was taken regarding this proposal at the city council meeting.