The Salvation Army Rhode Island is part of the Southern New England Division, which covers Connecticut and Rhode Island from divisional headquarters at 855 Asylum Avenue in Hartford, CT. Major Wendy A. Kountz serves as Rhode Island State Coordinator. The Providence Citadel is led by Major Robert S. Kountz; the Providence Corps Officers are Majors Larry and Doris Setty (with Lieutenant Tamera C. McWhorter as Assistant Corps Officer). Rhode Island has roughly 1.1 million residents in 39 cities and towns crammed into 1,034 square miles, the smallest state in the US by area. The Salvation Army operates in Providence, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Cranston, Newport, Westerly, and several other Rhode Island communities.
The year-round work in Rhode Island looks much like Salvation Army operations everywhere: emergency rent and utility assistance, food pantries, overnight shelter at the Providence corps, addiction recovery, after-school and summer youth programs, holiday assistance. What is distinctive about Rhode Island is the concentration of need in Providence and the Blackstone Valley. Providence has one of the highest poverty rates among New England cities, and Woonsocket is one of the most economically distressed cities in the state. The Salvation Army's Rhode Island corps handle per-capita caseloads that reflect this concentration.
Rhode Island also has large immigrant populations, particularly in Providence and surrounding communities. Communities of Dominicans, Cape Verdeans, Liberians, Guatemalans, and others have grown significantly in recent decades. The Providence corps' programming is designed to serve families that may be navigating both immigration status questions and emergency assistance needs, including families with mixed-status households where some members are eligible for federal benefits and others are not.
Providence runs the largest Salvation Army operation in Rhode Island. Two corps operate in Providence: the Providence Citadel (led by Major Robert S. Kountz) and the Providence Corps on Pitman Street (led by Majors Larry and Doris Setty with Lieutenant Tamera C. McWhorter as Assistant Corps Officer). Together the Providence corps cover most of Providence County's emergency assistance caseload. The Providence facilities handle shelter, food pantry, utility assistance, after-school programming, and holiday assistance for the metropolitan core.
Pawtucket Corps (led by Captains Juan and Glenys J. Urbaez, who moved from Providence Temple in recent appointments) serves Pawtucket and surrounding Blackstone Valley communities. Woonsocket Corps serves Woonsocket and the upper Blackstone Valley, where the city's high poverty rate creates concentrated demand for emergency food and utility assistance. Cranston Corps serves Cranston and Warwick. Newport Corps serves Newport County, including the year-round residents of Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth (the seasonal tourism economy creates income volatility for many year-round families).
Westerly Corps serves Washington County and the southern coast. Smaller service units and partner programs cover the remaining Rhode Island communities. The Service Extension model handles the small towns and rural areas of Washington and Kent counties where corps cannot be sustained.
The Southern New England Division has been through significant officer transitions in Rhode Island in recent appointments. Major Wendy A. Kountz took over as Rhode Island State Coordinator, which is the senior leadership role for state-level operations. Her husband Major Robert S. Kountz became the new Providence Citadel Corps Officer. The previous Providence Temple Officers, Captains Juan and Glenys J. Urbaez, became Corps Officers for Pawtucket. Majors Larry and Doris Setty became Providence Corps Officers, with Lieutenant Tamera C. McWhorter as Assistant Corps Officer.
The Salvation Army's officer rotation cycle (officers typically move every five years on average) is part of how the organization manages leadership development. Each move can create short-term disruption for corps relationships with local nonprofits and government agencies, but the new officers bring fresh perspectives and connections from their previous appointments. The 2024 Rhode Island moves brought in officers with experience from multiple Salvation Army divisions.
When SNAP benefits paused in November 2025 during the federal shutdown, Rhode Island had roughly 144,000 residents on the program. The state implemented some emergency state-level benefits to bridge the gap, but the federal pause still hit hard, particularly in Providence, Pawtucket, and Woonsocket. The Salvation Army Rhode Island corps activated additional food distribution.
The Providence Citadel and Providence Corps moved to multiple distributions per week. The Woonsocket Corps, which already runs one of the most active food pantries in the Blackstone Valley, expanded operations further. Pawtucket Corps under the new Urbaez leadership ramped up emergency food distribution. Rhode Island Community Food Bank reported significantly higher demand during the freeze, and the Salvation Army RI corps were among the most active partner agencies.
Most of the food handed out in November and December 2025 was paid for by Red Kettle donations from December 2024. This is the typical Salvation Army funding lag: the budget cycle works on roughly a 12-month delay between collection and distribution. The November-December surge that brought SNAP-affected families through corps doors was funded by giving from the previous Christmas season.
Cash gifts at the Southern New England Division site or the national salvationarmyusa.org can be designated to a specific Rhode Island corps. The Salvation Army national overhead ratio runs at roughly 14 percent (82 cents per dollar to program services, 11 cents to fundraising, 7 cents to management).
Red Kettle dollars from late November through Christmas Eve stay in the corps where the kettle was placed. Kettles in Newport stay in Newport. Kettles in Westerly stay in Westerly. Service unit Red Kettle campaigns (run by volunteer boards in communities without full corps) keep donations local to those specific communities.
Furniture, clothing, working appliances, and household goods go to Family Stores statewide. Free pickup is available for larger items at satruck.org or by calling the store. Sale revenue funds the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center program.
Vehicle donations through Cars Helping Families. The vehicle is sold at auction; net proceeds fund local programs; you get a tax receipt for the sale amount. Stock, planned giving, and donor-advised fund gifts are processed through the Southern New England Division development office in Hartford.
Red Kettle bell ringing from late November through Christmas Eve is the largest single volunteer role. Sign up at registertoring.com, pick a host store and shift, show up. Rhode Island needs thousands of two-hour slots filled each Christmas season.
Year-round opportunities at corps statewide include Family Store sorting, food pantry packing (particularly at the Woonsocket Corps which runs the highest-volume RI pantry), after-school program tutoring at Providence corps with kids' programming, and holiday toy distribution. Disaster volunteer roles include canteen volunteering (mobile food unit work), warehouse work, distribution support, and emotional and spiritual care provided by trained chaplains and ESC volunteers. Disaster roles require one or two training sessions before deployment. The Southern New England Division EDS team trains volunteers at the Providence Citadel and the Hartford headquarters.
For corporate teams of 10 to 50 people, the Southern New England Division development office in Hartford can coordinate group volunteer days. Rhode Island-based companies (CVS Health, Hasbro, Citizens Financial Group, Textron, others) run repeat corporate volunteer programs with the Salvation Army.
The Southern New England Division is part of the Salvation Army Eastern Territory, which files a single Form 990 under EIN 13-5562351. Rhode Island-specific financial reporting is consolidated at the divisional level with Connecticut. The Salvation Army National Corporation reported roughly $5.8 billion in annual revenue across all US operations.
National overhead ratios run consistently at roughly 14 percent. Program services receive 82 cents per dollar; fundraising costs 11 cents; management and general 7 cents. Charity Navigator gives the Salvation Army four stars; CharityWatch rates it favorably. Restricted disaster relief funds for specific events have separate restricted-fund accounting.
For pure food access dollars, Rhode Island Community Food Bank in Providence covers the entire state and is the largest food access provider in RI. It is a Feeding America affiliate and converts donated dollars at roughly 1:7 through bulk purchasing power. For raw food access, a Rhode Island Community Food Bank donation reaches more people than a cash donation to a Salvation Army RI food pantry would.
The Salvation Army's specific advantages in Rhode Island: geographic reach through corps in seven cities (Providence twice, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Cranston, Newport, Westerly) plus Service Extension into smaller communities, the Woonsocket Corps' Blackstone Valley food infrastructure (one of the most active food providers in that region), bilingual and multicultural programming for Providence's immigrant communities, and breadth of services within a single corps (rent, utilities, food, shelter, emergency response, after-school).
Practical framing: for maximum food-per-dollar in Rhode Island, Rhode Island Community Food Bank wins on math. For comprehensive integrated emergency assistance, the Woonsocket Corps's regional impact in the Blackstone Valley, and after-school programming in Providence neighborhoods, the Salvation Army RI is one of the few organizations operating at that scale across the entire state.
Last updated May 2026. Southern New England Division headquarters address (855 Asylum Avenue, Hartford CT 06105) from the Salvation Army USA Eastern Territory Southern New England about us page. Rhode Island officer assignments (Major Wendy A. Kountz as Rhode Island State Coordinator, Major Robert S. Kountz as Providence Citadel Corps Officer, Captains Juan and Glenys J. Urbaez as Pawtucket Corps Officers, Majors Larry and Doris Setty as Providence Corps Officers, Lieutenant Tamera C. McWhorter as Providence Assistant Corps Officer) from the Southern New England Division news posts welcoming new officers and the Providence Rhode Island corps page on easternusa.salvationarmy.org. Providence Salvation Army contact (401-831-1119) from the same Providence RI corps page. Rhode Island population (~1.1 million) and demographic context (large immigrant populations, Dominican, Cape Verdean, Liberian, Guatemalan communities, smallest state in the US) from the saconnects.org February 27, 2025 SNE Divisional Spotlight. Woonsocket as one of the most economically distressed cities in Rhode Island and Salvation Army Woonsocket Corps as one of the most active emergency food providers in the Blackstone Valley from the largestcharities.com Rhode Island state-page reporting. Rhode Island SNAP participation (~144,000 residents) from USDA Food and Nutrition Service November 2025 communications. Rhode Island Community Food Bank reference from the food bank operations and Feeding America affiliations. Eastern Territory EIN 13-5562351 from CharityWatch and IRS Exempt Organization Master File. National revenue figure (~5.8 billion dollars) from Salvation Army National Corporation 2023 published annual report. Overhead ratio figures from Salvation Army National annual report and Charity Navigator. We are not affiliated with the Salvation Army and receive no compensation for this listing. Errors: [email protected]
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