Our History

When Volunteers of America was founded in 1896 by Maude and Ballington Booth, those who worked for the organization were primarily volunteers.  These volunteers operated a soup kitchen and temporary shelter for hundreds of needy and destitute individuals residing on New York City’s lower eastside. Today, Volunteers of America serves people in more than 400 communities throughout the nation providing professional human care services to more than two million people each year.

On April 11, 1896, Philadelphia’s first entry appeared in the Volunteer Gazette. Based on these early entries, the original mission of the Delaware Valley branch of Volunteers of America is clear: proclaim God’s message of salvation to as wide an audience as possible in the "battle to save souls." During this first era of the organization, heavy emphasis was placed in street meetings and tent revivals.

As the presence of Volunteers of America in the Delaware Valley grew, so did the programs and services. Co-founder Maude Booth became active in the prison reform movement. Several mentions of her work at the Trenton State Prison appear in the Gazette during this time. The Gazette also reflects that very early in the movement, a social services element emerged to supplement the evangelical work of the Volunteers of America branch in the Delaware Valley.

By December of 1896, Philadelphia had established five Volunteers of America posts.  New posts were also setup in Pottstown, PA, Trenton, NJ and Wilmington, DE. "Soldiers" from these posts made successful forays to Camden, Atlantic City, Ocean City, and Lambertville, in New Jersey; and in Phoenixville and Allentown, Pennsylvania to spread the word of Volunteers of America. Through the end of World War II, these units were involved in similar social services efforts, including the distribution of food, fuel and clothing.

As a primary concern of Volunteers of America Delaware Valley today, the original Volunteers of America posts in the Delaware Valley were regularly involved in servicing poor children. This concern resulted in a variety of outings, picnics and "Free Air" vacation programs for the children. It was during this time that new and innovative social services programs began to appear. For example, Industrial Services Programs, which provided work for the unemployed, were created, as were various rescue homes for men, women and children.

Following World War II, according to passages in the Volunteer Gazette, Social Services became the overriding emphasis of the mission of Volunteers of America. This was the organization’s emphasis for decades and by the 1970’s, the programs were directing their efforts almost exclusively to serving person’s experiencing homelessness, struggling with addictive diseases, chronic mental illness or returning to society from the criminal justice system.

In 1975, the Volunteers of America posts in Camden and Philadelphia were merged as the Philadelphia-Camden Post of Volunteers of America. Under the direction of Majors William J. and Carolyn Eberwein, the agency entered into the root programs it serves today. Major Donald Dudley assumed command later in the summer of 1982 and directed the programs until 1988. During his tenure in 1984, the post was chartered by Volunteers of America, Inc. to become Volunteers of America Delaware Valley, Inc.

Daniel L. Lombardo became President/CEO of Volunteers of America Delaware Valley in 1988. Currently, he is responsible for the management of over 400 employees and for overseeing the creation and implementation of all Volunteers of America Delaware Valley programs. Since he has been in the organization, Volunteers of America Delaware Valley has grown to become one of the ten most financially successful and stable Volunteers of America affiliates in the country.