How Salvation Army's Red Kettle campaign helps others achieve '2nd chance at a 1st-class life'

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign is well underway with only a week left until Christmas.

The campaign was born in San Francisco back in 1891, but that's not the only work the Salvation Army does in the Bay Area.

Being out on the street had a different meaning just a few months ago for 61-year-old Timothy Stewart.

"Smoking crack cocaine, living on the streets, not taking showers," Stewart said. "Being 61 years old, life is getting shorter, and I realize that and I didn't want to die out there on those streets."

But life took a turn four months ago, when he ordered a cab without a dollar to his name.

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"I got in the cab, I went to close the door, and I heard a voice that said 'talk to the man, talk to him,'" he said. "And I start crying and said 'sir, I don't have any money.' And he said, 'Well, where are you going?' And I said, 'I'm on drugs and I need help, I'm trying to get to detox at Harbor Light.' He said, 'Close the door. I'll take you.'"

The Salvation Army Harbor Light Center serves as a six-month treatment program for drugs and alcohol. Lt. Andrea Finch says it exemplifies the Salvation Army's mission.

"Everything we do is motivated by the love of God to meet human needs for suffering humanity without discrimination. So, everything that we do with our social services, our emergency disaster and our treatment programs all stems from that," Finch said.

For Stewart, the program has made all the difference.

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"It was nothing but love, and I felt it instantly. Instantly, I felt it, and I still feel it to this moment, the opportunities that they're giving me for giving me a second chance at a first-class life, and I'm gonna take advantage of it," Stewart said.

"He's just really grabbed hold of joy, because really, hope and joy is going to be the key to success," Finch said.

Now sober, just blocks away from where he used to buy drugs from, he's ringing a bell for the Red Kettle campaign in San Francisco's famous Union Square, collecting change to help other people fighting through similar struggles.

"It's not about me. And the people before me went out and rang the bell. And due to me being here, I get to reap the benefits of them standing out there. So, the people that come behind me, I want them to reap the benefits," Stewart said.

In a few months, he'll move on to the next program at the Salvation Army called the Joseph McFee Center, which is part of the organization's recovery-focused homeless initiative called "The Way Out." Eventually, Stewart has high hopes to serve as a drug resource counselor.

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"When you hear those bells, just know that your change is making a change in someone's life," Finch said.

The Salvation Army Harbor Light Center has two red kettles in San Francisco set up every day through Christmas Eve.

One is in Union Square near the corner of Powell and Geary Streets and another is set up at the San Francisco Costco off of 10th Street.

All proceeds from these two red kettles will go right back to the Harbor Light Center.