Creating supportive spaces for everyone at The Salvation Army

American Sign Language (ASL) is one of the primary means of communication for deaf people in the United States—but it wasn’t always that way. Lip-reading was the preferred means of communication for the deaf community for decades, despite its unreliability.

As someone who primarily uses American Sign Language, Gail Muncie found herself in need of a place to serve others, as well as a place to belong.

Her brother-in-law suggested volunteering at The Salvation Army’s Kroc Center in San Diego, where she has since found an outlet for volunteering her time, as well as creating meaningful connections with supportive co-volunteers and staff.

See how Gail is making an impact, both for herself and her community.

Below is a transcript of the video edited for readability.

Gail Muncie: My name is Gail. I worked here for two years. I love my job, everyday.

Paul Maley: My name is Paul Maley. I’m the administrative support coordinator at The Salvation Army Kroc Center in San Diego. This is my wife, Sharon.

Sharon Maley: I am Gail’s sister. She has some developmental disability. She’s part of the deaf community. So we really wanted her to be in a place where we knew she would feel safe and we knew she needed a volunteer position, something she could feel good about and the Kroc Center seemed a perfect fit.

Pamela George: There are a ton of volunteer opportunities here at The Salvation Army Kroc Center for all types of abilities because we have tons of programs. We have a 7,000 member membership base. And so that allows for lots of unique things.

In my department of Family Services, we get everything donated. So food, hygiene, diapers, all the things that a family needs to survive.

Paul Maley: Typically the people that come in are low income working families. And they are enrolled in a client basis.

Pamela George: Once we promise to help a family, we need to help them. And we do this on a weekly basis. So I think we’re a great place to be accommodating and welcoming to all people.

Gail is amazing. Gail has been with us since June of 2021. Without her support, we wouldn’t be able to prep all the supplies we need for our families weekly. Which have helped 1,000 families. And each family sizes about 5, so that’s 5,000 people she’s serving and feeding every week. So she’s an integral part of our operation. We love Gail.

Major Stacy Birks: Jesus wants us to love God and love our neighbor. Gail’s a really valuable part of this community here at the Kroc Center.

Gail Muncie: My work helps me give and help. I really like packing. No, it’s not heavy.

Peggy Humphries: Gail’s an absolute dream to volunteer with. She likes to be out here in front, interacting with the clients.

We have a routine. The clients come to the curb, I check them in, then Gail and some of the others load the carts and deliver the cart full of food to each of the clients as they arrive.

And she keeps us laughing. She has such a good spirit and she’s always in a good humor.

Gail Muncie: As a kid, I didn’t learn ASL.

Paul Maley: She grew up in a time where being deaf was viewed very differently than it is now. The philosophy at that time was that you don’t sign, you learn to read lips, you learn to speak. Gail’s experience of learning language was quite a mix of English, signed English, ASL. 

Gail Muncie: I started to learn sign language at the age of 13. I love it.

Paul Maley: I had already worked here for about four years at that point. We were acquainted with The Salvation Army, and we just knew it would be a really caring atmosphere, a very accepting atmosphere, and the kind of place where people would just understand the unique sort of person that she is and celebrate that.

Pamela George: So the wonderful thing about our volunteers is they’ve taken a lot of initiative to learn sign language, to learn about Gail, to work alongside her.

Major Stacy Birks: I know a little sign. So I always say “Hi” or, you know, “How are you?”

Paul Maley: Even if they can only say something really simple. It really means a lot to her that they’re making an effort.

Pamela George: She’s really funny, too. She likes to tell jokes, and we love that.

Paul Maley: A lot of times she’ll spell things very quickly. And I’ll have to say, “Oh, wait. Again, please.” “Slow, slow.” So she went…So suddenly she was in slow motion. 

Gail Muncie: Embarrassing. It was embarrassing to see. Just a little bit.

Paul Maley: Because the mission of The Salvation Army is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in His name without discrimination, Gail is a perfect example of somebody out there who has needs and has dignity and is made in the image of God, and yet she can come into a place like this and know that her needs will be met without discrimination.

Sharon Maley: I think she’s very happy volunteering here. Feeling safe is important to her. Feeling accepted, feeling wanted, needed. Not only is she helping other people, but she’s coming to a community. She’s part of something bigger than herself.

Gail Muncie: I was surprised, the medal says 1000 hours. I have worked at Kroc for two years, here. Very excited. Wow!

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