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Other parts of the United States are experiencing one of the nation's deepest recessions since World War II, but not much has changed in Mon Valley communities like Braddock.

They're just as bad as they were last year.

"I was very surprised at the level of need here," says Capt. Rickie Armour, who arrived in Braddock in August 2007 to take over the Salvation Army's Worship and Service Center on Holland Avenue, near UPMC Braddock hospital.

It's the first command for Armour, a native of Matawan, N.J., who previously served in Johnstown. He shares duties with his wife of four months, Pamela.

Armour was distressed to find a culture of despair and poverty in the Mon Valley that in some cases goes back generations.

"We don't want to continue with the status quo," he says. "We want to break the cycle. We want people to grow. You get into a cycle of giving people a handout, and we want to give them a 'hand up.'"

Armour also takes seriously the teachings of William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, who said that his missionaries had to feed the poor before trying to teach them about Christ.

"Me and my wife have a vision in our community to get our people well rounded," Armour says. "I think a lot of people don't have success in the world because they don't have their priorities straight."

The Braddock corps serves Mon-Yough communities in the Turtle Creek valley and on the northeast back of the Monongahela River, including East McKeesport, East Pittsburgh, North Braddock, Pitcairn, Rankin, Swissvale, Wall and Wilmerding, and all the way out to Plum and Monroeville.

The Braddock corps is trying to raise $65,000 from its annual "Red Kettle Campaign" between now and Dec. 24. Armour has a reputation among his fellow Salvation Army soldiers as a good fundraiser, and his territory includes several big malls, department stores and shopping centers.

Local Rotarians and Kiwanians are helping to man the kettles from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Still, like all of the Mon Valley's relief agencies, the Salvation Army in Braddock is struggling to do more with less.

"We're getting new clients every day, due to the economy," Armour says. "People are hurting, and we're not able to give our clients what we're used to giving them. We've had to minimize the amount of aid we give each person so that we can help more."

Besides general and spiritual counseling ("we are a church and a worship center first," he says), the Braddock corps also provides assistance for families in need of utility and rent payments, clothing, food, Christmas toys, as well as home heating assistance.

There are also programs for senior citizens and youth.

The Salvation Army's gymnasium and related facilities have also become home to men's and kids' basketball clubs as well as fitness classes, taibo classes and a bowling alley.

And Armour would like to add a complete fitness center. Braddock lacks a YMCA.

"We are the YMCA in Braddock," he says, laughing. "We're the 'everything' in Braddock."

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To volunteer or donate to the Braddock Corps of the Salvation Army, write to 300 Holland Ave., Braddock, PA 15104, or call (412) 271-2407. See also our previous article on the McKeesport Corps.