HOUSTON, Miss. (WTVA) - Suzzette Bogan, the Divisional Director of the Salvation Army, said it breaks her heart that she had to permanently shutdown the Houston location.

"We couldn’t afford to pay the rent. We couldn’t afford to our own electric bill. So how can we be of service to the community, if we can’t sustain our operation," she said.

Bogan said the Houston service center hasn’t been able to recover from the pandemic. She said many of it’s loyal clients were seniors, but they stopped coming to the center to shop.

"Our foot traffic kind of went to less than several people a day so we were not making any money to sustain the business or to put back into our program,” she said.

Now, people in Calhoun County and Chickasaw County have to go to the Salvation Army in Pontotoc.

Bogan said she understands this is an inconvenience to a lot of people who are elderly or don’t have transportation. Although the Houston location is closed, she plans on still helping residents through weekly events and services.

As for employees, Bogan said there weren’t any at the the Houston location. Bogan said employees found other jobs when she had to cut their hours and eventually close the center.