Executive Directors Note – Fall 2022

Greetings Crossroads Family! 

At Crossroads, we remain focused on utilizing the resources we are afforded by our incredible network of support to provide the most effective possible service for our guests. Individuals and families fighting to overcome the many barriers of ending or avoiding homelessness need, and deserve, to receive the time and attention of not only each staff member, but of the organization as a whole. To this end, we have worked to align each program and partnership to create a pathway that can be tailored to the diverse array of circumstances that each case presents, all leading to the same outcome of stability in every area of life.

To accomplish this goal, it is necessary that case managers have the resources, freedom and flexibility to dive deep with each guest – to listen to their story, to understand their frustration with broken systems, and to walk with them to that place of achieving a sustainable stability. We understand that we cannot do this for them. It is our job to give the necessary support for them to achieve it for themselves and their family. We only do lasting harm by creating dependency, or by dismissing the power within each person to determine their own path.

We have come to understand that while temporary responses like a meal, a hygiene kit, clothing and other material items are important tools, they in and of themselves are not the solution.

Our door-to-door model is about communal sufficiency. This means building relationships and networks that address every barrier someone facing homelessness might encounter. How do we provide equal access? How do we identify opportunity? What information is most useful, leading to the best outcome? What steps will achieve stability in the shortest amount of time? These are the questions we ask ourselves each day as we help our guests navigate the often overwhelming, and often inequitable, social structures that lead to homelessness.

The heroes in this process are first the brave men, women and children who are willing to press forward to build a better life and a better future. Secondly, they are the incredibly talented and dedicated case managers at Crossroads and the many other nonprofits serving our community. But this is not enough. To ever truly solve the issue of homelessness, it will take people from every sector – business, faith, government, healthcare, education – taking action to end this injustice.

I invite you to join us in that journey. Everyone has something to contribute to solving this issue. Please consider contacting us today to see how you can make a difference!

Peace,
Tony