Changed Lives

Life hasn’t been easy for Jenny.

First, her father died of cancer when she was pregnant. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she and her husband split up … leaving Jenny to parent solo. After she and her son moved in with her ailing mother, Jenny “took over fixing things around the house like my dad used to do,” she says. “I was also a nurse, so I helped my mom with her health issues.”

But Jenny had health problems of her own. And due to her degenerative discs and rheumatoid arthritis, “I ended up having a bad fall and dislocating my right kneecap severely,” she remembers. “I was in a leg cast for four months.”

Things only got worse from there. “One week after that injury, my mom was in the hospital. She had heart failure on top of her other health issues. I ended up taking care of her full time until she passed away.”

Even after downsizing, the medical bills wiped Jenny out so she couldn’t even pay rent. Her son moved in with his dad, but Jenny had nowhere to go — until she found Crossroads and your kindness.

Here, Jenny found warmth and acceptance and rediscovered her love of cooking that she’d learned from her dad! “He always wanted to bottle his barbecue sauce recipe,” she says. “I’m going to call it, My Dad and Me Gourmet Barbecue Sauce.”

Jenny knows without your support of Crossroads, “I could have ended up on the street. I didn’t have anybody else to turn to.”

Your kind support helps neighbors like Jenny discover a new zest for life and the sweet taste of success!

Nicole remembers the day she and her four children became homeless very well.

Overnight, they went from having a comfortable home to being on the streets, not knowing what to do next. Nicole had heard about Crossroads and decided to see if they could provide help.

There, they received the support they needed to get through that difficult period and emerge on the other side ready for a fresh start. Nicole worked overnights as a nurse’s assistant at the time, which meant taking the children to school and child care during the day. The staff at Crossroads worked with her to ensure this process was smooth and easy.

Also, coming to the Mission meant leaving behind a dangerous neighborhood. “My kids would find drug needles,” she remembers. “It just wasn’t safe for my children to even go outside and play.”

At Crossroads, she and her children got rooms to themselves where they could live and recover together. While here, Nicole also helped with cooking meals from time to time, which she greatly enjoyed. She fondly remembers one night when she put together a special meal. “It was Mexican food … I remember cooking a big meal for everybody and everybody loved it, so that was a plus!”

Because you care, neighbors like Nicole and her family are able to receive the help they need at Crossroads!

Justin has always been searching for purpose in his life. Finally, after coming to Crossroads Mission Avenue, he found it.

Growing up in Columbus, he got in trouble a lot, using drugs, and making reckless decisions. Ultimately, it landed him in prison. While there, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior.

Upon release, Justin returned to a life of drugs and homelessness — but deep down, he knew something had changed. After he had a pulmonary episode, the hospital sent him to Crossroads to recover and get clean. He learned he had experienced heart failure. Since, he has gotten sober, begun attending worship and focusing on his relationship with God, all with the help of the Mission.

Because of the heart failure, Justin was told he didn’t have much time to live. Nevertheless, he decided to embrace his purpose: to spend time with loved ones and trust in the Lord to show him the way.

“Crossroads was not just accommodating of me staying there with my limited ability to do things, but also with the emotional stuff that I was going through with that diagnosis,” Justin says. “My diagnosis is terminal. But it reminded me that I had to trust God and know that’s part of his plan.”

Thanks to you, people like Justin receive the help and hope they need — and a fresh start!

Late last year, Darin wondered if his young sons would even have a Christmas, much less anything to celebrate. The three of them – Darin and his sons, ages 3 and 1 – had just fled a domestic abuse situation. Darin’s wife, a recovering alcoholic, had relapsed and become violent. She ended up going to jail. Darin also had a history of addictions, but was working to turn things around, especially when his wife – now his ex – became abusive around their children.

And those kids needed a devoted parent. Landon, the 3-year-old, has severe autism and is nonverbal. Elijah, 1, was born 10 weeks premature and spent his first four months in the hospital. Both boys need special attention, and it takes a special parent to give it. Darin wanted to be that Dad. So he went to Crossroads Mission Avenue in search of help and hope. And he found plenty of both.

“Ever since the day I arrived, my life has gotten better,” says Darin, who lives in the Lodge Apartments with his boys. “I had my own space. And my boys were safe.”

With some financial challenges of his own, Darin worried that he wouldn’t be able to provide much of a Christmas for his kids. But thanks to friends like you, he didn’t have to worry. The team at Crossroads made sure that Landon and Elijah got Christmas presents, and that the whole family was well fed and cared for.

Darins says that kind of love and support has been a hallmark all along. “Everybody at Crossroads has been nothing but open-armed and caring,” he says. “They love me and my boys like we’re their own.”

Darin, who recently celebrated a year of sobriety, also says Crossroads has been instrumental in his recovery. “It has not been an easy journey,” he says, “but I’ve worked really hard. I’m thankful for Crossroads and all their resources and support. They worked with me when I’ve gone through a rough patch. They help hold me accountable. I can’t tell you how much they’ve helped me.”

And not just in his recovery. Darin says Crossroads has also helped restore his self-image. “My sense of self, my sense of being a man, my sense of being a father,” he says. “They loved me when I didn’t feel like loving myself.”

His self-confidence restores, Darin is looking forward to the day when he can live independently again – “just a little home for me and my boys,” he says. It’s a next step he says wouldn’t have been possible without your support. “If it weren’f for Crossroads, my life would be miserable,” he says. “But thanks to you, my future looks very bright.”

Thank you for giving families help, hope, and a bright future!

It was the day after Thanksgiving. And Kim, her longtime partner, Travis, and their 12-year-old grandson, Tegan, had no place to go. They had lost their housing after a conflict with another family member, and now, with winter fast approaching, they needed a place. They worried about having to sleep in their car.

Fortunately, thanks to your support, it didn’t come to that. They came to Crossroad Mission Avenue and got the help – and the housing – they needed. Travis stayed in the men’s part of the facility, and Kim and Tegan stayed in the women’s/family section, sharing a room with bunk beds. (Tegan more than happily sleeps in the top bunk!)

In a move from another state, Kim had lost her Medicaid, SNAP benefits and assistance for Tegan. Crossroads staff helped her get it all back.

But now there was another problem: Finances were tight, and Christmas was just around the corner. Twelve-year-old boys don’t want to be disappointed at the most wonderful time of year.

Tegan wasn’t disappointed! Crossroads’ Giving Tree program made sure of that. He received a football, basketball, soccer ball, jeans and shirts as gifts. He was pretty thrilled about that. Kim was too. “Crossroads has been a blessing to our family,” she says. “They’re kind people.”

Kim and her family recently moved into their own independent housing. Thank you for helping them land on their feet!

In life, it’s nice to know somebody’s got your back. But when Jeffrey’s back gave out – due to spinal arthritis – he wasn’t sure if anybody had his. He’d burned too many bridges with his alcoholism. He’d lost his job, his marriage and his housing, all due to his drinking.

When he walked – just barely – into the hospital with his back falling apart, he had nowhere else to turn. But the hospital has his back, in more ways than one. Once they’d fixed his spine, they asked if he had a place to go. Jeffrey said no.

So the hospital arranged for him to go to Crossroads Mission Avenue where – thanks to your kindness – the staff has had his back every step of the way. They’ve helped physically; he has a walker. And they’ve helped mentally and spiritually too, by giving him the strength to quit drinking.

“I quit cold turkey,” says Jeffrey, 66, who started drinking as a teen and kept it up for 50 years. “I don’t want to drink again. After what happened to me in the past, no thank you. It’s time to say no.”

While at Crossroads, Jeffrey is paying off some medical debt and saving for a car and, eventually, a place of his own. He says that without Crossroads, “I would have been on the streets. They’re good people here. Just like family.”

Your kindness brings that feeling of family to Crossroads. Thank you!

Patrick was married at a young age, before joining the Navy. It was while he was on active duty that alcoholism began to creep into his life. Then, an unthinkable tragedy struck. Patrick’s wife died in a car accident. Drinking then took over his life; the pain of the loss was more than he could bear.

After the Navy, he joined the civil service, but alcoholism continued to take a toll on him. Ultimately, he quit his job and found himself homeless. That’s when he turned to Crossroads, where he received food and shelter, as well as the compassion and emotional support he needed to start again. “I haven’t had a drink since I walked through that front door,” he says. “They all gave me the support I needed and that just really stuck with me.”

Annie and her husband, Pete, are both hardworking people who had steady jobs. But Pete suffers from a psychiatric disorder, which was misdiagnosed for years, costing him his job. Annie did everything she could to support him, and care for their two children, but she also lost her job in the process.

Soon, they were evicted and forced to live in their car. “We were embarrassed and upset,” Annie remembers. “Just being in that situation, it was all too much for us.”

Thankfully, people like Annie can walk through the doors at Crossroads Mission Avenue and find hope and renewal. In addition to receiving a warm meal and safe shelter, Annie and her family received the empathy, emotional support and welcoming community they needed to recover and start over.

Today, Pete is finally on the right medications and managing his condition much better than before. And Annie has started attending Bible studies.

“Crossroads helps a lot of people,” she says. “All I can think of now is how I can give back to Crossroads, enabling them to help more people the way they helped us.”

This Thanksgiving, Alayna is grateful for friends like you who made it possible for her to land on her feet while at Crossroads.

A little over a year ago, her life started unraveling. She was a single mom trying to balance multiple jobs while also pursuing a nursing degree. Things got so overwhelming that she turned to meth to help her cope, and to make it through the day.

“Everything spiraled out of control relatively fast,” Alayna says. “My life was out of control.”

A possession charge landed her in jail for two weeks. Then the drug court program sent her to Crossroads to continue her rehab.

“I had hit rock bottom, and this was a ground zero moment,” she says. “But I knew I needed to do something. I had to completely surrender to the program, and to God. Coming here to Crossroads was all part of a divine intervention.”

Alayna says the love, support and encouragement from the Crossroads team helped her find hope and healing. She ended up working full time in one of our thrift stores, and is now that store’s manager.

“The thrift store has helped me be in a position to turn my life around,” she says. “I’ve regained the manageability that I had lost so quickly.”

During her almost yearlong stay at Crossroads, Alayna’s mother cared for her three children. She has since moved out of the shelter and into her own place, reunited with her boys, ages 10, 14 and 15.

“My oldest one told me that he couldn’t be more proud of me,” Alayna says. “He said he’s glad he can have somebody like me to look up to. That made me cry like a baby!”

We couldn’t be more proud of the way you help men, women and families find a fresh start. Thank you!

Sometimes you’ve just got to show some tough love to those you love the most.

Sky was ruining his life, his health and his relationships with his drinking. His sister, Kelsi, had seen it all as a probation officer and knew a little something about caring for a person without enabling their bad habits.

“I did the hard love thing,” she says. “Not giving him money, not letting him stay at my place . . . ”

Sky interrupts: “Never ask her to buy cigarettes, that’s for sure!”

The siblings laugh, but then Kelsi turns serious again: “I totally thought I would be burying him.”

Sky doesn’t argue with that. His drinking had resulted in five arrests, contributed to the loss of his marriage, and ultimately led to homelessness.

At that point, he decided he had to make some changes. So he came to Crossroads Mission Avenue.

“I came here to quit drinking,” Sky says. That was July 16, 2020. He hasn’t had a drink since.

Sky’s success story goes beyond just sobriety. By December, he was on staff as the manager of the Crossroads probation house in Grand Island. In that role, he helps men who are on probation or parole to get back on their feet and find a job.

Their jobs rarely intersect — Sky is in Grand Island, Kelsi works for the probation office in Hastings — but they do sometimes “talk shop.”

But mostly, they’re just a brother and sister who care about each other very much.

Sky says if it weren’t for Kelsi, he’d have no relationship with his family. Kelsi says if weren’t for the Mission, she wouldn’t have a brother anymore.

“I believe they saved my brother’s life,” she says.

Thank you to Crossroads Mission Avenue’s loyal donors — for your support and for playing a role in these life-changing stories!