Changing Lives

    Imagine having your home and bed taken away due to circumstances out of your control. No one wants to, but sometimes have to, live out of their car with all their clothes thrown into a large garbage bag. Some homeless students have to stay in cheap motels or with friends for extended periods of time, or maybe even behind a library next to the heating system to stay warm.

    You may wonder, why would a teen ever be homeless? What if your mom was hospitalized and couldn’t take care of you, or your parents are incarcerated, or maybe the bread winner in your family loses their job and can’t pay the rent, or there’s domestic violence? It happens, and Crossroad members want to help. That’s why we have teamed up with Project Reach a national program that helps students who are temporarily out of a home. When a teacher or counselor or friend suspects a student is homeless, they can call Project Reach and receive government funding for the student to provide books, breakfast and lunch, school supplies and some school activities, but not housing. The Project Reach counselors work with the students to try and help them, and that’s where we step in.

      We donate the things that help give back some dignity to those in a dire situation. We donate sleeping bags, air mattresses, tents, blankets, suitcases, pillows, towels, wash clothes, toothpaste, shampoo, brushes, combs, mouthwash, hygiene produces, gas cards, grocery cards, etc. Even a donation as simple as a decorative bag to carry girls personal items to school can help so as not to be singled out as a homeless teen. Crossroad together with Project Reach is making a difference in peoples’ lives.