Crossroads Mission receives $200,000 from Ducey’s office
Funds will allow organization to continue helping community’s homeless and addicted
Since opening its doors in 1959, Crossroads Mission has been a beacon of hope and healing for individuals facing homelessness and addiction. With the recent support of Gov. Doug Ducey in the form of $200,000, the mission can continue building on that legacy.
“We were very, very encouraged, because the summer is always a tough time for us,” said Crossroads Chief Executive Officer Myra Garlit. “With COVID, it has been especially hard on us. It couldn’t have come at a better time.”
The mission incurred a significant loss in March, around the time the COVID-19 pandemic began, when heavy rains flooded the family shelter, moving individuals housed there to the dining room and other areas around the mission. According to Garlit, while reconstruction on the shelter was supposed to be completed months ago, constraints created by the pandemic have delayed the project.
“We’ve just run up against so many difficulties and here we are in July, and we’re not able to meet the shelter needs of families right now,” said Garlit. “We still have families, we still have children, we still house the homeless men – it’s just not the numbers that we usually deal with.”
In the interim, the funding from Gov. Ducey will help Garlit and her team answer questions like, “What do they need?” and “How can we help them?”
On a small scale, they’ll be able to provide more individuals with “things they might use in the elements,” such as insulated lunch boxes and pillows.
“On a larger scale, I want to help those connected with the mission get established in the community with the housing,” said Garlit.
The funding will also help the mission keep its cooling stations running so that homeless individuals continue to have access to cold water and some relief from the heat. These stations are located across
the street from Crossroads Mission at 944 S. Arizona Ave. and at the Crossroads Mission Thrift Store, located at 550 W. 8th St.
Having served with Crossroads
Mission for 21 years, first as a treatment director and then as executive director and CEO, Garlit said she’s blessed to be able to “help the homeless and the addicted” in the community.
“Crossroads serving as a place to help the addicted in the community is one of our specialties, as well as helping the homeless,” she said. “People think that we just house the homeless and let them hang out, but that’s not true at all. We don’t just give to the people that come here – we try to help the homeless and get them to come in and change their life.”