Stabilizing Families

“I will work more overtime, somehow, so we can pay something each week. We will do whatever it takes, if you can just help us until we’re able to pay you back.” Crossroads Ministry received the phone call on August 5, 2015, from a working mother whose two teenagers currently attend Estes Park public schools. Her husband’s disability makes household income erratic, but he does professional work in his home office to supplement the family’s earnings as his health permits. The mother works as many overtime hours as her full-time job will allow, as well as an additional part-time job to help ends meet.

The crisis was straightforward. The family’s primary vehicle was completely out of commission. They had applied a significant down payment toward the repair, but more than $2,500 worth of work remained in order for the vehicle to be operable. Their other vehicle, while technically operational for the moment, had now deteriorated to the point that it was unsafe to drive.

A local mechanic confirmed that the cost of repairs on the second vehicle exceeded its value. The only logical course would be to repair the first vehicle which, apart from the one major repair, would be reliable and safe.

But the cash-strapped family had no way to pay.

At stake was much more than a car repair. The woman’s job – and the family’s livelihood – was hanging in the balance.

One of the priorities of Crossroads Ministry is stabilizing a resident family in crisis by providing short-term assistance, although our help never comes in the form of cash or a loan directly to a client. The family did qualify for services from Crossroads, since their household income totaled 185% or less of the federal poverty level. Still, even though we do assist with transportation needs from time to time – including critical vehicle repairs, the cost of this repair made our desire to help this family in need especially daunting.

In this instance, it was one of Crossroads Ministry’s most valuable services – case management – that made the difference. At our request, a valuable partner in ministry – the Estes Park Extension of the Salvation Army, agreed to pick up slightly more than one-third of the cost of the repair. “Bright Christmas,” with special concern for the two school-age children, also pitched in with a significant portion. The mechanic did his part by offering a discount on the total cost, and  – thanks to the generosity of our many donors and friends, Crossroads picked up the balance of the repair out of our own program budget.

Thanks to caring partnerships, a family on the verge of calamity remains stable and intact.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again, if two lie down together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

–from Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 (NRSV)

Sowing Seeds

1. Mr. and Mrs. E. first became clients of Crossroads in December 2010, when they received about 50 pounds of food from our pantry. At the time, they subsisted on a small pension and disability check, as well as food stamps. As continuing Crossroads clients, they completed our financial self-sufficiency and energy conservation classes. Through the course of the next four years, they received approximately 3,500 pounds of food, along with additional assistance in the form of vouchers for gasoline and rent, as well as miscellaneous household items (linens, toiletries, and similar). On August 5, 2015, Crossroads received the following note from Mr. and Mrs. E, addressed to our case manager: 

“We can’t thank you enough for all the help you have given us over the past 4 years – it’s been a hard 4 years of financial roller coastering… Both of our Social Security checks have begun, so we are finally where we can be on our own. Enclosed is a small ‘thank you’ donation to this food ministry – we won’t need to be in the program anymore, but we will never, never be able to thank you enough for blessing us – touching our lives – meeting our needs – and blessing others…”

Enclosed with the unexpected thank you card was a sacrificial gift in the form of a personal check for $50.

2. When a local lodge recently hosted a sale to benefit Crossroads, I stopped by to offer a word of appreciation. I was greeted at the front desk by an employee, Ms. M., who spontaneously shared her experience: “I can’t thank Crossroads enough for the difference you made for me. During the first two years after my divorce, my situation was desperate. I do not know how I would have survived that terrible time without Crossroads.” Her employment and living situation is now stable and she is no longer an active client, but her appreciation for our ministry remains fresh and vital.

3. At a July 2015 Cultural Arts Council concert at Performance Park, a young member of one of the bands who were donating their time and talent to benefit Crossroads Ministry called me aside backstage for a private conversation. “A few years ago when our child was first born,” she confided, “my husband and I suffered some major setbacks with our employment and financial situation.” Her eyes welled up with tears as she continued: “We were clients of Crossroads for about a year, and your food pantry helped us make it through until we could get back on our feet.” Though they have not been active Crossroads clients since that time, she was glad to have an opportunity to share her musical talents as a way of saying “thank you” for the impact that Crossroads Ministry had on her family’s well-being.

The results are not always so dramatic or visible, of course. Sometimes it seems that the cycle of poverty is endless and the needs are perpetuated from generation to generation. But other times, as these and many other stories attest, our wide range of ministries bears fruit:

• for long-term clients receiving a variety of assistance;

• for individuals or families who suffer temporary financial straits and count on Crossroads for short-term help;

• for persons passing through who need a little boost to get from where they’ve come to where they’re heading.

Jesus began to teach many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

–from Mark 4:2–9 (NRSV)

Far Away From Home... But Not Alone

He remembers serving his country in combat decades ago as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was wounded in action. Although he is only 70 years old, other memories come and go, occasionally vivid but often confused.

Crossroads Ministry received the call from Estes Park Medical Center late Friday afternoon. A dementia patient who managed to drive all the way from Utah had crashed his car about 1:00 a.m. The vehicle was totaled but, miraculously, his injuries were minor.

“Yes,” the Crossroads Ministry program director replied to the hospital caseworker. “Crossroads can help.”

Crossroads Ministry soon ascertained that the kindly man’s nearest relative, a distraught sister back in Utah, lacked financial resources and did not own a car. That meant beginning with the most immediate needs: transportation from the hospital to Twin Owls Motor Lodge, which partners with Crossroads Ministry to provide emergency lodging, as well as some food from the Crossroads Ministry pantry.

With 5:00 p.m. and the weekend fast approaching, efforts turned to quickly mobilizing whatever additional resources might be available for someone stranded far from home but not able to negotiate transportation without close supervision. Personnel from two different state agencies were cooperative and sympathetic, but the only option they could offer at that point was to arrange for a 72-hour evaluation hold by the police.

Crossroads Ministry staff determined together that the kind gentleman could be better served in other ways. While the client recuperated in his motel room, our program director worked with Bob’s Towing to retrieve the man’s personal belongings from his wrecked car – including a priceless small framed 100-year-old photograph of the gentleman’s beloved grandfather. He continued to work with the man’s sister until arrangements could be made to secure assistance from her neighbors.

From time to time on Saturday, the Crossroads Ministry program director stopped by to check in on our guest, while officers from the Estes Park Police Department kindly agreed to our request to help keep a friendly eye out.

In the meantime, two caring souls drove through the night from Utah, arriving in Estes Park at 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning. They resisted Crossroads Ministry’s offer of assistance with gasoline, but graciously accepted our invitation to rest at the motel for a few hours before their long drive home.

Monday morning brought the glad news that the gentleman – who might otherwise have been incarcerated for no reason other than his own inability to adequately care for himself – had safely arrived home, much to the relief of his caring sister.

“You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19, NRSV). What a privilege it is for Crossroads Ministry to return kindness and render vital assistance to a faithful veteran and priceless child of God – one of many lives, both local residents and the occasional sojourner, touched each week by the grace of God and the faithfulness of those who love and serve others in Christ’s name.