Changed Lives

My name is Skyler and I was kicked out of my house when I was 16.

For a few years, I lived with friends. My friend’s dad asked me if i wanted to do some meth. That’s when I started using hard drugs. By the time I was 20, I was living on the street, staying high to escape the misery.

I was walking down the road with my guitar one day, when Jerry Bumgardner stopped and asked me if I could play guitar. I said yes, and he told me I needed to come to Crossroads Mission Avenue. I had been to several other shelters, but I never stayed long because they were dangerous. But Jerry was genuine. You can tell when somebody really cares, and he did. I could tell from the way he talked and the emotion he put into his handshake.

At first it was scary, but I could tell that the staff here wanted good things for me. This place is honestly unique. Most shelters aren’t like this one. Most people don’t care like these people care. If I didn’t have them believing in me when I couldn’t believe in myself, I would  be back out there, high, probably dead. Instead, I’ve been clean for three months, and I don’t have any urges to go out and use.

Right now, I’m working for Crossroads doing maintenance, and going to night school to complete my GED. I want to pursue social work and work with at-risk youth.

To the good people  who are helping financially to keep Crossroads’ doors open, thank you. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have this opportunity. This place is becoming my heart, my soul. It’s everything to me, and I’m so grateful.

Chronic pain — both physical and emotional — left Melody seeking relief. She found it in a bottle . . . for four decades.

When she lost her job and her home in early 2020, she came to Crossroads for help. She arrived in mid-March, just before the pandemic changed everything. Our guests were quarantined and were not allowed to leave the premises. For Melody, that was a blessing in disguise.

“There are a couple of gas stations nearby,” she says. “Without quarantine, I would’ve gone over there to buy a drink. But as the days kept clicking by, I realized that I like being sober. So you could say COVID saved my life.” And Crossroads too. “I came here a very broken person,” Melody says. Multiple auto accidents had left her with debilitating neck and back pain. And alcohol had wrecked much of the rest of her body.

She initially resisted the faith-based parts of the Mission’s ministry, but God’s love eventually broke through. “And then I surrendered my life to Him.”

As a volunteer, Melody is now a leader in our Hastings kitchen, and she hopes to land a similar paid position with the Mission soon.

“It’s been an amazing journey,” she says.

Thank you for making such journeys possible for our hurting neighbors.

A year before checking into the Mission, Jeff had just come home from serving in the military. He felt his life was on track. Then things took a sudden turn as Jeff spent more and more time with friends who were using drugs. He became addicted and blew through his savings.

His father tried to help him by getting him a job working for a family friend out of state, away from his friends. But his addiction ruined this new opportunity, too. He lost his job and was arrested for drug possession.

“I had to make one of the worst phone calls of my life,” Jeff says. “I had to call my dad and tell him I was in jail.” He knew he needed to make a change. “I asked Jesus for forgiveness of my sin, and asked Him to be my Lord and Savior,” Jeff says.

After serving his sentence, Jeff returned home and, at his father’s request, began treatment at the Mission. “I couldn’t have been in a better place,” Jeff says. “I can honestly say that Crossroads probably saved my life.”