About Us

Our Mission

Through the development of programs dedicated to creating self-stable solutions for St. Joseph’s most vulnerable community members, The Crossing is committed to changing lives and the community.

Our Values

  • We believe St. Joseph, MO is a mission field we have been called to serve.
  • We believe that everyone has within them the capacity to change the life of someone else.
  • We believe that we are called to join together as a community and become the brothers and sisters God intended us to be.
  • We believe that every person deserves to be seen for their potential, not judged based on circumstance.
  • We believe in investing in the lives of the most vulnerable.
  • We believe that by walking alongside someone, we can truly understand, and through understanding we can develop solutions that result in a better community for everyone.
  • Above all, we believe that each day we have the opportunity to share the love of Christ by serving others.

Our Story

The Crossing Urban Mission Campus (the campus) began as a response to an immediate need for emergency shelter for homeless individuals in St. Joseph, MO. In May of 2018, the community received notification that the Salvation Army would be changing its model to focus on homeless families, which would leave a gap in services for the largest population of individuals experiencing homelessness – single adults. In response to this news, the day center, ran by Community Missions, and the Crossing, founded by Danny Gach, worked to develop an overnight emergency shelter. The emergency shelter opened its doors in October of 2018.


The shelter met the basic need of emergency housing but in order to impact homelessness in a more meaningful way, more needed to be done. In August of 2019, Community Missions closed the day center and by October of 2019, The Crossing redesigned their overnight emergency shelter. The redesign changed the model of care to a 24 hour shelter with fully integrated services which would address the immediate need and would also work to connect people experiencing homelessness with the resources needed to successfully transition to self-sustainable stability. This redesign was made possible through community partnerships with Mosaic Life Care, St. Joseph Health Department, St. Joseph Police Department and Community Action Partnership (CAP) St. Joe. Funding for the shelter ended with loss of funding due to Covid-19.


The Crossing is in one of the largest food deserts in St. Joseph, with the closest store to get healthy food being almost three miles away. During this time, Second Harvest Community Food Bank was redesigning their operations and closing the Fresh Start Food Pantry, which was the community’s weekly access to food. The Crossing became a partner agency of Second Harvest and opened the Nutrition Center in July 2019. The Nutrition Center purchased a refrigerated box truck which makes daily trips to grocery stores for food rescue. This food, along with donations from the community and Second Harvest, provides weekly access to produce, meat, dairy and shelf-sustainable food.


The story doesn’t end there. In January 2021, the campus opened the Re-Entry Program. This special program will address the ongoing need for additional support for men who are homeless, recovering from addiction, or being released from prison. The Crossing will continue to seek opportunities to help individuals meet their full potential. With the support of the community and the dedication of volunteers and donors, homelessness is being transformed.

Working For a Cause

Showing God’s Love

The Crossing provides love and support to individuals that are struggling with poverty, homelessness, and those exiting prison by offering non-judgmental support, assistance to meet their basic needs and a connection to local agencies that can further assist them. The Crossing is willing to take the hand of those in need and walk with them toward a higher level of self-sufficiency.

Workforce Development

The Crossing provides opportunities for improve the employability of the under-served and re-entry population. The Crossing works to offer employment at different levels- from a day-laborer program to skills training through a pre-apprenticeship program, Home Builders’ Institute, a partnership with Habitat for Humanities. The Crossing assists individuals to understand and improve their “soft-skills” such as time management, appropriate clothing and hygiene so that they will be successful in the jobs they choose.

Food Rescue

The Crossing works with local grocery stores to provide an outlet for food that the stores are not going to sell. The Crossing provides a truck and a truck driver to make daily visits to these stores and picks up the items. The food is taken to the Nutrition Center for sorting and distribution to the community. Individuals may receive a box of food every week.

Ending the Prison Cycle

Individuals exiting prison must have a home-plan that consists of a place to live. This can be with family or friends. They need to also find employment to be able to support themselves. This is a steep hill for them to climb, especially after being in prison for several years. The community changes, technology changes and often the families are not ready for reunification. The ex-offender often finds themselves staying at the homeless shelter when their home-plans are not successful, and they do not know how to take the next steps to self-sufficiency. The Crossing’s Re-entry Program works with the local prison to find candidates that would like to join the program. They ex-offenders who chose the 90-120 day program will have housing, food, and clothing while they work toward employment and an overall healing process for themselves and their families.

Hunger

The Crossing’s Nutrition Center strives to eliminate hunger for the people they serve by providing weekly access to healthy food that includes produce, dairy, meat, and shelf-stable food at no cost. The Crossing is a partner with Second Harvest Food Bank. The Crossing provides a box of food for families based which will assist in stretching their food budget. The Crossing will also be starting cooking classes to educate people about creatively cooking food provided by the Nutrition Center. The Nutrition Center is also provides items such as basic hygiene, laundry detergent, feminine hygiene, and other supplies that cannot be purchased with Food Stamps when they are available through community donations. The Nutrition Center operates with 100% volunteers and needs volunteers to help support this program.

Our Leadership

Roger Lenander – Executive Director

Board of Directors


PRESIDENT: Rev. Chris Olson
VICE PRESIDENT: Jeff Langdon
TREASURER: Judy Hausman
SECRETARY: Frank Stanley
Bill Brinton Ken Korell Carl Smith
Kim Jennings Bryan Laborde