Our Why

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.

On September 1, 2020, The Emergency Shelter began operations under Community Action Partnership due to The Crossing’s loss of funding. The Crossing continues to provide meals for the shelter guests every night through their Shelter Meals program, made possible through a partnership between The Crossing, Open Door Food Kitchen, Buchanan County, and Mosaic.

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 is set to open the Re-Entry Program. This special program will address the ongoing need for additional support for individuals who are being released from prison. The Re-Entry Program is being designed in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity, the Home Builders Institute, Western Reception Diagnostic Correctional Center (WRDCC), Probation and Parole and local businesses to provide stable housing and on-site job training for 32 individuals every 90-120 days. At the end of the program, individuals will be certified in specific trades and strong candidates for employment.

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.

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