Podcast Episode 43. Crossroads Ministries: You Have What You Have Until You Get Where You are Going

Transcript

Season 4 Episode 7: Crossroads Ministries: You Have What You Have Until You Get Where You are Going

Craig: Well guys, welcome back to another episode of the Robertson and Easterling podcast. As you know, if you’ve listened to any of our shows, we talk about stories. We tell people’s life stories, the work that I do. I sit with people at a season of time and transition. Today, I’m here with my friend and co host and sponsor Eva Hunter from LifeWorks. Eva, thanks for being here as usual.

Eva: Thank you so much for having me. I love co-hosting with you,

Craig: Eva, how is story important to the work that you do at Lifeworks?

Eva: Well, I think it’s really important for all individuals to know their story. Where they come from, what has happened to them, what has happened through them, to begin to connect the dots so that an individual can correct the dots.

Craig: And today we have two ladies who are joining us. We have Shannon and Keisha, and these are folks like, like everyone who can hear my voice right now, who has a story and their story intersected at a place called Crossroads. So Keisha, thanks for being with us today.

Keisha: It is my pleasure to be here. Thank you all for having me.

Craig: And Shannon. I really appreciate you taking the time and energy to be with us today.

Shannon: Yeah, I’m excited about it.

Craig: OK. Keisha. Let’s dig in. Tell us your story.

Keisha: Okay. My name is Kesha Vaughns and I’m 42 years old and I’m from Moss Point, Mississippi. My story kind of began when I was around 12 or 13 and I was very disobedient. Didn’t want to listen to my mother and you know, the path that I chose is what led me to going to prison for 18 years. My mother was a single mother who raised her daughter with two of us, me and my sister and my brother and she did the best she could. But at that point in my life at 12, I started experimenting with drugs. Smoking marijuana and sneaking and drinking and not hanging with the right group of people, which led to me being very promiscuous and ultimately led to me being pregnant at the age of 15.

At that time, I still did not want to listen to my mother. And you would think childhood would have slowed me down. I’m responsible for someone, but he didn’t. After having my son, my mother took the role from being my mother to his grandmother, to the primary take carer of my son. I still continued to be disobedient and run and just do whatever I wanted to do.

Well, it led to me doing more than just marijuana. I was doing cocaine and eventually smoking crack and it led to me catching five armed robbery charges at the age of 22. And I got sentenced to prison for 20 years. And during that course of my prison stay, I was still doing drugs and still, you know, just doing whatever I wanted to do.

Craig: Now, Keisha, help me understand that. How after being incarcerated, did you still have access to drugs?

Keisha: In the Mississippi Department of Corrections, the ability to obtain drugs is very easy because, you know, you have the people that bring the drugs in to you during visitation, or the guards would bring it in if you paid them a certain amount of money. And you know, it’s a world in itself. So being in prison is not going to rehabilitate you because the same drugs and things that you are able to obtain on the streets, you can obtain in prison.

Eva: Well, that’s interesting. I did not know that.

Craig: So talk about your time in prison.

Keisha: The first year was initial shock actually, knowing that this is where I’m going to be and the friends I thought I had, they were nowhere to be found the only person that was there was my mother, the same person that had been trying to tell me throughout the course of my life, “Kesha, slow down. He should, these are not your friends, Kesha, you know, I’m, I’m trying to look out for you. You don’t see what I see” but I still chose to do what Kesha wanted to do. And that led me to being in prison. And, you know, after that first year I kinda just went with the flow of things and, you know, getting paperwork, staying in trouble, fighting this stuff and about in 2000, I stayed in red and white. I got busted down and I was in red and white for three and a half years. Red and white is closed custody. It means that you’re not allowed to be in general population because of your institutional behavior. So they lock you down in a zone with other violent offenders. So in red and white, custody, you know, we’re still able to get access to drugs.

My first time doing crystal meth was in 2012 and I continued to do drugs while I was in prison. In 2019, I got tired of being in closed custody. I got tired of doing the drugs, I just, I wanted to be in the population. I didn’t get any more paperwork. And after six months, I was allowed to upgrade. And when I got my black and white, no custody pants bag, I went to the yard and I worked in a kitchen and I did fairly well for a minute but then I started back smoking marijuana, the K2 paper, the spice. And I went to Washington County, which is in Greenville, Mississippi. When I went to Washington County, I met a young lady named Samantha Woods and she was telling me about Crossroads Ministry. Once I got to Greenville, I started seeing, you know, God really was, He had a purpose for my life. And after I, me, after I got introduced to Samantha and she was telling me about this. I like, okay. But I still wanted to do what I wanted to do.

Craig: And Kesha, how old were you when you got transferred to Greenville?

Keisha: I was 39. I did 16 years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections and my last two years in prison I did in Greenville. In, Washington County Regional Correctional Facility.

Craig: And at the time you had spent about half your life in prison.

Keisha: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I did.

Craig: And talk about the transition that you made when you made it to Washington County.

Keisha: Washington County is a privately ran facility and instead of 120 women in a zone, it’s only 50. They have a whole lot more structure up there and it’s a little bit more freedom. You have different vocational classes you can attend, Bible classes. It was just a lot more to do up there

Craig: And talk about the change in your life that took place while you were in.

Keisha: The change that took place in my life was like I said, I met Samantha was a young lady that had been through crossroad ministry. And, um, it was time for me. My release date was coming up and Samantha Woods was like, “Keisha, you know, a lot has changed since 2003. And I really feel like, instead of trying to go home, you should give a Crossroads Ministry a try”. So I was like, okay. And I kept thinking about it, thinking about it. So I got an application to fill it out and I got in contact with Ms. Vicki, Demoney and Miss Vicky. She did a phone interview with me and she asked me about my sentence, what I was in prison for had I had any paperwork. And I was completely honest with Ms. Vicki about, you know, the numerous paperwork that I had. And she was like, well, you know, Keisha, if you come here, you won’t have to do those things. So I’m like, okay, I’ve been honest. I’ve told her about this fine. I’ve told her about this drug use. I’ve told this lady everything that I’ve done throughout the course of my prison stay and she still accepted me. So June of 27, I got released from prison and on the ride there, I’m looking at. All these homeless people and all these rundown builders in Jackson, I’m like, oh my Lord, where am I going? And, but I still trusted and believed that God had something in store for me. And I saw Ms. Vicki. She was standing there with her arms open and she said, Keisha and ever since then, you know, my life has taken a whole different course, and it’s not because of me. It’s the willingness to submit to something greater than myself.

Eva: What have you learned about yourself since being at crossroads

Keisha: Since being at crossroads, I know that, you know, There are second chances in life. Amen. Then I am loved despite my flaws. I know that if you have a good support system behind you, we have great mentors and counselors. They come out to crossroads. We have numerous people, they just volunteer to try to make an impact. If you just only make an impact, one person, you make a difference. And when I saw that, I didn’t have to have my guard up all the time then I was around, you know, civilized people that didn’t have a motive behind everything they did.

It allowed me to let those guards down and embrace what God had for me.

Eva: Thank you, Keisha. Well welcome. Shannon. Tell us how you got involved with crossroads ministry.

Shannon: About seven years into my marriage, like some marriages do, we hit a wall and we had a crisis in our marriage that led us into couples counseling, and we stayed in couples counseling long enough to realize that we had some unhealthy behavior, but we still loved each other and we were going to stay together. It’s now what I refer to as our band aid counseling. And so, but that fortunately as years went on and we stayed together and sorted through some hardships, that open door of counseling led my husband into a men’s group where he became known and he had accountability. I’m so grateful for that looking back, because one of the wives of a man in that group asked me to lunch. And she called and said, Hey, I’d love to get together and share our story. And I thought, oh, absolutely. I can share my Jesus story with anybody. That’s great. So we showed up and this friend shared way more than what the Lord had done in her life. Her story began in her childhood and the good in the heart of childhood that led to decisions that she made in her teens and led to who she married and then hardships and marriage. And through her story, there were some very, some, a lot of things that I recognized them were familiar for me and in the intimacy disorder that I had, I wanted to run. I literally wanted to get up from the lunch table and run from her, but there was something that kept drawing me. This friend had connections in her story. She understood her behavior. There was redemption in her words and freedom that I really, really wanted. And so her sharing her story was in hindsight, so valuable, but inside I was struggling.

Craig:So you used the word, I want you to help me and our listener understand intimacy disorder. Talk about that. What is that? What was that to you?

Shannon: Intimacy disorder to me meant that I really couldn’t really sit one-on-one and be vulnerable and be fully known. But someone that was really intimidating. I had years of practice of being compliant and being a people pleaser and making sure people liked me, but to be truly known was really difficult to sit in.

Craig: And Keisha, just to pull you back into the conversation, I heard you say something similar. When you were accepted with open arms to crossroads, that you had been completely transparent about the struggles and difficulties that you had not only in your life prior to incarceration, but even throughout that period of time.

Keisha: Once you’re in that type of environment, you have to just really tune everything else out. It’s a whole different world and you have to, you know, self-medicate or whatever you have to do to do the time, because there’s a lot of mental anguish that people endure while incarcerated. There’s a lot of, you know, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and you just have to find a way deep in yourself to, okay. I got to do and indeed that’s what you do but once you get out, you know, you kind of still have that same mind frame until you get around some people that you kind of see really want to help you really want to have your best interests at heart. And then slowly, because I’ve never been to counseling, I’ve never been to a therapist, I’ve never just openly talked to anybody about everything that I’ve been through except there at crossroads. And it really showed me that I had baggage I had to deal with. So far, everything’s been going good. I’ve been able to open up and talk. I have a counselor, Bethany Glass and she’s with… and she is so awesome at any moment I can call her and she comes or we can face time. And it’s good to have that type of support system to know that you’re not alone. Miss Vicki Demoney she’s very involved with each girl at crossroads and. Ms Renee and Ms. Maria, the house mom, made sure that we have everything that we need. If you need one-on-one counseling with anybody, you know, they made preparations to make sure you get dressed because they want to have your best interests at heart. They want you to get where they want you to work on your faith and just know you’re valuable.

Craig: Keisha, what I heard you say is not that different than I think what a lot of people who, you know, are just living their everyday life, that the difficulties associated with your situation, put you in a point to where you had to medicate to make it through kind of the day in and the day out.It wasn’t until you separated yourself from that situation that you could start to see more clearly.

Eva: Yeah, we call it, she was in survival mode for many, many years. And I suspect, I wonder at crossroads, you must feel a lot of safety and security there.

Keisha: The ministry is very in the middle of nowhere, where you have time, you don’t have any distractions. We have a pond in a bag and you really. Go out and sit in that quiet time. That, that time that you get to just listen, just listen and look for signs that God is he has you placed there for a reason. It’s very peaceful. It’s very safe. And the atmosphere, you feel the love. Those women that are at their crossroads, they really love you. And you, once you feel it, genuine, agape with no restraints. It makes you want to be there. It makes you want to strive to do better. And that’s what I’ve done so far.

Craig: Shannon, I want to talk a little bit more about your story cause I heard a little bit of the same thing that you were going through life and that you had had some struggles in your relationship, which led you to a friend who allowed you to be more fully known and talk about the transition that happened in your life, starting with those interactions.

Shannon: So thankfully I didn’t run from that friend. I did leave the lunch, but I called her again. There was just something about her story and the freedom that she had experienced and that she expressed that I knew something, that was, it was contagious. I wanted that. And so I called her and just said, Hey, there were so many points of your story that I could have said me too. And so I would love to talk more about that. And it was so scary for me to be able to say, Hey, these are some hardships that I’ve experienced that I’ve put on lockdown that I don’t want anybody to know and so thankfully she said, Hey, why don’t we meet together on a regular basis. And we can talk about lots of different things, which led us to a workbook on codependency and identified and with a lot of those struggles and those behaviors. And so we worked through that workbook and I gained a lot of awareness about my own life and made some connections of why I acted the way I have, and, and maybe what led to some of the hardships that I’ve experienced and the choices that I’d made. So that road is now what I know is recovery. And so through doing that initial workbook, every time I got stuck and I felt like the Lord revealed something else that needed to be healed in my life, I reached out to a counselor and said, Hey, I really need help with this.

Craig: Shannon used the word recovery, Eva, tell our listeners and me what that means.

Eva: You know, we like to term it as it’s recovering the life that God intended all along, but things happen to us and through us, by our own choices and we begin like what Keisha was saying, we begin to medicate in some way, or we use some kind of coping mechanism that are typically unhealthy coping mechanisms, whether we’ll fight or flight or freeze in order to survive. All those traumas are stored in the limbic part of the brain, which is where we’ll fight flight or freeze. We are born with a fully developed MIG Della, and then over time we lose. When that gets tapped into all those traumas, we lose access to the prefrontal cortex, which is the thinking part of our brain and until those traumas are looked at and processed and begin to heal, we will live in survival mode for a long time until we have better coping mechanisms, but what is needed is safety and security. And in order to do that, and what Keisha is describing is that’s where she is at this point in her life at crossroads, with lots of safety and security, lots of support, people that love her, that truly care about her in her best interest. I think her mama did too all along the way. You know, I like to think that parents, in most cases, my dad passed away this past July, July of 2021 and many times I’ll have a fleeting thought that no one has ever loved me the way my father left me. He had lots of brokenness. However, he loved me as much as he loved, I had every ounce of his ability to laugh.

Craig: You’re talking about your road to recovery and talk about how that led to crossroads

Shannon: The gift that that friend gave me that first day. I had no idea in the process, how valuable it was, what she offered me in that gift was safety and compassion, honesty,and love.

And so, she gave me this space, to be. She wasn’t trying to fix me and she wasn’t trying to push me beyond what I needed. She trusted the Lord that I would in time in that safety grow and change and find healthier behaviors. And so, because of that and how it impacted my life, I knew that I wanted to be able to give that to other women, whether they were in marriage or regardless of what their recovery looks like, whether they were recovering from drugs or alcohol, because in my mind, we’re all one step from the ditch. And so it doesn’t matter what struggle people have had. We’re all struggling. And so the way we medicate looks different, but our pain is the same. And so I knew I wanted to be able to offer that to someone else. And so I’d kept hearing about crossroads through pinelake church and different just around town. Didn’t really know what crossroads was but thankfully, an email went out to my husband that crossroads was looking to, they partnered with another ministry called the net and the net trains, mentors, and they employ counselors to go into other non-profit ministries. So I signed up to be trained about the net to be a mentor at crossroads. And so when I did that, it was the best training tool that I had seen from a job to church training. It was just really well done and educated me a lot on just how to have boundaries, but also how to love well, and so I stepped into crossroads the very first time mentoring and fell in love with the ministry.

Craig: So we’re here with my friend, Eva and Keisha and Shannon and we’re talking about people in recovery. We have listened to Keisha talk about the road that she took as a teen mom who stumbled into drug addiction and criminal behavior and that led her to jail and she talked about the hardship associated with being there and the survival mode that it required, to make it through the daily life of being incarcerated. And she talked about how, you know, she was looking at stepping out of that environment and what that would be for her and she found love and acceptance and a place called crossroads. And we also have a similar story from Shannon, about a person who was doing life and had found hardships and also through trusted counsel, she was able to break free and was looking for a place to, to give back and she found that through crossroad. Shannon, talke to our listener about what crossroads is, what happens there and how you’ve plugged in?

Shannon: Crossroads is a faith based ministry right here in Madison county, that is a reentry program for ladies who’ve been incarcerated that are looking to reestablish their life. When I came into crossroads, one of the first things I noticed that impacted me the most was just the love that’s there, the safety that’s there. So what crossroads does is these ladies come from prison, typically dropped off sometimes in prison clothing and have nothing. They don’t have legal documents. They don’t have personal clothes on and they certainly don’t have money. And so one of the first things the lady gets is personal items, um, that they need, they have shelter and food, obviously in a safe environment they’re provided for their physical needs and then they’re provided for legal things, documents like getting their driver’s license and then typically these ladies have funds that they have to pay. And I had no idea until I got involved. Just what a complex cycle that is to pay back funds when you don’t have a license to get a job and you don’t, you need money to be able to get all these legal documents. So crossroads helps supply those as well.

Craig: Keisha, talk about your experience. I heard you say that you had been in jail, that you had gotten transferred to Washington county, and that you had gotten connected with crossroads and that you, you took a bus ride and you, and you showed up there. Talk about your experience.

Keisha: Well, my first day at Crossroads was very surreal because I was invited to a pool party and it was very interesting. And,you know, I knew some of the girls that were at crossroads and everybody just made me feel welcomed. I was supplied with everything that I needed. Ms. Vicki took me shopping to give me the clothing items that I needed.

Craig: Did you have anything coming out of prison?

Keisha: I had the outfit that I had got, you know, some jeans and a shirt that they supplied coming out of prison and so you basically have your underclothes and what you have and a few pictures, my Bible and stuff like that. But you know, as far as wardrobe, shoes and stuff, you know, you just have what you have until you get to where you’re going and Ms Renee and miss Vicky. They, as soon as you get there and they want to know your size in clothes, bras, shoes, and they network with so many people to make sure that all the girls have everything that they need. Also, Ms. Vicki, she’s very compassionate with us and she’s very understanding and she’ll fight for you. As long as she sees you trying to fight, she’s going to fight with you. And during my stay through crossroads, I’ve had excellent volunteers to come out to teach me about bees. Saving money, the boundaries, you have to set boundaries for yourself. And once you set those boundaries, you know what you will and won’t allow, and it comes back to accountability.

Okay, if you do this, these are the consequences. After I completed the first four months of the program, I’m in the second part of the program where I actually get out to go and work. And at this moment I’m working at Tays barbecue, which is a blessing because I have five armed robbery charges. So Brian Brister he’s in partnership with the Tays barbecue business.

He didn’t look at my charges. I was recommended through another girl that was at crossroads Jessica. She was like, Brian, she’s a hard worker. She’s been in prison 18 years, you know, would you just give her a shot? And that’s what he did. And that meant a lot because being a convicted felon, you know, a lot of places will not hire you, you know? And I’m just grateful and thankful. God allowed him to have compassion for me and many other people at crossroads, you know, I’m the second girl to get hired there. So, you know, anybody that is willing to just look past our flaws and just want to just, okay, she’s done her time. Let’s see if she’s really changed, you know, give you the girls opportunities to get a job, because you know, if you don’t have employment, you’re bound to go back and do the same thing that you were doing because you know, you lose your hope but I refuse to lose mine. I have door dash and I’m working at Tays. I’m working for the ministry. I’m tired of existing. I want my life to have purpose and this has plans for me.

Craig: Keisha, what have you learned about yourself as you’ve transitioned out of, out of prison and working through the program at the crossroads ministry and now being out and working and driving, what have you learned about yourself?

Keisha: I learned that I can be independent. I learned that, you know, that God is with me each step of the way, even if I stumble and fall, he’s right there with me and to never give up to always know that, just get through today. If I can just get through today, I’ll let tomorrow worry about itself. It’s not going to always be easy but you gotta keep persevering. You got to keep living. You got to keep, if you want it bad enough. Those are the things that I’ve learned, is the choices. We all have to be accountable for the choices that we make and I choose to live. I choose to be productive. I choose to be an asset to society. I choose not to go back to that lifestyle. I don’t want to be a drug addict. I don’t want to be the whore. I don’t want to be any of that. I want to be somebody that my grandchildren and then my son can be proud of and being there I’ve been given the opportunity to make a mess with my family because of everything that I’ve done to them. You know, my mother is still my best cheerleader rooting for me the whole way. My son I’m building my relationship with him and I have two beautiful grandchildren that I got the opportunity to meet. So I know that they see that I’m doing better than I have changed. And it’s only God working through me that’s allowing this to happen. So I’m very grateful and thankful for the opportunity to be at a crossroads in giving a second chance at life.

Craig: I think a lot of people who are hearing your voice right now, we’ll hear a lot of gratitude. And they’ll also hear about someone who is doing their very best to live in the present.

And I think that we all could, could learn lessons from, from you Keisha and through the trials and tribulations that you’ve experienced. So thank you for, for being so vulnerable and bravely sharing that. Shannon, talk a little bit more if you’re not inspired by what you’re hearing from Keisha, you’re just not paying attention to what we’ve been talking about for the past 30 minutes or so, but Shannon, so a person in life transition gets off the bus and they walk into the doors of crossroads. They often don’t have anything, no legal documents, no driver’s license, no clothes, no toiletries. Talk about the programs at crossroads and kind of the road that a person travels through the minute.

Shannon: As you said they provided for their physical needs and then what has happened in the last year that the Lord has done is we have been able to also help with their emotional needs by providing one-on-one mentoring and counselors through the net ministry and also crossroads has volunteers that come out every week, the same teachers. And as Keisha mentioned, they get taught computer classes. They get taught about boundaries. They have Bible classes that they’re required to go to. So the first four months are really just them being poured into and given them a safe place.

Craig: You used the word boundary, so help our listener understand what you mean when you use that.

Shannon: So a boundary to me looks like valuing myself enough to say no, when I need to protect myself and not always be trying to people, please. And

Eva: I loved how Keisha described her boundary. I mean, she talked about these boundaries. This is what I will accept. This is what I won’t accept. This is what I will do. This is what I won’t do. I mean, that’s really what boundaries are like lines up with our value system. I also heard her say, you know, right today she’s living one day at a time. Tomorrow is going to take care of herself. That is good recovery my friend.

Craig: Women like Keisha are being poured in through the ministry. Their physical needs are being cared for. They’re being connected with a mentor, with a counselor, talk about how they progress.

Shannon: At that point, they’ll have a graduation ceremony that they’ve completed in the first four months. We want to celebrate everything that these ladies accomplish. And so they had a graduation ceremony that’s typically in the church where they’re mentors and people can come and support them. And that’s at the end of that four months, they have an opportunity to start employment, to start gaining money for themselves and so sometimes during that first phase one, we call it the first four months. They do have an opportunity to give back to the ministry by working in the store that helps support crossroads ministries called vintage treasures. And so people donate to that ministry and those ladies get to work in the store. They get to learn job training. There’s a manager there that helps them with just all those reentry things back into employment, what employers expect and how to interact with the public. So they get hands-on. That in those first three months. And that just gives back to say for like Keisha, the gratitude of, of crossroads taken them in, but it also gives them an opportunity to be more out in the public and interactive with more people. So that’s the first four months, the next phase two, they have an option to stay if they still don’t have an address that’s safe for them to go to the crossroads offers a face to where they can stay and still have shelter, still have a more, they don’t have to go to classes, but they can get a full-time job. And Ms. Vicki helps them with that employment. And so many companies right now in the area are open to crossroads ladies coming to, to be employed. There AMUC is a big employer of the crossroads ladies and helps support the ministry. And so during that time, that program is up to a year in phase two, to try to gain money, to be independent. So they don’t have to go out and be dependent on an ex-husband or an unsafe, unhealthy family so they can get on their feet. So Keisha’s already gained enough money to buy her own car with her jobs. And so she’s on that road to independence. And so it is like Keisha that comes in and they want something different. They have the resources to do so.

Eva: How many ladies are at crossroads at one time?

Shannon: Phase one. There’s typically about 15 ladies and at phase two, there’s another 10 beds for ladies there. So a total of 25.

Craig: Keisha, what are you looking for?

Keisha: I’m looking forward to just letting God lead me, you know, so far it has been so good now he’s placed different people in my path that have really given me the good support system that I need. And I’m always, you know, looking to better myself. I have three jobs and, you know, I like staying busy, but each week we also have to go to our celebration recovery meetings and that’s important, no matter what we’re doing, we go to our celebrating recovery meetings because there’s also a tool that we need. You know, we get to do a small group in a big group and just being around other people, that’s going through what you’re going through or similar situation that you’re going through. It really helps give you the motivation to say, okay,I can do this. And then we get out. This is my seven month being clean and sober. So if I hadn’t been clean and sober in a long time, and it really feels good to know that I can do this. So I’m going for that year’s chip and, hopefully, continue working. I just like where I’m at right now. You know, I have a very good support system up here and after this, hopefully, you know, I can get my own apartment and have a place for my grandchildren to come and I could get to know them better.

Craig: Eva, I heard Keisha talk about the importance of having other people walking alongside you in the recovery process. Can you speak to that?

Eva: I think that is crucial in that because we were not created to do life alone. We do need someone that maybe is a little further along than us. And also those behind us, you know, in the 12 steps, the last three steps are especially step 12 is we’re giving back what we’ve been given. So. In Kesha’s future, she will mentor other women too. And that will keep her clean and sober as she gives back and she’ll always have, I would imagine, I know for me being in recovery, I will always have women in my life that are authentic and transparent that we truly do life with that. We are intimate with one another in emotional ways. I’m very real with them and they accept me with all my faults and we all need that.

Shannon:  Keisha is already doing that at crossroads. With the new ladies that come in, Keisha is kind of the mentor and the poster child for what crossroads ministries is about just giving back and Keisha also had the opportunity to go into the middle school and the high school to talk with youth about her story and sharing just the day to day staying away from decisions that shaped me.

Craig: That’s awesome. Shannon, in our last few minutes, our listener who has been inspired by Keisha story and your story of plugging in to these ministries, um, tell a listener how they can get involved and what the needs at crossroads are.

Shannon: Crossroads is really about an open to people using their gifts and whatever way that the Lord has called them and given them and their resources, I wouldn’t limit. Need at crossroads to just be for mentors or teachers. Crossroads can use dentists and physicians to help these ladies that are willing to offer their time and their talents. And so the need at crossroads is really about what is stirring in you to give back and serve. And so with that, it can look like so many different things. We always need mentors that are willing to share their life and meet weekly with these ladies and we always need funding, money helps us supply those essential needs that these ladies have when they get.

Craig: Shannon as we’re closing our time to gather any final thoughts.

Shannon: Yeah. I also wanted to mention that we’ve been very blessed over the [00:42:00] last year with churches getting involved with crossroads, being a local mission for small groups to come out and serve, whether it’s to do game night with the ladies or do dinner. We also had some local churches that have helped with redoing parts of the house. Vertical church was amazing and coming in and redoing our rooms of the phase one house and it’s beautiful. Um, so we want to be a partner in local missions to all of the churches, but individual people too, that just fill a stirring that the Lord is wanting to use them in some way.

Craig: Thanks again for being here, Keisha, and thank you, Shannon, for sharing y’alls story.