Crossroads Mission leaders 'shocked' as family shelter hits peak capacity

Source: The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.mini storageOct. 04--After being built just a year ago, the family shelter at Crossroads Mission reached its capacity this week for the first time, leaving leaders "shocked" and scrambling for any extra space to put down mattresses for women and children.Clients behind this upswing in need for emergency shelter say the problem is employers cutting hours due to insurance costs, according to Barbara Rochester, public relations director."It's the economy. People we talk to say their hours were cut back under 30 hours so businesses don't have to pay the insurance," Rochester said. "We have families that have lost their jobs, lost their houses because they can't make rent or payments. Many have no family here and nowhere else to go."The new family shelter, which opened in August 2012, serves a maximum of 100 people. As of Thursday, 104 people were living at the shelter, with 54 of those clients being children. Although they aren't far above capacity, Rochester stressed that leaders thought they would have much longer to grow into the new shelter's capacity -- and there's no sign of that need letting up."We are totally shocked. We thought that with 100 beds we would have more leeway," she said. "We are starting to double up and we're sleeping them on the floor."This trend comes at a bad time for Crossroads, which was forced to reduce its paid staff by half five months ago and is now reporting a decline in overall financial contributions.The men's shelter is also overflowing, but Rochester said that's not a new trend. Men are currently sleeping on beds set up in the chapel. "This happens about this time of year, when the weather is changing and getting cold. People are coming in for a good hot meal."Although they're short on space, Crossroads isn't turning anyone away from the family shelter.迷你倉We don't turn them away. There is always a solution," Rochester said. "Right now we are comfortable with what we have control of, but if we get any worse, we will have to have a meeting and see what to do for a plan B. We don't have a plan B right now."More people living under Crossroad's roof also means a surge in demand for everything from meals to personal care items. "We're doing 50 loads of laundry a day. We need laundry soap and we're desperate for personal care items. We really need toothbrushes," Rochester said. "We also need twin-size sheets and towels."The mission currently serves 400 meals a day."We're getting tremendous support from the community on the food. So many businesses and organizations have held canned food drives," she said. "But we also need fresh foods, like ground beef, chicken, eggs and cheese."She added that the mission is already planning for the meals that will be served during the Three Days of Thanksgiving and Three Days of Christmas events. Each day involves 300 volunteers preparing and serving 1,000 meals, along with 400 more that are delivered."If any organization or church would like to give us a hand, we need the volunteers," Rochester said. "We'll need drivers, too, with the holidays coming up."Donations can be dropped off at Crossroads Mission's main location, 944 S. Arizona Ave. "Remember that the mission is open 24 hours a day. They can drop off anything -- clothes, socks, underwear -- at any time," Rochester said.Financial donations can also be dropped off at the mission or mailed to the address above. Donations are also accepted online at CrossroadsMission.org.Darin Fenger can be reached at dfenger@yumasun.com or 539-6860.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Sun (Yuma, Ariz.) Visit The Sun (Yuma, Ariz.) at .yumasun.com Distributed by MCT Information Services文件倉