2023 Annual Report
Thanks to you, Crossroads provided approximately 4,000 men, women and children with shelter, housing and housing-related services last year.
A Message from The Chair
Dear Friends,
Big problems require big solutions, and our Crossroads team works purposefully and diligently to effectively combat the on-going housing and homelessness crisis in our state. As a mission-driven organization focused on helping our Rhode Island neighbors experiencing homelessness secure stable homes, you’ll see in the pages that follow that we are delivering on that promise.
Fiscal year 2023 saw Crossroads reach many critical milestones: a groundbreaking for the 176 permanent supportive apartments at Summer Street, the unanimous approval of our 371 Pine Street health & housing apartments, and the opening of new family housing in Warwick, to name a few.
We also looked to the future and set important strategic goals to drive us there through an agency-wide strategic planning process that brought all departments together. The team is now prepared, as it executes our housing vision, to do so thoughtfully and respectfully.
Further, as part of the Board of Directors’ commitment to ensuring the organization has a world-class leadership team, we engaged in a thoughtful and deliberate search process before appointing Michelle M. Wilcox as our next President & CEO. Michelle’s impactful three-decade track record at Crossroads, strong connections with housing community leaders and extensive program and housing development expertise make her uniquely qualified to serve as Crossroads’ chief executive.
None of this important work would be possible without the generosity of the many individuals, corporations and foundations listed in this report. Our $15M Roads to Home Capital Campaign, which supports the nearly 300 permanent supportive apartments we are constructing for individuals, has now surpassed $13.3M. In addition, our work to create more family housing got an uplifting boost with a $5M gift from Jeff Bezo’s Day 1 Families Fund. And thanks to contributions from more than 4,800 generous donors like you, we achieved our fundraising goals for 2023 operating needs!
All of this culminates in the most important aspect of our work, helping our fellow Rhode Islanders in need. Arguably, housing is the most important foundational need for people to thrive in a community. I take pride in the fact that Crossroads helps people find their way home every day. Thank you for supporting Crossroads; we will continue to deliver on our mission with safety, respect and effectiveness.
Sincerely,
Julie Duffy,
Chair, Crossroads Rhode Island Board of Directors
A Message from The President & CEO
Dear Friends,
For those of you who don’t know me, I first joined Crossroads in 1993. Since then, it has been my privilege to serve in a variety of roles, including COO, President and more recently, as President & CEO as of June 2024.
Homelessness is an issue that I care deeply about, so leading the agency during this transitional period is an incredible honor for me. I am fully committed to upholding Crossroads’ legacy of excellence and service to our community, particularly now when the need has never been greater.
Before the pandemic, almost no one was sleeping outside in Rhode Island. Since then, the number of people staying in places not fit for human habitation has soared 370 percent. In my 30+ years with Crossroads, I have never seen the level of homelessness that we’re seeing in our community today.
Our state’s lack of affordable housing and rapidly escalating rents are pricing more and more people out of stable homes, including people who have steady jobs and people who have never experienced homelessness before. A growing number of them are families and in a disturbing new trend, we are also seeing a steadily increasing number of seniors.
As the state’s leading provider of housing and services for those experiencing homelessness, we know the solution: create more housing that people with very low incomes can afford.
To meet the growing need, I am proud to report that Crossroads’ efforts to create 300 much-needed permanent supportive apartments for formerly homeless adults in Providence are well underway.
While there is still work to do, when complete in 2027, this multi-building housing development will help reduce homelessness in Rhode Island and bring us one step closer to achieving our vision of ensuring that every Rhode Islander has a safe and affordable place to call home.
Sincerely,
Michelle M. Wilcox
President & CEO, Crossroads Rhode Island
Five Year Strategic Plan
In 2023, Crossroads Rhode Island engaged OrgCode Consulting, a leader in homeless system transformation, to help us complete a five-year strategic planning process. As part of the engagement, OrgCode analyzed Crossroads’ service data and demographics and conducted focus groups, interviews and collaborative in-person group discussions with our Board of Directors, 40+ staff members, 70+ people that use our services and almost 20 community stakeholders.
As a result of those thought-provoking discussions about how best to serve those experiencing homelessness in Rhode Island, we refined our mission, vision and core values.
2023 Board Members & Leadership
Housing Development
Decades of underinvestment have led to a critical shortage of housing in Rhode Island, particularly for those with the lowest incomes. There simply are not enough apartments that people with very low incomes can afford. That’s why housing is at the heart of what we do here at Crossroads.
To help ensure our ability to provide safe and affordable housing for those with the highest needs, Crossroads currently owns and manages 375 permanent supportive apartments statewide, maintains strong working relationships with local landlords, and has a strong pipeline of new housing in development.
2023 Impact
Housing is the only proven solution for ending homelessness, which is why it’s the lynchpin of Crossroads efforts to reduce homelessness in the Ocean State.
We are proud to report that in 2023, Crossroads provided emergency shelter, housing and/or housing related services to approximately 4,000 men, women and children across all of our programs.
Housing & Shelter:
- We helped 1,764 adults and children either find a new place to call or maintain their housing.
- We provided housing problem solving supports to more than 1,750 households.
- We served more than 1,400 people, including 124 children.
Education & Employment:
- 258 people participated in one or more of our programs
- 87 people landed new jobs as a result of our programs
- We celebrated the 150th CNA training program graduating class
2023 Financials
Crossroads relies on a variety of sources to fund our housing, shelters, services and programs, including:
- Federal, State and City funding
- Corporate, Community and Family Foundations
- Individual and Corporate Fundraising
- Earned Revenue (Rents, Program Fees, Investment Earnings, etc.)
In 2023, Crossroads and its subsidiaries* raised or earned $33,182,218, an increase from $29 million in 2022 thanks to funds raised as part of our Roads to Home capital campaign and a $5 million gift from Jeff Bezos’ Day 1 Families Fund.
*Crossroads subsidiaries include Travelers Aid Housing, Kingstown Crossings I and Kingstown Crossings II
Donors & Funders
The work that we do simply would not be possible without our generous donors and funders, so thank you! Your support allowed Crossroads to provide housing and housing related services to approximately 4,000 men, women and children last year.
As part of our commitment to being good stewards of our donors and funders resources, we are proud to report that 84 cents of every dollar raised last year was spent on direct client expenses such as housing, shelter and education and employment programs.