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Mission, Vision, & Values
MISSION
The mission of Crossroads Rhode Island is to help those experiencing homelessness secure stable homes.
VISION
The vision of Crossroads Rhode Island is to ensure that every Rhode Islander has a safe and affordable place to call home.
VALUES
Safety: Promoting a trauma-informed culture, free from physical and emotional harm that fosters empowerment, healing, and belonging.
Respect: Understanding the intrinsic worth and dignity of every person.
Effectiveness: Delivering services and managing the organization with equity, efficiency, innovation, and accountability.
Executive Summary
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 these thought-provoking discussions about how best to serve those experiencing homelessness in Rhode Island, we refined our mission, vision and core values. The process also elevated five strategic themes for Crossroads Rhode Island to focus on over the next five years and a set of guiding principles about how we deliver our services.
Guiding Principles
The following core beliefs will serve as a lens through which we view our strategic themes over the next five years.
We believe that the less time people experience homelessness the better.
It minimizes exposure to trauma and is in the best interest of the system of care because it ensures outflow from homelessness, allowing others to access limited emergency services. It is also more cost effective than people remaining in homelessness.
We believe in the five core principles of Housing First, which help people rapidly resolve their homelessness.
1) Immediate access to permanent housing with no housing readiness requirements.
2) Client choice and right to self-determination.
3) Supporting a recovery orientation.
4) Individualized support plan and client-centered supports.
5) Promoting social and community integration and meaningful activities.
We believe that housing should not be used as a reward for good behavior, compliance with rules, or for finishing a compliance-based program.
Homelessness should never be seen as a punishment or natural consequence that helps a person learn a valuable lesson. We believe in the human rights of each person.
Guiding Principles (continued)
The following core beliefs will serve as a lens through which we view our strategic themes over the next five years.
We embrace the social determinants of health and the importance of housing in promoting health and well-being.
It is both our experience and belief that households that are provided timely access to housing are better able to recover from homelessness and participate more fully in the broader community.
We believe that performance excellence is achieved through predictable, consistent practices that are used to assist households that engage in Crossroads’ services.
Access to a preferred outcome in a manner that is compassionate should occur throughout our organization regardless of which staff person is assisting the household.
We believe that documented standard operating procedures improve the process of onboarding, training and developing staff, while also increasing transparency for our program participants.
Strategic Themes | 2024-2028
Strategy #1: Support people transitioning from homelessness by meeting immediate needs and solving housing problems.
- Build on the effectiveness of preventing homelessness before it happens through housing problem solving.
- Improve the quality and quantity of shelter services for individuals, couples, and families to ensure an unrelenting housing focus.
- Improve the perception and experiences of emotional and physical safety when using Crossroads’ services.
- Strengthen Housing First practices.
- Expand knowledge and improve skills in supporting people with complex and co-occurring needs, with a focus on substance use and mental wellness.
- Help households that have exited homelessness improve their financial stability by entering the workforce if possible and by improving their financial sustainability.
Strategic Themes | 2024-2028
Strategy #2: Strengthen partnerships and collaboration
- Strengthen partnerships with health, mental health, and addiction service providers to better meet the needs of people that use Crossroads’ services.
- Collaborate with allied organizations to respond to emerging and increasing challenges such as unsheltered homelessness and impactful substance use.
- Engage allied organizations in joint advocacy on areas of mutual interest.
- Intentionally and thoughtfully strengthen engagement with the neighborhoods and communities in which Crossroads operates.
- Engage meaningfully with people that use or have used Crossroads’ services to incorporate the voice of People with Lived Experience in policies, programming, operations and evaluation.
Strategic Themes | 2024-2028
Strategy #3: Increase safe and appropriate housing options
- Complete the development of new supportive housing at 94 Summer Street and 371 Pine Street, as well as the renovation and redevelopment of Travelers Aid Housing.
- Support the residents of Travelers Aid Housing during their transition and move-in from Travelers Aid Housing to Summer Street.
- Determine the appropriate number of permanent supportive apartments for Crossroads to own through acquisition, rehab, development of new and/or a combination thereof.
- Strengthen Crossroads’ property management.
- Improve staff to tenant ratios in Crossroads’ properties.
- Continue to support the growth and effectiveness of landlord relationships in the private market.
- Engage Crossroads’ housing residents on a regular basis through the creation and facilitation of a resident advisory council.
Strategic Themes | 2024-2028
Strategy #4: Attract, retain and support an effective workforce
- Ensure Crossroads’ compensation package (both salaries and benefits) meets or exceeds local benchmarks in our sector.
- Continue the meaningful work of weaving equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging into the fabric of Crossroads and hold ourselves accountable to that work.
- Outline the core competencies required by position agency wide and provide access to the training needed to meet or exceed those core competencies.
- Expand opportunities for People with Lived Experience to access the training and support necessary to secure employment opportunities with Crossroads.
- Develop standard operating procedures to ensure consistent and effective staff onboarding, training and development.
- Ensure all employees are engaged and experience a high-level quality of work life.
Strategic Themes | 2024-2028
Strategy #5: Maintain prudent stewardship of financial resources
- Demonstrate the impact of Crossroads' programs and services to private donors and government funders, as well as the cost effectiveness of ending homelessness versus managing homelessness.
- Pursue adjustments in government funding contracts to better reflect the increased costs of providing programs and services.
- Work to secure additional resources for housing development, housing acquisition, property management and housing support services.
- Establish financial benchmarks to ensure organizational fiscal strength and resiliency.
- Strengthen the Crossroads brand. Increase financial stability and predictability by creating alternative revenue models.