By Canisha Bell
After eight years of planning and four months of construction, Crossover Outreach opened the doors to its new building on April 8, 2024.
The day’s open house event kicked off at 414 W. Court St. with speeches from Crossover’s board president Lionel Wernette and executive director Denise Diller.
“Most of you know we work with other agencies in the community who refer their clients to us,” Diller said from the new building’s large warehouse area, filled with shelves of kitchenware, children’s toys, and plastic tubs of clothing, bedding and toiletries for the nonprofit’s visitors – many of whom require emergency assistance. “One of our most important jobs is to love on people who are hurting and working toward their self sufficiency, and to get them the things that they need so they can continue to work toward that successfully. We are just so proud of everyone involved.”
Founded by three Flint churches in 1991, with a fourth church joining as an ongoing sponsor ten years later, Crossover Outreach has provided Flint and Genesee County residents with critical resources ever since.
Prior to constructing its new building, the nonprofit had been operating out of a home built for a single family on the same site as its new space.
Crossover Outreach Executive Director Denise Diller speaks to supporters at the nonprofit’s new building at 414 W. Court Street in Flint, Mich. on April 8, 2024. (Photo by Kate Stockrahm)
Over the years, Crossover staff said they saw the needs of their community grow, with over 35% of the population now living under the federal poverty level. That rise in need created a “sense of urgency” to expand services and programming to reach more people, but in order to do that they realized they needed to grow, too.
“We desperately needed a new space, but we needed it tailored to our needs and how we serve the community. We also knew it had to be sustainable long term,” Diller said ahead of the April 8 open house. “This new building is exactly that. And more importantly, it’s a tool to help us serve even more people experiencing hardships in our community.”
Crossover’s new facility has increased the nonprofit’s usable space from 5,000 to 7,500 square feet. It also includes a new “community room” for use by other organizations, such as the Flint Holistic Recovery Community, which meets there each Wednesday.
Diller told East Village Magazine the new building will not only allow for more such community partnerships and create greater efficiencies for the work Crossover already does, it will also allow her and her staff to spend more time on what matters most: having conversations with the people who come in.
“Our goal is to serve our community and continue in our mission of showing the love of Christ by providing services and programs, restoring hope, and rebuilding lives,” she said.
In April of 2023, Crossover announced it raised more than $2.6 million for the new building, beating its fundraising goal. Major funders included the Whiting Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Samueli Foundation, Graff Family Foundation, The Carls Foundation, Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan, and two foundations that wished to remain anonymous according to a March press release.
To round out remarks at the April 8 open house, Pastor Jeremy Peters of Court Street United Methodist Church took to the podium to bless Crossover’s new space.
“God, we are pinching ourselves today,” Peters said to a room full of bowed heads. “We have dreamed of this moment. We have dreamed of this place. And now, we have dreams for this place.”
This story includes reporting by Kate Stockrahm.
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