Share Your Story: Building a Stronger Tomorrow by Navigating Life's Crossroads Together

Building a Stronger Tomorrow by Navigating Life’s Crossroads Together

Tampa Crossroads is a nonprofit agency committed and passionate on Navigating Life's Crossroads together.

The nonprofit has six different programs empowering clients to help fit their needs. The agency also helps by guiding clients to choose their own destiny and giving a hand up to lasting independence.

Tampa Crossroads CEO Gwen Green shares more on the nonprofits mission.

“Our new tagline is Navigating Life's Crossroads together and that's exactly what we do. And we find people who come to us or we actually go out and do outreach and find people who are struggling, whether it's with housing or finding employment, or they're having mental health challenges,” says Green.

Heading Tampa Crossroads is not just a job for Green, it’s her life’s passion. She started at the agency 16 years ago.

“You know, Tampa Crossroads just has my heart. I came here as an intern during graduate school for mental health counseling and just immediately fell in love with the concept of meeting people where they are and hearing people's stories,” says Green.

And it’s the stories of countless people in need from helping homeless veterans to giving women a chance to rebuild where Tampa Crossroads can make a life changing difference.

“We want to be able to step in there and help them before it becomes a crisis,” says Green.

And a lot of that help does not cost families a dime.

Tampa Crossroads is backed by federal, county and state funding.

“So, you know, we can help people who are literally homeless, but we also do some work with prevention. If maybe a family is a bit behind in rent., we have some options to talk about finances and different things that we can do to try to keep them in their housing,” says Green.

Housing help is just one of the six programs offered at Tampa Crossroads. There’s Rose Manor, that offers residential treatment to women, Behavioral Wellness Centers, with outpatient, educational and self-help programs, a Veterans Assistance Center, Rapid Rehousing, a Career Center, and the Eco Oaks Apartments, offering affordable housing for families.

Andrew Warren Is Hillsborough County’s State Attorney and an advocate of all the programs offered by Tampa Crossroads.

“Tampa Crossroads is an incredible partner. There's so much need in our community to help people getting back on their feet and Tampa Crossroads helps with employment. It helps with housing. It helps with treatment and support for people who are suffering from substance abuse and mental illness,” says Warren. Like Green, Warren believes, helping families before it reaches crisis and ultimately making the entire community a better place to live.

“And a lot of people don't realize how often that good people get caught up in the system because they're suffering from mental illness or substance abuse, or just having a really bad day or week or month.,” says Warren. “So organizations like Tampa Crossroads that provides support for people to get back on their feet helps further our mission of public safety. “

And, it’s why Warren is helping spread the message the Tampa Crossroad’s Mission

He and Green stress, there’s help out there, people just need to know about it and embrace it

“I need the community's help with number one, just sending the message that we're here. First of all, we are not a new organization. We've been around a long time. We do a lot of different things and we're really good at what we do,” says Green.

Tampa Crossroads has been helping families since 1977.

For more information visit their website at www.TampaCrossroads.com