Newsroom
If you want to know what’s going on at our organization, you’ve come to the right place.
NEWS UPDATE as of November 30, 2024...Asking for help on Giving Tuesday to continue high level of support to community.
We have certainly had a busy year so far in 2024. We are operating three days a week now.
- On Tuesdays/Thursdays, we provide hot meals, showers, laundry services, various agency support contacts, a mobile medical clinic and mobile bank branch. Through October, we've provided: 9,400 breakfasts, 12,000 lunches, 3,700 showers, 2,300 laundry loads, 7,100 hygiene packs, 540 homeless letters, 1,800 pr. socks and 1,800 pr. underwear.
- On Wednesdays, we serve close to 250 families with groceries provided by the Houston Food Bank and our donors.
To continue these operations at our current level, please consider supporting us financially or with in-kind donations during this year's Giving Tuesday drive. Financial contributions can be made by using the DONATE to Crossroads button here or on various pages of our website. In kind donations can be made using the Amazon WISH LIST button here.
We hope you will also download our Giving Tuesday 2024 PDF to print or forward to family and friends.
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of October 7, 2024...Charity Golf Tournament 2024 is ready for Registrations.
Our annual Charity Golf Tournament 2024 is set for Monday, November 18, 2024 at the beautiful Bay Oaks Country Club (14545 Bay Oaks Blvd, Houston 77059. Phone: 281-488-7888). Breakfast at 8:15 am followed by a Shotgun Start at 9:00 am. Lunch and an Awards Ceremony at 1:00-2:30 pm. A Silent Auction will also be held at 1:00 pm-2:30 pm. Sponsorship opportunities are available for multi-player combines, as well as opportunities for individual players and Lunch Only patrons. This is our major fund raiser for 2024 and we hope for a wide participation from golfing enthusiasts and the community.
Go here to download the 2024 Brochure. Please select your events and team participants, then submit your payment through the Donation page, following the instructions therein.
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of October 5, 2024...Crossroads Acquires Two Prestigious Awards for transparency and governance.
- "2024 Candid/Guide Star - Gold Seal Award" - go here for more.
- "Charity Navigator - 4 Star Rating" - go here for more.
We thank the Lord for powering us in all we do and the influential rating agencies above for recognizing our hard work.
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of February 28, 2023...Buttermilk Pies Fundraising Project during the month of March.
A portion of all the proceeds from the sale of Banana Cream Pies at Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop during the month of March will be donated to support Crossroads at Park Place.
Owner JP Foulon says, “We are proud to support the work being done by Crossroads at Park Place and hope that our effort will enable Crossroads to continue to provide the important services that can be found at Crossroads.”
Crossroads appreciates JP’s support and hope that you will enjoy a delicious Banana Cream Pie from Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop soon!
Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop is located:
o On the Lawn at Baybrook Mall
o 700 Baybrook Mall – Suite D103
o Friendswood TX 77546
o Tel: 346-483-3010
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of October 19, 2022...Charity Golf Tournament 2022 was a great success!
The Fall 2022 Golf Tournament at the beautiful Bay Oaks Country Club concluded with good weather, about 20 golf teams, lots of Silent Auction items and plenty of good fun by participants and visitors alike. Go here for the photos. We look forward to your support of our Golf Tournament next year.
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of July 12, 2022...Charity Golf Tournament 2022 is ready for Registrations.
Our annual Charity Golf Tournament 2022 is set for Monday, October 17, 2022 at the beautiful Bay Oaks Country Club (14545 Bay Oaks Blvd, Houston 77059. Phone: 281-488-7888). Breakfast at 7:00 am followed by a Shotgun Start at 7:45 am. Lunch and an Awards Ceremony at 12:00-1:30 pm. A Silent Auction will also be held at 12:00 pm-1:30 pm. Sponsorship opportunities are available for multi-player combines, as well as opportunities for individual players and Lunch Only patrons. This is our major fund raiser for 2022 and we hope for a wide participation from golfing enthusiasts and the community.
Crossroads at Park Place is making a significant impact on the community by their Wednesday food distribution services supported by the Houston Food Bank. Over 57,000 individuals were served locally every week from their cars. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, a full range of services are provided to the poor and those experiencing homelessness. Please visit other web pages for full details.
Since 2001, Crossroads at Park Place has been a Christian organization committed to
promoting the health, hygiene and dignity of persons experiencing homelessness and poverty in South Houston, Texas.
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of June 8, 2022...We need some help!
We have several initiatives going on this summer along with our normal services and we need a little extra help. Here is what we need:
1. Bath towels – we are running short on these and need some additional towers to be used in our showers. If you have some, please drop them by St. Paul’s on Tuesday or Thursday mornings.
2. Bar soap and shampoo – also for our showers. If you have some, please drop them by St. Paul’s on Tuesday or Thursday mornings.
3. Wednesday food distribution – we need help all summer long. It is hot but rewarding work. Come join us on Wednesday about 9 AM. We are finished by Noon.
4. Our kitchen renovations begin on July 5. We are still in need of a couple of major appliances to complete the job. Our contractor is in place and ready to go and so are we. If you are interested in supporting this project, please contact me.
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of March 11, 2022...2021 Jan - Feb Volunteer Report...Go Here for complete report.
So, the “New Normal” is settling in at Crossroads. For the months of January and February we continued our three day a week service schedule. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we provide what we consider our normal set of services with some exciting new additions. On Wednesdays we provide a drive through grocery pickup service. Once again, we were blessed to have no cases of Covid-19 among our staff and volunteers. Our clients were also fortunate as we did not a have many cases among them...Go Here for complete report.
Thanks to all,
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of January 1, 2022...2021 Recap Report...Go Here for complete report
For most of us, 2021 was a year of discovering and inventing the “New Normal” and Crossroads at Park Place was no exception. We were blessed to have only a few cases of Covid-19 among our staff and volunteers. Our clients were also fortunate as we did not a have a large number of cases among them either. Early in 2021 we had Harris County Medical in the Parish Hall on our service days giving Covid-19 vaccine shots and later booster shots. Quite a few of our staff, volunteers and clients took advantage of this service. We continue to require masks of everyone coming into the Parish Hall on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Having discontinued our Tuesday/Thursday services in January of 2020, Crossroads was blessed to be able to re-start full Tuesday/Thursday services on August 3, 2021. Thank you to our volunteers and supporters who made this possible. We are planning to grow our services in 2022 and beyond and look forward to your continued participation in our mission...Go Here for complete report.
Thanks to all,
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of September 4, 2021...Have you ever wondered what a MIRACLE looks like? Crossroads just experienced one on Thursday!
As you know, medical attention can be hard to come by in the community we serve. At Crossroads, we have always talked about developing a clinic or some other more significant medical service as part of our offering to our clients.
For a long time, Harris Health has provided a mobile clinic with a Registered Nurse on a once a month basis up until the start of the pandemic. At that point, the service was discontinued.
Several months ago, I began talking with Harris Health about re-starting that service. In late March, they re-committed to a once-a-month service using their mobile clinic. The first monthly visit was on Tuesday, April 6. I was thrilled by the re-start, even once a month with a Registered Nurse attending and sure enough it was gratefully received by our clients.
Then out of the blue in July, Sherrie Wimbley at Harris Health let me know that they would like to come every week and asked if that would be possible. I said sure enough and with us changing food distribution to Wednesday I invited them to come every Thursday. They accepted and started coming every Thursday on August 5!!
Now this Thursday, when they arrived, they let me know that there would be a DOCTOR attending every Thursday during September and maybe longer. I met Doctor LaResa Ridge today in the Parish Hall. She is a bright, young GP working for Harris Health who is committed to serving the poor and disadvantaged. She is more than happy in doing her work in the storage room that we have set up for Gold Card support on Tuesday. She saw 13 clients today and will be back for at least every Thursday in September.
NOW - That is what a miracle looks like!
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of July 29, 2021...READ BELOW FOR IMMEDIATE PLANS!
Starting next week, Crossroads will be serving the community three days a week - Tuesday/Thursday for client services in St. Paul’s Parish Hall and Wednesday for client food distribution in St. Paul’s parking lot.
Our weekly food distribution has proven to be valued by the South Houston community and will continue. With the re-opening of all of Crossroad’s services on Tuesdays and Thursdays effective August 3, we will be moving our food distribution to Wednesday morning effective August 4. The process will be the same - groceries will be loaded into our clients’ automobiles in the St. Paul’s parking lot.
Crossroads is excited about re-opening our usual services on Tuesdays and Thursdays and continuing the food distribution on Wednesdays.
Thanks,
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of July 14, 2021...READ BELOW FOR IMMEDIATE PLANS!
Our service schedule is changing in early August. It is expanding! We are returning to our traditional, pre-pandemic, service schedule beginning on Tuesday, August 3. We will be adhering to Episcopal Church Covid protection guidelines which include the voluntary wearing of face masks. Our kitchen staff will be wearing face masks.
Effective Tuesday, August 3, we are re-opening our regular service days of Tuesdays and Thursdays with all our previous services which include: Breakfast, Lunch, Laundry, Haircuts (when barbers are available), Hygiene, First Aid, New socks and underwear, Showers, Harris Health Support and Other Agency Support. Food distribution to the community will be moved to Wednesdays (starting Wednesday, August 4) to accommodate our regular services occurring on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This change will see Crossroads operating three days a week starting the first week of August! Keep us in your prayers as we work this month to get ready for our re-opening. We are excited about re-starting our services. I believe our small staff and all of our clients are excited by this re-opening. Please pray for us that all is successful.
Phase One of the Crossroads upgrade of the church kitchen begins on Monday, July 19. The existing sink will be removed and replaced with a commercial grade sink. Also, a commercial “sink drain” will be installed bringing the sink area up to commercial code. Several phases will follow including new ventilation, a replacement stove, commercial wall treatments and new flooring. These phases hopefully will follow in quick succession. Your prayers regarding this project would be appreciated.
As always, thank you for making sure that our food distribution continues to run smoothly every Thursday. The last couple of weeks have been fun and hot! Our faithful volunteers continue to serve, even in the rain. Our distribution happens, rain or shine. Our volunteers have been tireless and continue to help our neighbors. We will still be seeing the Houston Food Bank truck every Thursday during July and we will still be distributing tortillas in addition to the groceries that are on the truck.
The Houston Food Bank sent us a bountiful truckload last week. All in all last week we gave out: 1 Pallet Potatoes, 1 Pallet Lettuce, 1 Pallet Onions, 1 Pallet shelf stable groceries, 1 Pallet Chicken Soup, 2 Pallets Water Melons, 1 Pallet Cabbage, 1500 lbs. of beans, 250 lbs. Rice, 300-5lb Packs of Tortillas, 22 shelf stable food packs for walk ups, 26 Showers and 38 Hot Lunches.
Our next distribution is on for Thursday, July 15, at St. Paul’s!! Summer weather is on us so be prepared by hydrating and checking the weather forecast before you arrive. We expect another long line this week, so be prepared for action.
If you have any questions about these services and our re-opening, please reach out to me. It is your continued support that makes this re-opening possible. Thank You! I pray for a safer 2021 for all of us.
Doug Fortner, Executive Director
NEWS UPDATE as of May 29, 2021...READ BELOW FOR FUTURE PLANS!
BIG NEWS!! After consulting with the Episcopal Church, Crossroads has determined that it is safe to consider re-opening all our services. It has been determined that our normal services will re-start on Tuesday, August 3. Normal services (hot breakfast, hot lunch, showers, haircuts, laundry, hygiene, and agency support) will be provided every Tuesday and Thursday in the Parish Hall. The need for food distribution in the community is still great as the numbers of families getting food from us remains large and consistent. Crossroads believes this to be a valuable service to the South Houston community and is committed to continuing to provide groceries.
To utilize St. Paul facilities more effectively, we have decided to move our weekly food distribution to Wednesdays, beginning on August 4.
If you have any questions about these services and our re-opening, please reach out to me. It is your continued support that makes this re-opening possible.
Thank You! I pray for a safer 2021 for all of us.
Doug Fortner Executive Director
