Happy Holidays from Crossroads Behavioral Health. Did you know Crossroads is a local nonprofit who has been serving Southern Iowa for more than 45 years? Crossroads is an amazing organization who is dedicated to providing comprehensive, compassionate, confidential services and resources for individuals and families seeking support and recovery through all stages of life. Crossroads operates as a Community Mental Health Center for Adams, Adair, Union, Taylor, Ringgold, Madison and Clarke County. This designation allows us to utilize federal and state grant funding to provide services to those who are uninsured, under-insured, or unable to pay. We don’t turn anyone away because of inability to pay and because of this we are always looking for generous, philanthropic individuals who are interested in donating funding. This funding allows us to provide services to those going through difficult periods in their life who need some additional support. Crossroads has been growing significantly in the last year and half to allow for new services to be added which will better serve the residents of Southern Iowa. Some of our big milestones this past year have been:
- Implementing a brand new eHR (Electronic Health Record) for patient records
- Being awarded the IDPH Substance Use & Problem Gambling Grant which provides over $600,000 in funding for an 18-month period. This grant allows us to provide prevention services for substance use and problem gambling as well as funding for treatment services if a patient is not insured.
- Re-opening the Osceola office for both mental health and substance use service which also includes a brand-new MAT (Medication Assisted Treatment) unit. Medicated-Assisted Treatment (MAT) is the use of FDA-approved medications, in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies, to provide a "whole-patient" approach to the treatment of substance use disorders. Crossroads partners with UCS to provide these services locally.
- Crossroads now offers tele-counseling for better access.
- Crossroads has expanded services to offer victim advocacy, BHIS (Behavioral Health Intervention Services), school-based therapy, various mental health groups such as art therapy, anger management, men and women’s groups and many more.
- Crossroads now offers same day access for mental health and substance use services at the Creston office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays which has drastically cut wait times for services by 75%
- Provided Suicide Prevention Training to over 40 organizations within Southern Iowa
Crossroads has hired and brought in many talented therapists with unique and diverse interests and specialties from all over the US to provide the best possible care for our patients.
As we enter the holiday season it is a time of gratitude and invites a time of giving. I am incredibly honored to serve as Crossroad’s CEO as I am the third one in 45 years and the first female CEO to lead the organization. I am grateful for the privilege to lead Crossroads into 2020 with a bright and shining future ahead of it. Crossroad’s vision is to be a premier resource and advocate by striving to empower Southern Iowa's residents as they seek transformation through coping with and/or recovering from behavioral health and substance use disorder challenges.
It is my personal believe that we see some of the strongest individuals come through our doors who have battled addiction, suffered from severe mental illnesses, attempted suicide, witnessed and experienced unspeakable abuse, tragedy, loss and grief and we here at Crossroads have the ultimate privilege of seeing them ask for help, fight and battle their fears and inner demons so they can rise stronger and more resilient. Crossroads exists because community leaders in southern Iowa identified a need way back in 1975 and have continued to carry on the legacy of support and forward thinking to allow this agency to succeed and grow.
I encourage you to think of those in your life who have experienced behavioral health challenges, whether family members, friends, colleagues, etc. and donate in their name to provide supplemental support to those currently in need.
These funds are used for many reasons such as emergency funding for clients in crisis (i.e. Homelessness, transportation assistance, etc.), specialized training for clinicians, and many other vital services.
Please consider donating, today on Giving Tuesday to provide local community support to your friends, family and neighbors and watch what a difference this support will make in your community.
Crossroads is grateful for your continued support and kindness.
Happy Holidays from the team at Crossroads!