Dear friend, |
In a world that changes as quickly as ours at Crossroads, we know how hard it is to keep up with us, yet it is our job to ensure you do. So, we developed this newsletter for you. My name is Bill Sullivan, and I am the President and CEO of Crossroads of Michigan. |
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The topics of each newsletter will be customized to reflect the activity of that quarter and are what we feel would be most interesting or insightful for you. If you feel this newsletter gives you a clear idea of what it’s like inside Crossroads on a typical day, then we have achieved our goals. However, if you don’t feel you’re developing that kind of clarity, we especially want to hear from you with your suggestions for articles or highlights. |
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Words will give you a taste of all that transpires at Crossroads but experiencing
it in person brings an entirely new perspective that we think you’ll enjoy. Call today for a customized tour. |
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Please email me directly with your ideas and thoughts, and we promise we will discuss every one. Or, you can write to me just to say hello, which I love more than you could know. |
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Bill Sullivan
President and CEO |
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Bill Sullivan
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President and CEO |
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The Crossroads mission |
We use experience, caring power, and a human-centered approach to improve the lives of people in need. |
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Many people know that nonprofit organizations have mission statements. But not everyone understands the power and influence a mission has in how a nonprofit is run. |
For-profit organizations use net revenue as their bottom line. But in nonprofit organizations, mission is the reason, purpose, and metric for everything we do. |
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We rely upon our mission to attract others to support us, and it drives every decision, every day. But, how does it affect decision making? Let’s return to the analogy of for-profit businesses making money as their bottom line. That goal informs all their decisions, from negotiations with vendors to whom they hire to find efficiencies or to build new business. It impacts the office space they inhabit in an effort to balance the perception of prestige versus the cost efficiencies found in less desirable properties. |
As a nonprofit, Crossroads uses our mission statement as a guideline for our decisions. Our aim is to find the most impactful partners—those best positioned to help us positively affect lives. We want to hire individuals who contribute something that we need to better serve our clients. We measure the success of our physical space by its proximity to those we serve and rarely is it a concern to reflect prestige to anyone. |
Our version of prestige is outcomes. Our currency is how well we affect those we serve, demonstrating our worthiness of financial support or the time and expertise donated by people seeking a meaningful volunteer experience. |
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One of the best ways to determine how well a nonprofit is doing is to read its mission statement and then look at its annual report. If what they say is important to them aligns with their achievements, they are likely well-run. |
Money is not a nonprofit’s gauge; if a nonprofit has a lot of money in the bank and a fancy, prestigious office, it tells us nothing of its success. A nonprofit’s success can only be determined by how well it impacts people by doing what it says they do. |
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When mom follows you around at work |
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I don’t really mean that my mom follows me around at work, as that would be a little awkward and a lot of weird. But instead, I’m referring to Dawn Bunkley, our Bookkeeper, who is like a work-mom to every one of us at Crossroads. |
She listens, she cares, she gives advice when she can, and she is somehow always there just when you need her the most. She didn’t ask for this role, nor does she try to be it, she just is it, and to meet her you will instantly understand why she is the best and brightest reflection of who we are at our core, and what all of us love about her. |
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Being a mom to 30 uniquely different people at Crossroads must be hard work (something I know a little about), but Dawn gets to rehearse every day with her four sons and two grandchildren. |
All moms are doting mothers with their kids and grandchildren, but Dawn doesn’t allow an important minute to go by without showing her love and confidence in them. |
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Dawn doesn’t dote; she loves. And she never leaves a doubt about it. She is present for every basketball game, social milestone, heartbreak, and big win and is, therefore, tireless. |
She has a lot of big wins with her sons. They are gifted young men building success in their careers at lightning speed. I’m guessing it won’t be a surprise to learn that she is Crossroads’s greatest advocate, even with her own sons, by getting them to have their employers donate software, computers, and technical assistance with the clear caveat that Crossroads will not pay one cent for any of it. Advocate! |
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To say hello to Dawn or to learn more about how she supports Crossroads in her job, send her an email!
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This year’s annual fundraising event, Harmony for Crossroads, took place at the famous Motown Mansion, owned by Berry Gordy when he started Motown Records. |
As guests walked through the house’s various rooms magnificently restored with great detail, you could almost hear Diana Ross or Smokey Robinson rehearsing their latest hits while giving advice and making fun of each other as two unparalleled Detroit legends might. |
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Trustee Colleen Fitzgerald, the volunteer producer of the event, coordinated every aspect of this magnificent evening from the food, the tours, and the program, all the way to choosing the evening’s musical talent, Mainstreet Soul. |
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Each room in this historic mansion has a unique story to go with it, and our volunteer guides were happy to share them as they also directed us to the many food stations situated throughout the mansion, each with a different Detroit culture-inspired food that took you down memory lane of growing up in the D. |
If I’m giving the impression this was an evening of casual walking tours through a museum-like setting, I have been inadequate in describing the depth of this event. Trustee Colleen Fitzgerald, the volunteer producer of Harmony for Crossroads, coordinated every aspect of this magnificent evening from the food, the tours, and the program, all the way to choosing the evening’s musical talent, Mainstreet Soul. Throughout their 90-minute set, the band lived up to their reputation of being hot, energized, talented, and a true attraction that your feet would attest to the following morning. |
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Mainstreet Soul performed an unforgettable 90-minute set of Motown’s greatest hits, during which guests lit up the dance floor in the Motown Mansion’s pool house. |
| SEE THE EVENT PHOTO GALLERY |
Colleen did a stellar job affording us an experience in the Motown Mansion that concluded with a celebration of Crossroads, its partners, volunteers, staff, and its board for the successes we’ve experienced and the courage within ourselves that we value as nonprofit leaders. It is this courage that leads us to confront deep social issues like poverty and to develop innovative programs to reduce or solve it. It is our courage that leads us to ask What more can we do? And, How do we do it better? Even things we’ve mastered over the past 53 years—like providing community resources—can be improved as part of our relentless commitment to those who suffer from extreme poverty or are unhoused. |
Before the night was over and after meeting so many new faces at this sold-out event, we learned that the financial success of the evening exceeded what we believed was probable. |
When I asked Colleen how she did it, she replied, “I didn’t try to make the evening about different attractions and tricks. Instead, I focused on bringing people together comfortably and easily with foods that are signature to Detroit in a venue that defines Detroit, and let our love for Crossroads be the headline. Apparently, Crossroads was enough and exactly what people needed and wanted that defined the success of the evening. I’m so glad I saved money by passing on the giraffe in a pink tutu.” |
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Our sponsors |
Harmony for Crossroads was made possible through the generous support of our sponsors. We offer our most sincere gratitude to the following organizations for their partnership. |
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Our Personal Care room for hygiene products can be uncomfortable to ask to visit. |
We know this and we do everything we can to minimize shame by enhancing the look of the hygiene room, so that everything is presented respectfully and with taste. But we suspect the worst shame is when someone needs something desperately and we are out. Keeping these items on our shelves is nearly impossible without your help. |
We need these items every day, with consistency and predictability, or we are hurting those who would give up eating all day just for a bar of soap. |
These items are among the most sought-after of all the resources we provide—and are challenging to keep stocked. We really need your help, and please feel free to share this list with your family, friends, congregation, or coworkers. The predictability of recurring or monthly purchases is most helpful. |
| ASK OF THE MONTH |
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