MOULTRIE – Crossroads For Her opened in March 2023 with a vision to “provide a Christian transitional home for women by offering new hope, new hearts and new beginnings.”
The initiative was started by Linda Bahl and Darlene Cox after Bahl saw women she was studying the Bible with at Colquitt County Jail have nowhere to go after they were released.
Nearly a year and a half after opening, Berle said, “We're learning things we didn't know and we're constantly making adjustments.”
She said making adjustments over the past year has been good because it has allowed her to learn from things she never thought about until they happened.
“We put our hearts into this and we had people like Crossroads Gospel Mission who gave us the blueprint, but women are different than men and we have to figure out what works for us,” she said.
The transition home can accommodate 12 people, but Berle said they didn't want to take in that many at first. They started out with two or three people last summer, but now they're up to seven, Berle said.
“This year we've been steady at four or five and we're getting ready to add two more. By September we'll be at six, maybe seven, which is all we have at the moment,” Bahr said.
A resident of the transition home said, “It's such a blessing to be here. It's honestly helped us in so many ways that people don't understand. The heartache and struggles that we don't tell anyone about start to heal.”
She went on to say that Crossroads for Her has been a blessing and truly saved her life.
Berl said the program was working very well and hadn't really had to make many adjustments, and he outlined the program and the needs of the women.
“First of all, we focus on their goals. They come in and fill out their own personal goals and we have a goal and success team that meets with them weekly,” she said.
She also said they are expected to make progress towards achieving their goals while in the transition home.
For their spirituality, Berle said each woman has a mentor, a Christian woman who is mature in her faith, they have weekly Bible study and attend church as a group twice a week.
“I teach group recovery classes, and these women all come from what we call 'hurts, habits and problems,' just like all of us. But a lot of them have drugs, alcohol and other horrible things going on in their lives. We use Celebrate Recovery,” she said, adding that the women go to Temple Baptist Church once a week to attend Celebrate Recovery services.
She said the key part is for women to recognize where they have been hurt and know how to allow God to heal them.
“Not everyone who comes here is Christian. Every week they come into contact with the Christian God and Jesus,” Berl said, adding that some of the women have been baptized.
On the education side, computers are available — one resident is currently working toward her GED — and Berle said she has helped the women put together resumes and go to job interviews.
However, she said, they are not allowed to work during the first 30 days of the program because they first need to adjust to returning home and get used to it.
Residents are also given the option to visit the YMCA weekly to stay healthy, and Berle said they try to get residents to see a doctor in the first month to get a complete medical exam.
Georgia Pines is addressing the women's mental health issues because transition programs aren't equipped to address all of the mental health issues they have experienced and continue to experience, Bahr said.
“The biggest need we didn't know about was mental health,” she added.
“One thing Darlene and I always like to emphasize is that we're not a homeless shelter or a drug rehabilitation center,” Berle said.
She said she wants to help women who are just looking for a place to sleep, but that's not Crossroads For Her's purpose.
“We need women to want to stay at least three months to a year and participate in our program,” she said.
She said she knew there was a need for a homeless shelter, but there was no space and if women just dropped in and stayed overnight it would be a nuisance to residents in the program.
Berle said they also couldn't become a drug rehabilitation centre because they lacked the expertise, adding: “We are all volunteers, except for a few paid staff.”
Cox serves as executive director, while LaVeta Edwards has served as assistant executive director since June.
Berle said residents must be sober for 30 days before being accepted into a Christian transitional facility.
“Ultimately we'd like to expand to 12 people, but we want to go slowly so we can solve any issues that arise and learn from them, so when we're full at 12 we can still provide the same service that we do now with six or seven people,” Berle said.
She said the women come from three predictable places: prisons, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers and homelessness.
To participate in the Crossroads for Her program, women must fill out an application, attend a personal interview, undergo a background check and be tested for drugs and alcohol, Bahr said.
“We want to help the women who are interested in our program overcome the hardships in their lives and succeed in living independently. We hope that God will be with them during this process,” she said.
Berle said not everyone was able to stay as long as they wanted, and some people were forced to leave for not following the rules.
“But it was heartening for leaders to hear some of them say, 'I'm glad I was there anyway,' and we want to continue to show love, if possible, to those who left early,” she said.
Crossroads For Her operates through donations from individuals, churches and businesses in Colquitt County and the surrounding area, and has also received two grant funding.
Berle said fundraisers, such as a spring pickleball tournament, are held periodically, with all proceeds after tournament costs being donated to the organization. Another pickleball tournament is scheduled for October.
The semi-finals and finals of the South Georgia Superstars Voice Competition, presented by Legendary Productions, will be held on Aug. 31 and Sept. 7, with a portion of the proceeds going to Crossroads for Her, she said.
The singing contest will be held at Withers Auditorium. Doors open at 6pm and the contest begins at 7pm. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (229) 985-1001. Tickets are also available at The Speakeasy on Main, Lazarus and The Colquitt Shopper.
Those who would like to contact Crossroads For Her Ministry, located at 1614 Second Ave. SE, for more information or to volunteer or donate can visit their website at crossroads4her.com, where applications are available for women interested in participating in the Christian Transition Program.