Dusty Snider, founder and director of the faith-based sober living program Crossroads of Columbus, said most addicts who surrender themselves for treatment have almost nothing.
“A lot of them come with just a garbage bag full of clothes, and we help them start their life all over,” Snider told the Rotary Club of Columbus on Tuesday at Lion Hills Center.
Crossroads of Columbus offers transitional housing for men coming from rehab, prison and sometimes right off the street, all of whom are struggling with addiction.
Two years ago, the organization was gifted the old Friendship Church building on Yorkville Road West to turn it into a third transitional housing facility for men.
The building needed substantial work before anyone could move in. But with increased costs for construction, the group is still about $31,000 shy of opening its doors.
“This has been two years in the making,” Snider said. “I believe (Crossroads) has helped our community, and I think this right here will help impact even more.”
The first Crossroads facility opened in 2020 in the old Wiygul Dental Clinic on South McCrary Road in East Columbus. It holds about 16 men at a time for a nine-month program, during which men are given housing, meals, clothes, and are helped in finding jobs, transportation and eventually long-term housing.
Crossroads got a second home, the Step Up House, in 2023, located on Friendship Drive. The facility houses about three men at a time.
The Step Up House is specifically for those who have already graduated the program but need more time before they’re ready to live entirely on their own.
In the past five years, the program has seen about 250 men come through, Snider said. Though not all of them see the program through to the end. On average, the program has about a 60% success rate.
$31K to go
Friendship Church was donated by its previous owners in 2023. Before it could be opened to house men, it needed a new roof, a sprinkler system, plumbing and new flooring.
This year, the group has received about $68,000 through fundraising efforts and donations to go toward the new sprinkler system, though roughly $17,000 more is needed to complete the work.
The group still needs about $3,500 to finish reflooring the building and another $10,000 to go toward plumbing in the bathroom.
When it’s all said and done, Snider said the additional facility will allow Crossroads to “triple in size in helping the community.”
The building will house up to 32 people, a goal that would be reached in two phases.
Phase 1 would welcome 16 men in the church, and after rounding up enough manpower to accommodate an even greater expansion, the group would move on to Phase 2, welcoming an additional 16 men.
The extra space is needed now more than ever, Snider said. Local rehab facilities like Pines & Cady Hill Recovery Center, have faced grant losses, limiting the amount of time they can house patients for treatment.
Snider said the recovery center used to hold patients for up to 90 days for treatment, but with the loss in funding, that time has been limited to 30 days.
“They only have 30 days to get their life together,” Snider said. “That’s not possible. … We’re reaching out to people all over trying to find them places. … It’s heartbreaking when you have to tell them no … and they have nowhere to go.”
For those interested in donating or joining the waiting list for the Crossroads of Columbus program, visit crossroadsofcolumbus.com.
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