Capital Campaign Crossover Community Center Capital Campaign by Rondalyn Abode
W
e had to push out the start of this school year at CrossoverPrep, not because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but because there was a gas leak in the building we lease. Crossover Prep was faced with the heartbreaking reality that we need our own building. We keep hearing from the students at the school that we need the Crossover Community Center. Although we’re thankful to have a site for the school, we have no gym, showers, or even enough classrooms to meet our immediate needs. It would be absolutely incredible if the first graduating class were able to graduate from the permanent home of Crossover Prep! But in addition to serving over 280 Crossover Prep Students at a time, the Community Center will serve hundreds more kids through the Crossover Lions’ youth sports programs and the Crossover Kids After-School and Summer Day Camp Programs. The Crossover Sports Association has been capped just as the Crossover Kids and StreetLeaders Programs because we need space. The community needs this space as we foresee hundreds of adults benefiting from the fitness classes, adult sports, and public health programming in the Crossover Community Center. For instance, Crossover Health Services will be able to expand their programming through innovative programs like the “Tulsa FreshRx Food is Medicine” Program by pairing it with “prescriptions for exercise” taking this pursuit for healthy living one step further. The healthy eating classes will be combined with Adult Fitness like Exercise Classes and Sports Leagues. Crossover Sports Association will grow from a Youth Sports Organization to an Adult and Youth Sports organization with the introduction of Adult Recreational sports, tournaments, and Aerobic classes because of the Crossover Community Center! Not only will the young men at Crossover Prep have a home court advantage, but the youth athletes will have this advantage too! We will also have the opportunity to increase our sports offerings to include volleyball, dance, and tumbling for cheer subsequently. One of the most significant social determinants of health for a community is home ownership. Crossover Development Company (CDC) will build on its current successes by adding additional programming for the community like the “Faith and Finance” Classes to
help prepare people to own one of the newly revitalized homes CDC produces. The other large component of Crossover Development Company’s work is the Carpentry Training Program that allows men from our community to receive the NCEER Certification, creating jobs that pay a living wage and establishing transferrable skills with the introduction to other construction trades. The textbook portion of the training will happen at the Community Center. The “Jobs for Life” Program will be at the Crossover Community Center as well, and this will bolster our efforts to have an even greater IMPACT. I can’t even begin to imagine what the Entrepreneurial Support Training will look like as we seek to bring economic development to our community! Crossover Bible Church will be able to rent space at the Crossover Community Center, which will ensure it has a permanent home for the work it is doing to bring about spiritual and emotional health in the community. Over a year ago, Crossover Bible Church was told that at any moment it will need to vacate the premises where it meets within a 30 days’ notice. There will be Adult Education classes in this center, and of course the Crossover Community Center will be the home of Crossover Prep’s all-boy school with the girls’ school across the parking lot. The prayer for this multi-purpose facility is that people will walk into it and be transformed by the time they exit because they have been encouraged, enlightened, and empowered to live the lives that God has created them to live! Thanks be to the Lord; a kind-hearted donor has heard these needs and is passionate that we start construction in September! To make this happen the donor has issued the $1 Million Backto-School Challenge Grant to help ensure this happens! We need
