2020 ANNUAL REPORT LIVE DIFFERENT TOGETHER.
04 OUR IMPACT
05
14
OUR PEOPLE
OUR PARTNERSHIPS
15
OUR FINANCIALS
A WORD FROM OUR CEO Dear CrossPurpose Family, Alongside the rest of the world, 2020 shook us in every area. Navigating the first several weeks and months of the pandemic felt like walking on shifting sand, not knowing when the next wave would crash and change our entire landscape. By all standards, it was uncomfortable, uncertain, and sometimes chaotic. As that discomfort pressed into all areas of our organization, I saw it bring about growth and change that I could have never expected. We shifted to an entirely online program model for almost 12 months yet still exceeded our pre-pandemic goal of 120 graduates. We didn’t have to lay off a single staff member. We raised 120% of our budget, allowing even more margin to give away funds to Leaders in emergency situations. One year later, we’re standing on solid ground again. We know some things will never be the same as they were before, but we’re grateful. We’re grateful for being hardpressed and refined. We’re thankful for the way the pandemic circumstances created time for us to plan our next five years and publish our strategic plan. We’re grateful that in the midst of a pandemic Wellspring Church offered space and partnership for our first expansion location, opening in the fall of 2021. Mostly, I’m grateful for our CrossPurpose family that banded together like never before to serve neighbors, change lives, and impact our city. I hope our communities never have to endure the pain of a worldwide pandemic again, but I’m thankful to know that together we will rise to the challenge of whatever comes next. Sincerely,
Jason Janz
CEO & Founder
In a year of ups and downs, our community rose to the challenge. In addition to regular operations, we were excited to host multiple events that celebrated our community. Before the pandemic hit, an inaugural Black Men's Event connected our program participants, called Leaders, with community speakers to discuss finance, relationships, career, and selfidentity. As core program classes moved online, we hosted socially distanced, outdoor graduation ceremonies. Leaders got to come together in-person for the first time as they drove by and received diplomas and pomp and circumstance.
We remotely operated our Change Agency program, a nine-month idea incubator and accelerator program open by application to CrossPurpose alumni. When it culminated in a virtual Pitch Night ceremony, the participating Change Agents raised $80,000 for their business ideas. Finally, CrossPurpose staff and volunteers delivered over 300 Christmas gift baskets to Alumni. For many Alumni, it was their first in person interaction with the CrossPurpose community in over a year. Adapting to the unusual year allowed us to connect with our community in ways we never have before.
2020 BY THE NUMBERS
A LOOK AT IMPACT
124
$50,000
424
20%
74%
0
GRADUATES
HOURS OF CAREER COACHING
12 MONTH EMPLOYMENT RETENTION
DISPERSED IN EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNDS
RAISED OVER OPERATING EXPENSES
STAFF LAYOFFS
CrossPurpose program participants, called Leaders, go through a thorough vetting process before they even begin their training. By the time a class starts, anywhere from 40 to 60 adults who are engaged, motivated, and excited to enter into a long-term career with opportunities for growth commit to begin their training. Despite widely varied backgrounds, many Leaders share a common reason for why they join the program - to live up to their own potential and offer a brighter future to their families.
“I feel like I no longer have a job, but a career I can focus on and keep growing with. I have wonderful benefits for not only myself, but for my daughter as well.” STEVEN, 2020 GRADUATE
WHO COMES TO CROSSPURPOSE? 12%
74%
45-55
FEMALE
19%
GENDER 25% MALE
35-44
1%
18-24
AGE
38%
OTHER/ NO DATA
19%
31%
25-34
39%
42%
PRIOR CONVICTIONS
NON-PARENTS
SINGLE PARENTS
JUSTICE INVOLVED
PARENTS 81%
NO PRIOR CONVICTIONS
19%
NON-SINGLE PARENTS
LEADER STORY
Tatiana Padilla When she first heard about CrossPurpose, Tatiana Padilla shared a common response with many others - “It’s too good to be true!” She desired a career change from her position as a Starbucks barista, but just couldn’t imagine a way to afford the education needed to make it happen. After applying and being accepted, she still felt intimidated by joining a class with 50 strangers. Despite being a part of an entirely Zoombased cohort in 2020, she quickly connected with her classmates and coaches. Soon, she found that the aspect of the program she dreaded the most was actually the key to her success. “I’ve done college and some education programs where I never felt motivated towards school. I wanted to do it for myself but I didn’t want to let down my class and Allies and program staff,” she recalls.
With the support of her new community, she completed her certification and began a career in medical billing and coding at Clinic Service Corporation. “It was exactly what I wanted,” she says. “I get to work in a billing office setting, learning the whole process from beginning to end.” Now, her dream career creates new opportunities for other CrossPurpose graduates. Since starting at Clinic Service she’s referred multiple CrossPurpose Alumni for open positions. She believes deeply in the qualifications of her fellow Alumni and in the opportunities at her new company. She says, “It makes a big difference when you’re passionate about what you’re doing and excited about the job.” From serving coffee to serving her community through medical billing and coding, Tatiana has made her own way forward in life and is bringing her new-found community with her. PICTURED LEFT TO RIGHT Jayde Bonato, Tameka Crews, Tatiana Padilla
A LOOK AT EMPLOYMENT We aim to create opportunities for our neighbors to pursue career paths that are exciting and dignifying. When hiring ground to a halt in 2020, we examined our career training curriculum to see how we could adjust to current events. The shift to an entirely online program model inadvertently allowed Leaders to gain important skills in digital communication, video conferencing, Microsoft and Google suites, and more. While we are glad to return to in-person classes in 2021, the technological training remains an important part of our program. Additionally, we rebuilt facets of our curriculum to incorporate stackable credentials and more work-based learning. Many Leaders who choose an administrative or skilled trades career track find that stackable credentials allow them to build a broader range of skills, increasing their employability. Work-based learning (internships, job shadowing, site visits, and more) allows Leaders to experience a day in the life of their new career while they’re still studying and helps Coaches give more personal feedback in their development journey.
$17.35
AVERAGE HOURLY WAGE
89%
OF GRADS DESCRIBE THEIR CURRENT JOBS AS A CAREER JOB WITH ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES *Based on survey respondents
90%
OF GRADUATES OBTAINED JOBS IN OR RELATED TO THEIR CAREER FIELD
CAREER TRACK DISTRIBUTION ADMINISTRATIVE
30
MEDICAL/FRONTLINES
804%
GROWTH IN PRE TO POST GRADUATION INCOME
25
MEDICAL/ADMINISTRATIVE
37
TRADES
19 9
CDL TECHNOLOGY
4
VOLUNTEER IMPACT In a normal year our community volunteers, called Allies, and Leaders gather together every Wednesday night for a Family Gathering program. By eating dinner together and meeting in small groups, they build relationships and inevitably build bridges across racial, gender, and socioeconomic divides.
In 2020, Family Gathering operated mainly over Zoom. Still, Allies and Leaders formed relationships that lasted even beyond graduation. Some groups stayed in touch and began to meet in person when social distancing rules relaxed, and many Allies signed on to join an in-person class in 2021.
51
TOTAL ALLIES
2,448
HOURS SERVED AT FAMILY GATHERING EVENTS
ALLY STORY
The Steidl Family
As parents with three young children, it would be easy for Lauren and Joel Steidl to turn down a weekly commitment for the sake of time. Instead, they view Allyship and attending Family Gatherings as an opportunity for the whole family to engage with the neighbors in their community. Through several years of Allying, their boys get to interact with the children of other Allies and Leaders during childcare while Lauren and Joel build relationships with the parents. As a family, they get to reflect on their interactions. “While our kids can't fully understand what we're doing, we do talk about it and try to explain it,” Lauren says “I think it lays the groundwork for helping others as an important part of our lives.” Lauren, the CrossPurpose Board Treasurer, and her husband Joel have been CrossPurpose Allies since 2016. Now in their fourth class, they always feel that they have something to learn from the new group of participants. “A lot of people just do not choose the circumstances and the families
that they come from, but they're still just incredibly wonderful people,” Joel says. “I've learned a lot from just understanding that about people who are different from myself.” In the midst of life’s challenges, the Steidls see how relationships built amongst Allies and Leaders provide support beyond just career development. They’ve seen their small group rally together to help with a car repair, throw a baby shower, and grieve a cancer diagnosis. Together, they truly live up to the name of “family”. What began as a way to interact with their local church has turned into a staple of the Steidl’s family life. Joel says, “We can show up with our whole family. When it's at night, we don't have to fix dinner as a family and our kids get to do something fun. And then we get to have meaningful time with other adults.” “There's not a heavy burden to be an ally,” he says. “It's a joy.”
OUR ALUMNI When Leaders graduate from CrossPurpose, they continue to receive support from the Alumni Association. Continued coaching, Alumni reunions and community building events, and financial freedom classes are just some of the resources offered to help graduates succeed in their careers and plan for the future.
23
ALUMNI RECEIVED COACHING AND RE-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE
In 2020, almost a third of our graduates lost their jobs or were put on temporary leave due to widespread shutdowns. The Alumni team sprang into action, working with Alumni to help them sharpen their resumes, find new positions, and even provide financial assistance when needed. We also began a pilot, Alumni-only program called CrossFinance that teaches students how to navigate post-grad challenges like following a budget, paying off debt, and meeting financial goals.
$11,093,368 2020 CROSSPURPOSE WEALTH GENERATED *MEASURED BY INCOME OF ALL ALUMNI AT THE END OF 2020
ALUMNA STORY
Luvisa Matali Three years ago, Luvisa Matali was experiencing homelessness. Now, she’s employed as a legal secretary and is attending school to become a paralegal. Luvisa learned about CrossPurpose in 2019 while visiting the Denver Human Services office. “I hit rock bottom and had to figure out what to do next,” she said. She decided to submit an application and enrolled in the CrossPurpose program a few weeks later. Even then, she could have hardly imagined how her journey over the next six months would take her on a trajectory from despair to hope.
After graduation, her ambition drove her to continue to learn and grow. While working as a legal secretary, she received a scholarship to begin paralegal education. She also joined CrossFinance with the hope of creating a more stable future for herself. “I really wanted to start creating generational wealth,” she says. “I want to build a foundation that will last even after I’m gone for me and my family.” By creating and following a budget, she’s already paid down debt faster than she thought possible. Without the burden of financial strain, there are no limits on what Luvisa can accomplish.
PARTNERSHIPS We were grateful to be recognized by multiple state and national organizations for our work in 2020. Trendlines, a Colorado accelerator and social impact fund for nonprofits working in poverty alleviation, invited us to join their pilot cohort based on our retention data. As a result, we received consulting services, connection to like-minded organizations, and a new network of prospective donors. Ascend at the Aspen Institute is a hub for breakthrough ideas and collaborations that move children and their parents toward educational success and economic security. In 2020 they recognized CrossPurpose as a partner in the Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community to alleviate generational poverty. Along with twenty other partners nationwide, we’ll contribute thought leadership about practices and policies that can change the way we think about poverty and serve families with effective solutions to gain a living-wage job. The Clayton Christensen Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to improving the world through Disruptive Innovation. They assisted us in revamping our social capital survey to better measure the impact of our programming and included us in learning sessions with other national organizations. We were also featured in “The Missing Metrics”, a study on emerging practices for measuring the value of students’ relationships and networks. The study concluded, “We’ll be watching a range of innovative players like Basta, Braven, CrossPurpose, COOP, and others that are helping people break into better jobs by building both strong support networks and diverse professional networks.” Finally, philanthropy aggregator NPX chose us as a beneficiary of their inaugural Colorado Donor Impact Fund. Their new “pay-for-success” model awards us $1M based on our proven metrics of work in our field. Moving forward, we’ll continue to seek partnerships that help CrossPurpose grow and make progress towards a poverty solution that works.
Juan Peña
Chief Innovation Officer & Co-Founder
EXPENSES
$3,936,003
4%
15%
PROFESSIONAL FEES $170,513
PROGRAMS $603,599
5%
1% INSURANCE
IN KIND DONATIONS $186,240
$33,444
11%
2% OTHER
OCCUPANCY $426,497
$135,284
3%
57%
MARKETING & TECH $90,798
12%
INDIVIDUALS $522,715
6%
PROGRAM $273,566
PERSONNEL $2,231,147
REVENUE
1%
CHURCHES $28,700
10%
BUSINESSES $437,218
11%
GOVERNMENT $486,666
$4,461,016
56%
FOUNDATIONS $2,517,364
4%
IN KIND $186,341
LESS THAN 1% OTHER $8,446
2020 FINANCIALS
Allocation of Expenses
$3,936,003
12%
ADMINISTRATION $461,890
74%
PROGRAMS $2,932,479
14%
FUNDRAISING $541,634
WHERE WE’RE GOING Five years ago, we charted a course to help 1,000 people escape poverty by the end of 2020. As of this publication, 508 Leaders have graduated from our program, bringing over 1,200 men, women and children out of poverty in Denver. We’re thrilled with our progress, and we’re far from finished. That’s why we spent the end of 2020 dreaming about our next five years. With the launch of our new five year plan, we aim to expand to four locations and see 2,025 graduates and 5,195 people out of poverty by the end of 2025. Thanks to your support, we continue to reach higher. Together, let’s help more neighbors across Denver escape financial, social and spiritual poverty for years to come. To discuss a new or renewed partnership with CrossPurpose reach out to Casey Johns, Chief Development Officer, at cjohns@crosspurpose.org.
2025 graduates by 2025
CURRENT AND FUTURE LOCATIONS NORTHGLENN
“We want to build a legacy institution of excellence in our city. One that exists for all, endures a hundred years from now and empowers tens of thousands of families to escape poverty."
NE DENVER AURORA
JASON JANZ, CEO
SOUTH METRO
3050 Richard Allen Ct, Denver, CO 80205 (720) 724-9544 crosspurpose.org