The economic contraction in response to the threat of COVID-19 has generated a powerful surge in demand for food assistance. In the third week of April, 2020, Crossroads’ Food Pantry served 1,106 households in just 4 days—more than five times the weekly average for February. Of these, 791 self-reported that they had never received assistance from Crossroads before. Since then, the weekly demand has stabilized at more than double pre-COVID levels. Pantry services for the first half of 2020 have already exceeded the total for all of 2019, by pounds distributed. (See two attached charts illustrating the surge in demand and year-over-year distribution.)

Many of those seeking assistance are doing so for the first time in their lives. For those who were already at high risk for food insecurity, the economic and public health crises have only deepened their vulnerability and social isolation. These include children who rely on school meal programs, seniors, people with disabilities and chronic health conditions and all those with life-long experiences of income and asset poverty. Women and children of color are disproportionately represented among these risk groups. Feeding America estimates a 43.5% increase in child food insecurity in Dallas County for 2020. This means nearly 1 in 3 children (30.3%) may be at risk of hunger this year.

Crossroads is committed to doing everything possible to meet the increased demand and continue to supply partners with foods vitally needed in their communities. To do so safely has required significant changes in operations, including the shift to a drive-thru Pantry and the replacement of most of our volunteers with ShiftSmart workers and National Guard provided to Crossroads by North Texas Food Bank.

Although safer and more efficient, the drive-thru model does not offer our clients food choices. For now, everyone receives pre-packaged grocery boxes in numbers that depend on simple household head counts.

To restore some choice to families this summer, we are piloting a Grocery Gift Card program for children who are missing school-based meals and relying on our drive-thru service. The program provides parents with cards that can be used at local grocery stores to purchase complementary foods and missing ingredients needed to prepare culturally appropriate meals they know their kids will enjoy.

History
Crossroads opened in 2001 as an outreach ministry of First United Methodist Church, Dallas and became an independent 501(c)(3) organization in 2015. Crossroads is not a 509(a)(3) organization.

In 2006, Crossroads pioneered Hub and Spoke, a food distribution model that leveraged the enormous compassion and volunteer spirit in North Texas to establish a network of distribution sites operated by diverse, neighborhood-based organizations. These include places of worship, schools, apartment complexes and retirement centers, among others. We call them Community Distribution Partners (CDPs).

CDPs provide a consistent supply of nutritious groceries to households in which socio-economic factors become barriers to healthful eating. Food assistance is accessible when it is available close to the people who need it. This saves time, money and effort. Accessibility also means that elderly and disabled people have the support they need. CDPs distribute the food they get from Crossroads within 48 hours, a timeframe that makes it unnecessary to become certified as a food pantry, build new pantry infrastructure or keep inventory. In 2011, Hub and Spoke was adopted by North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) when they invited Crossroads to become the first Hub in their 13-county service area.

In 2007, Crossroads developed its signature Nutrition-Based Food Selection System—an algorithm based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans—with the help of a registered dietician. Prior to COVID-19, the system helped each household served at our in-house Pantry select enough healthful groceries to prepare roughly 21 balanced monthly meals for each household member, based on their age, gender and activity level. For example, a three-person family with dad working construction and two male teenagers would receive more pounds of groceries than a single mom with three children, aged 3, 5, and 8, because of the significant difference in the two households’ caloric needs. Whatever the household composition, being generous is best. Providing too little food risks wasting the time and effort of everyone involved and encourages people to travel between multiple pantries to accumulate what they need.

In 2009, we began capturing client data that included demographics, income, physical and mental health markers such as BMI and depression, social connectivity and food insecurity screenings. In 2011, we established CARE (Community Assistance Research). CARE is led by Dr. Tammy Leonard, a behavioral economist now at University of Dallas, and Dr. Sandi Pruitt, in Clinical Sciences at UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW).

Since the establishment of CARE, Crossroads has received more than $1 million in external, peer-reviewed funding for research and pilot projects that include UTSW or Crossroads as primary awardees. We launched two major projects of this type in 2019: SNAP-Appointment Coordination (SNAP-AC) and The BUILD Health Challenge® (described below).

In 2019, Crossroads relocated from a 10,000 sq. ft. facility in downtown Dallas to a 72,000 sq. ft. distribution center on South Cockrell Hill Road, the former home of North Texas Food Bank in the heart of southern Dallas. We now serve southern Dallas, Ellis and Navarro Counties through a growing distribution Network that consists of 80+ CDPs, 44 Agencies operating food programs and Crossroads’ own in-house, client-choice Pantry (currently in the drive-thru version).