Looking Back

It’s been an amazing year at Crossroads Campus. Caring Connections, our humane education program, continued making an impact in the community through our partnerships with Monroe Harding and Hopewell Baptist Church. During the cottage sessions at Monroe Harding young people gain new insights and then use that knowledge to help adoptable dogs learn new skills in preparation for adoption. Over the summer we launched a pilot program with a new partner, Hopewell Baptist Church. We took our humane education program to a younger audience – children 6-12 years old. Our dedicated volunteers, along with some pretty amazing canines, helped us reach more youth in the community in 2013.

Crossroads Pets, Crossroads Campus’ social enterprise, opened the doors to the retail store on March 9, 2013. With our partnership with Metro Animal Care and Control (MACC) established, we brought our first adoptable cats into the store from MACC in March; adoptable dogs came into the store in May. This year alone, with the help of volunteers and the community, we helped 75 homeless dogs and cats find their ‘just right’ HOME.

In addition to in-store adoptions, Crossroads Pets held adoption events at the store. Crossroads Pets co-hosted North Shore Animal Leagues Nashville adoption event in April, kicking off our community wide adoption events. During our grand opening in May and at during the Germantown Festival in October MACC, Bonaparte’s Retreat, and other rescues were onsite with adoptable pets.

In addition to pet adoptions, Crossroads Campus kicked off the job-training program. Working with Youth Connections, Crossroads Pets provided job training for youth aging out of state custody. Their duties as interns included animal care, assisting with self-wash & grooming, inventory control, and merchandising.Our first interns, Craig and Louis, finished the intern program and then moved on to new jobs and enrolled in college.  New interns joined us in September – Cortez and Tshombe.

The animals and the interns were just a part of the story. The community embraced Crossroads and our mission. Volunteers supported us every day – participating in humane education sessions, walking dogs, caring for cats, hosting & working events, merchandising the store, maintenance, lawn care and spreading the word. Our community supporters showed up every day to shop, wash their pups, have their dogs AND cats groomed, and the shared our mission with friends and colleagues. We made so many friends in Germantown, Nashville, and beyond – it’s truly been amazing! Together we are achieving our mission – connecting people and animals!

Leaping Forward

Samone, one of our volunteers, spends some quality time with Clyde, one of our adopted pups

But really, we’re just beginning! In 2014 new things are happening at Crossroads Campus so we can connect even more people and animals through Caring Connections, Crossroads Pets, and Crossroads Pet Adoptions. We welcome you to join us in 2014.