Workers continue the construction of Crossroads for Her earlier this week. Co-chair Darlene Cox said trusses should be up by the end of the week.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Crossroads for Her ministry is about half-way to its fund-raising goal while construction crews are putting trusses on the organization’s building.

The ministry, patterned after the Crossroads Gospel Rescue Mission, began as an idea about a year ago, according to co-chairs Linda Berl and Darlene Cox. Berl was involved in a women’s ministry at the Colquitt County Jail while Cox had been focused on the community’s struggles with homelessness. As their paths crossed, they saw an opportunity to help women at one of the worst times of their lives.

Crossroads Gospel Rescue Mission, which marked its 50th anniversary this year, reinvented itself in 2018 to focus on one-on-one ministry to men, many of whom are recently released from jail. It closed its thrift store and now receives its funds primarily from participating churches. Over the last four years, it’s racked up several success stories of men getting their lives together, not only in the practical sense of eschewing drugs and getting and keeping a job, but also in the spiritual sense by becoming committed Christians.

Crossroads for Her, as the name implies, hopes to find the same success with homeless women and women recently out of jail.

The fundraising goal was set at $600,000 to build and begin to operate a facility that would house 12 women and a resident director. Berl said the campaign is about half-way to that goal thanks to private donations, churches, a one-time allotment from the Colquitt County Board of Commissioners and gifts for speaking engagements. Much of the work on the facility has included donated or in-kind services, she said.

“Especially for these economic times, our community has really stepped forward to help us,” she said.

T-shirt sales are currently under way, and directors are about to begin a sale of engraved bricks — similar to the Downtown Moultrie Association’s downtown brick campaign. The bricks will be placed in a walkway at front of the Crossroads for Her building after it’s completed.

For details of either of these fundraisers, visit www.crossroads4her.com.

Cox said the organization has gotten some unexpected moral support from the state’s Division of Family and Children Services. Local DFCS officials see it as a way to solidify the circumstances of women in need. Some of the women’s circumstances caused them to lose custody of their children, and Cox said the DFCS officials believe the support Crossroads for Her plans to offer could help them reunite their families after they graduate from the program. (Crossroads for Her will not have facilities for children on-site, Berl said in a previous interview.)

Not only will Crossroads for Her offer housing, a job and life coaching, but also classes in financial literacy and some hobbies.

Construction of the facility is well under way. A foundation was laid in June, but further work was delayed for about two weeks because of the weather, Berl said. All the roof trusses are expected to be up by Friday.

Meanwhile, Berl said, the directors are working on the procedures that will be in place when the facility opens early next year.

About 20 people attended a volunteers meeting, she said, and more such meetings are planned monthly. Anyone interested can sign up on the website, www.crossroads4her.com, so the group can have a database of people who are interested.

“We’re trying to reach all areas of the community that want to be involved,” Berl said. “We welcome them to be involved.”

For more information, visit the website or email crossroads4her@gmail.com.