MOULTRIE, Ga. — When you walk into the Crossroads Gospel Mission one of the first things you will see is a sign on the wall that says “365 days 365 chances,” and that is one of the mottos that this transitional home lives by.

Crossroads has been a staple in the Colquitt County community since the 1970s as they have helped men and women. Now Dr. Randy Benner has taken over as president and has given Crossroads a makeover internally and externally.

Under Benner’s leadership Crossroads has upgraded the Crossroad Mission house with new dormitories, new bathrooms and new roofing, and they have retooled their life coach program, which are some of the things Benner wanted to focus on since he became president.

But the most important focus for Benner and his team over the last nine months as been the mission of Crossroads, which is to show people that there are other options and that there are people who are willing to help you.

Crossroads offers life coaches for the men who choose to stay there. The job of the life coach is to give them guidance and push them in the right direction, Benner said.

Caleb Davis, vice president of Crossroads and head of the life coaches there, believes in what they are doing for these men and knows it will push them in the right direction.

“It’s easy to find a bed and something to eat, and that’s what a lot of people are looking for,” Davis said, “but we are a gospel mission and the only hope we see is in the gospel. That’s the greatest news we know of, and that’s what we want to share with these men.

“There is also the life side of it but they also need to figure out what they want to be and what they want to do,” he said, “and as a life coach we have to pour ourselves into these guys and that means praying for them, being there for them and just letting them know we won’t abandon you.”

Crossroads sets up members with a job and helps the men there establish a relationship with the community as they require people to volunteer, Benner said, and it helps them establish a relationship with God.

“We want people here who in their heart want to change, and we want to help them change,” he said. “Everybody here we got them a job because that’s part of growing and changing. They are at a crossroad in their life: They can either go back down the road they were on, or they can say they want a new road and that’s what we want to do.”

Crossroads is also working to reach the less fortunate who don’t live there too. They offer a food fridge, which is a refrigerator where they put meals in every day for the less fortunate, and they are in the process of working on a public shower and bathroom that anybody can access.

Wesley Thomas said Crossroads saved his life.

“I started about nine months ago,” Thomas said. “I have been to a bunch of 30-day programs and the second 30-Day program was coming to an end and I didn’t have a place to go. So I prayed about it and I found my way here. I was heading  back to a bad place and I knew it. God sent me here and I believe that this place has saved my life.”