Crossroads Mission celebrates 60th Anniversary: Home is where the heart is

The Crossroads Mission has provided services to the homeless in Yuma for 60 years.

According to the Arizona Department of Housing, there are over 1,400 chronically homeless people in Arizona.

Those people suffer from disabling conditions and have been homeless for more than a year.

One woman dealing with this type of homelessness finds shelter with the mission.

Locals often see Becky Hardesty wearing her brown boots, lugging everything she owns around town.

Becky is chronically homeless and been since she was 36-years-old.

Over the past few years, the 56-year-old woman has called the Crossroads Mission home; a place where she enjoys daily meals and a safe place to sleep.

She said the streets can be dangerous for a homeless woman like herself, ” I had a person come at me with a syringe and scared me. I got away before he stuck me. ”

Becky is one of the 51 homeless women currently in the mission’s shelter.

Though she’s quite eccentric and colorful, Becky has a good heart.

She spends her days feeding animals and doing random acts of kindness along her trails.

” [The mission] used to give away bread and I used to put it in people’s mailboxes along the way when I would walk. And they’ll come out and say that was so nice, ” she said.

On October 12th the Crossroads Mission will be hosting a jubilee to benefit their new men’s center project.

Tickets for the fancy fundraiser dinner start at $60.

It’s to celebrate their 60 years of service in the Yuma community.

For more tickets and other details visit their website.