Crossroads facilities deal with capacity limits

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by Amy West

Story Created: Oct 10, 2012 at 4:49 PM CDT

Story Updated: Oct 10, 2012 at 4:51 PM CDT

The Crossroads Rescue Mission in Hastings and Kearney are both full. This is a trend we've seen off and on the last couple of years now. Jerry Bumgardner visited with News 5 about the situation.

Amy West: What's driving them there?

Jerry: Economy. People are not able to afford housing. That's the number one reason for homelessness right now is that they can't afford to stay where they're at. We're seeing more families now. Way back when we actually had one family room and that's all we needed. Now we're just seeing more families and more kids. So, it makes it tough. We have a limit both in Kearney and Hastings. When we hit that limit we can't go over that limit.

Amy: Is there any other place they can go?

Jerry: There is. The Salvation Army in Grand Island. They have some empty beds. I talked to Mark last night. So, always make sure and check with Salvation Army in Grand Island besides our two facilities.

Amy: And that's only for males?

Jerry: Males in Grand Island, yes.

Amy: As we head into the holiday season do you expect those numbers to go up even more? Do you expect an influx of homeless?

Jerry: Yeah, we do. Usually, this is our busiest time and we've been busy before this time so as it gets colder that's really what brings them in. They can't stay in their vehicles, they can't sleep out in the cold. So we're going to see it increase even more.

Amy: What can people do that are watching right now? What can they do to help you?

Jerry: The main thing is what they've already been doing. We are no longer government funded at all so we appreciate the public giving and they have been so thank you for giving financially, thank you for giving monetarily, thank you for volunteering because we couldn't do it without you.

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