CrossPurpose equips unemployed or underemployed adults to become
self-sufficient through job training and personal development.
In Six Months, Program Graduates will be Earning
$15/Hour or More In A Meaningful career.
A BROKEN SYSTEM
America began a "War on Poverty" over 50 years ago, a war, by all accounts, we are losing. Despite the expenditure of trillions of dollars and decades of relief work, the rate of people in poverty has remained largely static.
The system is broken. As a society, we are attempting to heal wounds with band-aids, and it isn't working.
Our communities are broken, too. Divided by class, race, and other lines, we are often unaware of the plight of our neighbors and feel helpless to solve the problems we do see.
As we look around our own communities in Northeast Denver, where 16,000 of the 60,000 residents live below the Federal poverty line, we are in agreement with one of the great pioneers of poverty alleviation work, Muhammed Yunus, when he said:
“TO ME, THE POOR ARE LIKE BONSAI TREES. WHEN YOU PLANT THE BEST SEED OF THE TALLEST TREE IN A SIX-INCH DEEP FLOWER POT, YOU GET A PERFECT REPLICA OF THE TALLEST TREE, BUT IT IS ONLY INCHES TALL. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE SEED YOU PLANTED; ONLY THE SOIL-BASE YOU PROVIDED WAS INADEQUATE. POOR PEOPLE ARE BONSAI PEOPLE - THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THEIR SEEDS. ONLY SOCIETY NEVER GAVE THEM A BASE TO GROW ON.”
OUR SOLUTION
Our unique career and community development model aims to rebuild the societal base surrounding our neighbors, creating more integrated communities and developing pathways out of poverty through meaningful careers.
Where most work focuses on the problems that accompany poverty, we are person-centered, employing a "whatever it takes" approach to unleash each individual's inherent strengths and break the barriers that stand between them and the self-sufficiency they desire. Rather than provide temporary aid, our development model creates sustainable independence.
Our Impact
We are creating flourishing communities one person at a time,
through the abolishment of adult American poverty.
200
people out of poverty
$3,836,202
wealth accumulated by Leaders
7:1
$7 return on every $1 investment
Get Involved
We believe there is no significant change
without a significant relationship,
so volunteer Allies are critical to our work.
An Ally is a community volunteer who commits to walk alongside their neighbors who are journeying out of poverty.
You can help us to build community in northeast Denver by simply being a friend to some of our amazing Leaders.