“We want to engage young people in deeper thinking about systemic change and systemic poverty — to understand the larger challenges at work that make it extremely difficult to get out of poverty — and to empower them to be changemakers when they return to their own communities.”
Erika Funk, CROSS Director
Twice a week this summer, CROSS Missions brings teenagers to laugh, talk, and serve together at Crisis Assistance Ministry. The groups come from across the Southeast US for the urban immersion experience. Teams spend their days serving in area nonprofits, learn about social justice and systemic barriers in the evening, and reflect on how their faith challenges them to effect change.
“It isn’t just about being ‘good people,’ it’s about understanding the call to achieve God’s vision of justice where all will have enough,”says CROSS Director Erika Funk.
“At Crisis Assistance Ministry they see how important it is to prevent people from falling into homelessness,” she adds. “And they see the people needing help are the same people who are serving customers in restaurants, driving for ride-share apps, checking out your groceries, people who abide in uptown Charlotte just as much as anyone who occupies the gleaming towers.”
