Anna Palmer, Executive Director
5290 Canal Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70124
504.482.9135 – crossroadsnola.org

Over the past 8 years, Crossroads foster families have welcomed 563 children into their hearts and homes. Many of these children have been reunited with their biological family, some have been adopted, and many remain in foster care. As our work has grown, we have seen foster families go above and beyond what the state requires of them – they have loved unconditionally, helped drug-exposed newborns detox, supported reunification efforts, learned trauma-informed parenting skills, and attended countless meetings and appointments. They have learned the ins and outs of complex systems including child welfare, education, healthcare, mental/behavioral health, and more – all to ensure the children they care for have more than they need to thrive.

Crossroads has walked with these families from their initial questions about foster care and throughout their fostering journey. Through this, we’ve come to understand that in order to best serve children and families, we must also work toward improving processes and systems.

So, in the last 5 years, Crossroads launched a strategic effort to align community partners that operate within these statewide systems around a trauma-informed model, called Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®). The strength of TBRI® is that it is evidence-based and provides a framework for how to best care for, make decisions, and serve children and families who have experienced trauma. With the help of our wonderful partners, much progress has been made. We have trained over 5,000 parents and professionals from across the state that we believe will greatly accelerate our work in the future.

In other news, we hosted our inaugural Crossroads Connection TBRI® Camp this past Summer ‘21 at First Baptist New Orleans. This camp was specially designed to meet the needs of kids who have experienced early childhood trauma. It was a week of connecting, empowering, and correcting through the lens of TBRI®. Our goal was to give children an environment where they could learn and grow, expanding tools in their toolbox to connect with others, empower themselves, and develop healthy relationships. Camp also provided their parents some refreshing time “off” where they knew their kids would be in a safe place that understood their needs. Back at home, our campers are now demonstrating growth in critical life skills like giving and receiving care.

We are so thankful for our amazing team of camp volunteers – TBRI® Practitioners, GenSend college students, and local counseling students – as well as First Baptist New Orleans for generously providing building space; they made this 1st year a HUGE success!

We are excited about the work that is ahead of us. Thank you for your prayers and your support. This work would not be possible without you!

– Anna Palmer, Executive Director