Compassion, Collaboration, and Commitment

CrossOver Ministry had a humble beginning as a faith-based grass roots initiative to meet some of the growing social needs of inner-city Richmond. On Nov. 5, 1983, Dr. Cullen Rivers, assisted by the Rev. Buddy Childress, held the first medical clinic for CrossOver in the World of Life Church with little certainty of what lay ahead. Twenty-five years later, the community continues to reap rewards from the seeds planted that day.

Today CrossOver offers a full continuum of medical services, including family practice, obstetrics, mental health services, HIV diagnosis and treatment, dental and vision care, a Community Pharmac, and wellness education through its network of three free clinics located throughout the Greater Richmond area -- on Cowardin Avenue in the Bainbridge area, on Quioccassin Road in western Henrico County, and at Sherbourne United Methodist Church in Chesterfield County. In the past year, more than 3,000 patients, 75 percent of whom have annual incomes of less than $20,000, made more than 18,500 visits to these clinics. CrossOver serves an ethnically diverse patient base, having treated immigrants from more than 100 countries.

Throughout its 25-year history, CrossOver has combined compassion, collaboration, and commitment to knit a community-based safety net for the growing number of uninsured citizens from a fragmented health care delivery system.

CrossOver collaborates with a host of Community Partners to make its broad range of services possible. The three Richmond hospital systems -- Bon Secours, HCA, and VCU Health Systems -- not only provide financial support, they also provide lab and imaging services, as well as free care for clinic patients who need hospital-based services. And pharmaceutical companies -- Merck, Glaxo SmithKline, Novartis, Abbott, and Astra Zeneca -- provide free medications that CrossOver dispenses from its Community Pharmacy.

CROSSOVER'S network of compassion, collaboration, and commitment continues to grow through its award-winning Lay Health Promoter program. Realizing that health education can be as important as medical care, CrossOver developed this program in 1994. Since then, more than 900 people, including 100 who speak Spanish, have graduated from the nine-week program and are now providing health and wellness education to their friends and neighbors.

In 2004, to address patients' needs for critical prescription drugs, CrossOver sought and was granted a pharmacy license by the Virginia Board of Pharmacy. Last year, with the assistance of Bon Secours and the Jenkins Foundation, CrossOver became a Community Pharmacy, distributing medications to patients of other area free clinics. What was once a primary unmet need is now being filled, as CrossOver last year dispensed free medications valued at more than $1 million.

Also in 2004, CrossOver launched the Healthy Homes Campaign, which provides prenatal services and education to pregnant women who have no other access to care. Since that time, more than 900 healthy babies have been born as their mothers have benefited from this unique, collaborative program. Earlier this year, CrossOver added a program called Centering Pregnancy to the Healthy Homes program.

CROSSOVER is sustained by the commitment of a passionate and faithful staff and dedicated volunteers. Led by Dr. Dan Jannuzzi, medical director, and Julie Bilodeau, director of operations, our staff is dedicated to making a difference and modeling CrossOver's core values of compassion, integrity, and servant leadership every day. They are supported in their work by more than 300 clinical and non-clinical volunteers, who served more than 10,000 volunteer hours in the past year.

Among the dedicated volunteers have been such physicians as the pioneering heart transplant surgeon, the late Dr. Richard Lower, and the widely respected hematologist/oncologist, the late Dr. William Martin. Both gave countless hours of compassionate care to CrossOver's patients after retiring from their practices. Drs. Lower and Martin, whose lives we will celebrate at our anniversary event, embodied the ethic of compassionate service that CrossOver strives to emulate.

Working together, one patient, one day at a time, CrossOver's staff, volunteers, and community partners provide health education, timely medical services, and a medical home for our neighbors who live just one medical crisis from the financial brink. As CrossOver Ministry celebrates its 25th year of service, it stands as an example of the power of compassion, collaboration, and commitment in overcoming what sometimes seem to be the insurmountable needs of the low-income uninsured.

This is indeed an anniversary to celebrate -- but the real celebration continues every day, as we combine our prayers, talents, and financial resources with compassion and commitment to provide health care, promote wellness, and connect community talents and resources with people in need in the name of Jesus Christ. 

Tom Byrd is president of the Board of Directors of CrossOver Ministry Inc. For more information about CrossOver and its 25th Anniversary Celebration, please visit crossoverministry.org.