This year marks 20 years working at the Shalom Center in Kenosha for Wendy Cross. Cross has been named director of the Shalom Center’s Hope Hub, a new 10,500 square-foot facility featuring washing machines, dryers, a warming/cooling center and housing and homeless diversion professionals to help connect those in need with vital services. Cross comes from a background of philanthropy and helping others, as her mother helped start the sexual assault treatment program at the former St.
Catherine’s Hospital in the 1980s, and later worked for Women and Children’s Horizons and the Shalom Center. How did you get involved? (My mom) had us involved with everything, with helping people in the community and that’s what I wanted to focus on was helping people in the community. My mom was huge role model for us for that, so that’s why I continue to live on with her legacy of helping people in need.
How did you get started? I started as a shelter supervisor. I did that for about 13 years up in the family shelter at the old building on 62nd Street. About a year before we moved here, I moved on to just managing the INNS program and the family shelter.
From there, that’s where I became shelter programs director and now the whole pub director. I thought, “Oh, it’s about time for me to move on.” The new opportunity came, and I’m like, “Oh, God, I would love to do this.
” What is the most fulfilling part of the work you do? It’s making a difference in people’s lives, j.