Benaye Wadkins Chambers is the president and CEO of Crossroads Community Services. Their mission is to provide meals for food-insecure families in Dallas, Ellis and Navarro Counties and to do that work with dignity.
Wadkins Chambers is the first woman to lead the organization in its 22-year history and under her leadership they have increased their work exponentially.
"When I arrived, we were distributing about 11.5 million pounds of food a year. That was three years ago. This year, we will do 21 million," she said.
She said that equates to about 38 million meals for families they directly serve and through their community partners.
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"We like to share with people that the predominate number of folks that we are serving have a job. They might have two jobs, they might have three jobs. They are making enough money to cover rent and that's about it," Wadkins Chambers said.
She also said the cost of living continues to rise, but wages aren't rising at the same pace. It's her mission, with the help of her team and nearly 1,000 volunteers, to expand services with a new offering in the works.
"'Right now, we are in the process of building out a space at the Shops at Redbird that's going to be a nutrition pharmacy concept birthed out of what Crossroads have been doing for last 22 years but really came to life in the last three years. This will be a way for people to get fresh food and they will be referred by their doctor or medical professional. It's all through a partnership with UT Southwestern. Just think, if you have diabetes or if you are battling cancer, or whatever it might be, you need access to fresh food. Sometimes, patients can't afford that because they have to be able to pay for their life-saving treatments," Wadkins Chambers said.
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In 2023, she became the first southern Dallas County food distributor to be invited to present at the Future of Food stage at the South By Southwest conference.
"What I want people to remember is that Benaye was an advocate. She was going to speak it, live it and then turn around and do it," Wadkins Chambers said.
She said this is just the beginning.
"We want to build nutrition stable communities, that's about building markets, it's about mobile distribution, our culinary medicine partnership and serving people where they are," she said.
For more information on Crossroads, whether you need assistance or you would like to volunteer or donate, visit their website here.
