Crossnore Communities for Children

Set Apart. This school is unlike any other that exists. As a former student who lived at Crossnore School for 6+ years; I can and will always say with full assurance that being sent to Crossnore was a life changing experience for me. In 2008 I was placed at this school due to my broken home life. I was raised in a home that was infested with drugs, alcohol and abuse for those first 11 years of my life. 11 years later, I am a born again Christian, happily married to the love of my life and living in Dallas, TX working in full time ministry. At Crossnore School, I met a man named Brett Loftis. This man is like a father figure in my life. He is the CEO of Crossnore School and Children's Home and he is the best thing that I have ever seen happen to that school. He mentored me, loved me and most importantly; he believed in me to fulfill the call of God in my life. Brett loves children in a way that I have never experienced any person love kids. He truly cares about people. Lastly, the best thing that ever happened to me while a student; I accepted Jesus Christ into my life while a student at Crossnore School. The Lord used this amazing organization to help me become that man that I am today. I forever owe all of my gratitude to Crossnore School and to Jesus for the opportunity to believe in myself and to make my dreams become a reality for my life! There is no other place like Crossnore School and Children's Home. But, don't take my word for it. Go visit the school yourself; you will not be disappointed.

I remember Crossnore, early fifties, I was still elementary age and they placed me in the middle boys dorm. I had many firsts while there even though I do not believe it was more than one year. I somehow worked my way to an upper bunk and recall one night thinking I had seen the devil himself, laughing at me; scared me enough to remember it this day. I am not sure how this worked out but we were headed to church (we had done this before) and walked around the side of a mountain (to us it seemed that way) and crossed a bridge and the church was tucked into the side of a mountain. I recall there were little more than a dozen of us sitting loosely in the church and a man sat down to talk to us. I watched him pull out a silver dollar and offered to give it to the first person who would come and get it. I did not trust what he said, so I watched as finally one boy got out of his seat and retrieved it. I remember the man telling us it was that easy to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. It was there I fell in love with the song "The Old Rugged Cross" and "Love Lifted Me". Many times we would gather at the top of a hill we called Christmas Tree Hill; it was a long slope peppered with small pines with barbed wire fence at the bottom and a road running along side. We would somehow get pieces of cardboard and take turns sliding down. I enjoyed climbing trees and eating honey suckle, laying down and watching the clouds come over the mountain on the other side. I could smell the rain coming and watched how the wind would change the color of the leaves as they blew back and forth; it was fun watching the clouds change shape. I caught my first experience of athletes foot; had my tonsils taken out and made my first attempt to run away. I hitch hiked my way right back to Crossnore (thanks to an alert staff) and received a firm education up in the loft. I remember the huge ball field where the high school dorm was (maybe it was more than that then) and found a deer after it was field stripped hanging behind the dining hall. Before I left I was approached by two girls who wanted to know which one I would pick as a girl friend. It seems long after I had left that Ann would still write me. I can remember going into town and attending the theater, watching a movie with soda and pop corn for twenty five cents. Lots of memories for sure and that is how I remember it till this day.

I was at Crossnore School when I was about 3-5 years old, around 1952. It was a small place then, with dormatories segregated by age and gender. My best memories are of a teenage girl in another dormatory who would hold me and rock me in her room; she'd wash my hair; read to me, etc. I remember the donuts we'd get on Sundays after church, the little dirt road we'd take to a little store to buy hand lotion. While it was a tramautic thing for a young girl to be in a home for neglected and abused children, and while I missed my parents, I have some funny and fond memories -- and some not so fond as they were very strict in the '50s. My sister and brother were there also. I see that Crossnore is now a large complex and hope to visit it. You go through tough times in life and you move on. Crossnore was a big part of my childhood development and I would rather have been there than in an orphanage. Our parents did come and get us after a year or two. I don't know what it's like today, but it appears to have grown tremendously, so I'm assuming it's successful. I'm glad it was there for me and hope other children have the opportunity to go there to get away from parents who are neglectful and abusive.