Coggin Heeringa was hired for a position with Crossroads at Big Creek on 9/11. That infamous day over 18 years ago now ensures that she will never forget her first shift. It also crystallizes how far the organization has come. The Door County Historical Society occupied only the school house and the fish house. The Collins Learning Center was a frame, not yet plastered. Heeringa says Crossroads truly took off when it was allowed to become a freestanding organization, separate from the Sturgeon Bay School District.

The community support continues to this day. Only a small fraction of funding for programming at Crossroads is obtained through grants from outside organizations.