Welcome to The Bridge

Acceptance, Dignity, Hope and Love...

...These are words that have lost much of their meaning to people who have no place to call home. For people who have seen the harder edges of life, these things are precious commodities. At The Bridge, we have found that homelessness is merely a symptom of deep and painful problems that have plagued our families for years. There is no quick solution.

Our goal is to provide long-term assistance to families which allows them time to overcome past problems, accept an appropriate level of personal responsibility, acquire life skills and learn methods to attain them. There is a strong emphasis on developing job skills and establishing a career in a field that will be able to provide an adequate salary.

Who Is Eligible?

To be eligible, families must be homeless, drug-free, have young children, desire recovery and be motivated to work. On entry into the program, each family acquires a suitably-sized apartment near other program families and The Bridge office. This allows families to network with one another and provides easy access to their case manager and counseling programs. Once they are settled and secure in their own residence, they can begin to focus on solutions to self-defeating behaviors.

The Bridge offers training in areas such as:

• Career Paths
• Goal Setting
• Budgeting
• Parenting
• Co-Dependency
• Personal Empowerment
• Life Skills

Shortly after entry into the program, the majority of adults are either employed or involved in job training.

School-aged children attend classes in local public schools and work with volunteer tutors. The case manager encourages parents to maintain an ongoing dialogue with teachers and school administrators to help assure that the children are provided with every resource available to assist them in their education. If it is necessary, children are referred to appropriate counseling services.

How You Can Help Us

The problem of homelessness is too far-reaching for one person or organization to solve. It takes an entire community of people who care ... a virtual cooperative of churches.

Church volunteer teams are perhaps the most vital aspect of The Bridge program. They are matched with Bridge families to encourage and love the family along the road to recovery. Volunteers plan fun outings with the family and develop a special friendship while modeling healthy family interaction Most volunteer teams develop strong friendships with their family... friendships that last long after graduation day.

Just as many trusses are necessary to support a bridge, so it is that a framework of volunteers upholds our program. Opportunities abound in areas such as transportation, child care and tutoring, as well as special one-time needs.

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