What is Bridge Over Troubled Waters?
How many young people does Bridge serve every year, and why are they homeless?
How does Bridge help youth?
How many staff do you have, and do you use volunteers?
What are some of the outcomes of your work?
Why has the Bridge model worked?
Where does Bridge get its funding?
What is Bridge Over Troubled Waters?
Bridge is a 38 year old, independently operated nonprofit organization, whose mission is to enable high-risk and homeless youth to achieve a healthy and productive adulthood through prevention, intervention, and education services. Although other organizations address specific needs of youth, Bridge is New England's leading provider of comprehensive services to runaways and homeless youth.
How many young people does Bridge serve every year, and why are they homeless?
Bridge serves nearly 5,000 youth every year. Youth become homeless for a variety of reasons. Most often the reason is a problem in the home such as domestic violence, substance abuse, or neglect. Sometimes, an event or series of unfortunate events like the loss of a parent or guardian’s employment and housing or the death of a parent can cause a young person to become homeless. Some youth compound family problems with their own substance abuse, which often begins as a means of coping with their trauma or depression.
Homelessness does not usually happen overnight, but is the end result of strained or broken relationships, poor support systems, and hopelessness. Homelessness can be masked by "couch surfing", or the practice of young people staying with various friends and acquaintances for short periods of time. These youth are also high-risk from ending up on the strets. Some young people run away from home to pursue the allure of independent living . Others are on the streets because they were coerced into unlawful and dangerous lifestyles, such as prostitution, and have since fled.
Most clients reside in Boston, but young people can be from all parts of Massachusetts or even other states. Last year, 77% of clients were living in the city, 16% in the suburbs, and 7% had come from out of state. Bridge provides a safe, welcoming environment for any adolescent or young adult in need. The disproportionately high numbers of minority youth (53% African-American, 11% Hispanic, and 3% other, non-white ethnicity) illustrate that African-American and Latino youth are much more likely than their white counterparts to experience homelessness. Adolescent males make up 70% of the population served.
The Bridge philosophy of working with youth is based on a relational model, which means we build relationships with youth that we expect to maintain for years. It is important to establish trust in working with youth who have so often been disappointed by the individuals and systems they have turned to in the past. Our work begins with street outreach. Every weeknight our outreach workers are on the streets of Boston and Cambridge looking for young people who need our support and reconnecting with young people we have seen in the past. Young people who come to Bridge can take advantage of an integrated and comprehensive service model designed to address all of their needs, from the most basic (food and shelter) to those necessary to help them become self-sufficient (educational job and career counseling, basic life skill development, permanent housing search and referrals).
How many staff do you have, and do you use volunteers?
There are 46 staff members, some of whom are former clients. Providing entry-level positions and career opportunities for current and former clients supports our goal of helping individuals achieve self-sufficiency, and helps fulfill our responsibility as a community-based organization.
Bridge also relies heavily upon volunteers to provide critical services. We utilize over 200 individual volunteers every year. The Bridge Medical Van and Medical & Dental Clinics are staffed exclusively by 60 physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses and dentists from local area hospitals. Bridge serves as a medical training site, as these healthcare professionals bring with them over 70 medical and dental students. We also have over 80 tutors and mentors who provide support to youth in the Residential Component and Education/Career Development Program.
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What are some of the outcomes of your work?
In 2007 alone:
5,935 plus young people were served by Bridge last year Street Outreach workers worked with approximately 5,465 homeless and high-risk young people on the streets.
2,248 disconnected and runaway youth came to Bridge for services.
306 homeless young people participated in the Transitional Day Program and 14 moved from shelters to transitional or pernament housing.
2,781 individuals received medical treatment and counseling on the Mobile Medical Van.
107 students participated in the Bridge Education and Career Development Program and 19 passed their GED.
274 young people utilized Bridge’s Job and Career Counseling Services.
57 homeless young people were given a safe place to live while working, attending school and preparing to live on their own.
Why has the Bridge model worked?
Youth may not be responsible for what has occurred in the past, but at Bridge, they learn that with support they can and must assume responsibility for their futures.
Young people that come to Bridge are not mandated to do so by any public entity (i.e. courts, DSS, DYS, etc.). They are here because they want to be here and we have structured the services to meet their perceived needs in the most nurturing environment possible. Bridge has a history of pursuing funding sources that will not put requirements on us that compromise this value.
Just like adults, upwardly mobile youth need to surround themselves with others who are on the same path. When youth are ready to move on with their lives, they come to Bridge because they know they will be in an environment with others like themselves, whether it's studying for a GED with other homeless young adults, or living in a house with another single mother.
Where does Bridge get its funding?
Bridge gets its funding from government grants, grants from private foundations, donations from corporations and the support of thousands of generous individuals.
