Programs & Services
Bridge Over Troubled Waters provides a continuum of care to help homeless and high-risk youth leave the streets and rejoin society as fulfilled and productive adults.
Transitional Day Program: This program brings chronically homeless youth off the streets and into a safe, positive environment. Bridge encourages youth to visit the program for with survival services like meals, showers and access to laundry, lockers, internet access and assistance with finding employment. Daily activities and workshops allow counselors to get to know youth, assess their needs, and gradually introduce them to other programs at Bridge and in the community that can help them leave the streets.
Counseling available on a drop-in and scheduled basis, empowers homeless and high-risk youth to change their lives, become independent of street life, and move toward productive futures. Long-term personal and Outpatient Substance Abuse Counseling helps youth to heal from the pain of past abuse, identify their addictive behaviors, and develop strategies to maintain sobriety.
Education and Career Development gives homeless youth and other out-of-school young people a second chance for academic success. Students at all levels study at their own pace to gain basic literacy and math skills or to earn their GED. Career counseling helps youth explore their job interests, create cover letters and resumes, and practice interview skills. Through the Professionalism and Computer Training course, youth gain access to advanced computer skills instruction, guest speakers, internships, worksite tours, and job shadowing at Boston area companies.
Runaway/Adolescent Services provide adolescents with 24-hour access to crisis intervention and emergency housing through the Bridge Runaway Hotline. Adolescent counselors work with adolescents and, whenever possible, with parents and other family members, to resolve the conflict that led to the crisis, return youth to a safe environment, and connect youth to supportive services that can help ensure their successful transition to adulthood.
The Residential Component provides safe, supportive housing for homeless youth and young adults while they prepare for independent living. The Transitional Living Program (TLP) offers life-skills training, personal and group counseling, support for education and career advancement, and sober recreational activities. The Single Parent House (SPH) provides the same supports as well as parenting education within a child-centered environment. All residents attend high school, college, or a training program and/or work at a paying job. Graduates of the TLP and SPH are invited to live in the affordable Cooperative Apartments for an additional two years. At the Cooperative Apartments residents can live on their own, but still have access to the Bridge support system, if needed.
Our Health Services workers provide medical care to youth who experience violence, malnutrition, abuse, and unhealthy conditions on the streets. Informal educational sessions on STDs, HIV, hygiene, nutrition, and substance abuse educate youth on the facts so that they are able to make healthier choices. The Bridge Mobile Medical Van offers assistance to youth on the streets of Boston and Cambridge each weeknight. The in-house Medical Clinic provides physical examinations and referrals to youth who have no access to healthcare. The Dental Clinic offers examinations, cleanings, and fillings.
Street Outreach workers canvass local areas that are popular with homeless and high-risk youth, building relationships and providing survival aid. They locate new runaways before they can become acclimated to street life and encourage youth who do not know Bridge to visit the main facility and see what Bridge can offer them. Outreach workers also refer youth to area resources such as meal programs, emergency medical care, and detoxification centers. By reaching out to youth who are on their own, outreach workers show youth that someone does care about them, and that they are worthy and capable of a better life.
