Bridges to Independence

Bridges to Independence's mission is to lead individuals and families out of homelessness and into stable, independent futures. In order to achieve our mission, Bridges is working to achieve the following goals:\r\n\r\n• To provide emergency shelter to individuals and families experiencing a major housing crisis, taking a multigenerational approach to serve all members of the family. \r\n\r\n• To rapidly re-house individuals and families experiencing homelessness into permanent housing. Concurrently to provide community-based case management and supportive services to ensure participants are able to maintain housing upon program completion.\r\n\r\n• To expand child and youth programming to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty, providing opportunities for youth to increase self-esteem, leadership abilities, and overall health/well-being.\r\n\r\n• To give students the confidence, skills, and tools needed to pursue and complete post-secondary education or vocational training, providing them with a pathway to economic security. \r\n\r\n• To empower participants to take charge of their financial futures by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and motivation needed to make financially sound decisions, meet financial obligations, and start saving. \r\n\r\n• To create new approaches to employment services, helping individuals and families achieve economic security while encouraging client self-sufficiency through increased wages and job retention.\r\n\r\n• To reduce major barriers to employment by providing services such as transportation, child care assistance, job training, and skills development.\r\n\r\n• To offer ongoing support and programming to former clients to maintain stability.

Bridges to Independence's core programs and services are as follows:\n\nEmergency Shelter: Emergency shelter is a temporary and last resort option for those with little or no resources. Participants come to Bridges to Independence's Sullivan House emergency shelter after experiencing a major housing crisis that has resulted in an eviction. Sullivan House is the largest emergency shelter for families experiencing homelessness in Arlington County. The shelter, with ten one- and two-bedroom apartments, can accommodate up to 14 families at a time. The median length of stay is 3 months. \n\nRapid Re-Housing: Along with emergency shelter, Bridges to Independence provides rapid re-housing to individuals and families in Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. Homelessness should be rare, brief, and non-reoccurring. The goal is to move individuals and families into safe, affordable, and permanent housing as quickly as possible. Concurrently, Bridges provides community-based services to ensure participants are able to maintain housing upon program completion. Our services include housing identification, connection to mainstream resources, financial assistance, and community-based case management. Through our close partnerships with landlords in the community, families are able to secure and maintain a lease in their own names, which assists them in establishing a foundation for good credit. \n\nEmployment Services: Our Bridge to Work program promotes the self-sufficiency of our clients through employment and increased wages. The program provides group training and one-on-one mentorship, and brings together the skills, knowledge, and community networks needed for clients to become and remain independent. Bridge to Work blends the “basics" (resume and cover letter writing, interviewing, etc.) with soft skills development (teamwork, workplace communication, conflict resolution, and more). At the same time, the program further enhances Bridges' continuum of aid and support for those we serve by reducing major barriers to employment (such as transportation and child care assistance) and helping them find, secure, and retain stable employment. \n\nFinancial Literacy: Many of our participants are unemployed or underemployed, carry large amounts of debt and have poor credit. Bridges works with our families to raise their financial consciousness and help them make healthy financial decisions. We partner with Wells Fargo to host workshops for our shelter guests and the Virginia Cooperative Extension to offer intensive financial planning and management training to our Rapid Re-Housing participants. \n\nYouth Development: Youth who are currently at-risk for or experiencing homelessness are exposed to more risk factors, including trauma, poor physical/mental health, stress, developmental delays, and missed educational opportunities. At Bridges, we surround youth with positive, enriching experiences that can build trust, confidence, and respect for self and others.

Founded in 1985, Bridges to Independence has grown from a single shelter to an organization offering emergency shelter, rapid re-housing, and other services to over 500 individuals each year. \n\nBridges has an annual budget of $1.8M, a dedicated staff and an enthusiastic board of directors. Samuel L. Kelly, Jr. was with Bridges for 9 years prior to taking the helm as CEO in 2016. Our deep roots and long history in the community make Bridges a well-known and respected cornerstone of our community's efforts to fight homelessness. \n\nAs a participant in Arlington County's Continuums of Care, we are in close contact every day with local government agencies and other homeless service providers to ensure that the needs of those facing homelessness in our community are met. Our CEO also is a member of Arlington County's 10 Year Plan to Prevent and End Homeless Continuum of Care and a Co-Chair of the Integrated Services Committee.

Since our founding in 1985, Bridges to Independence's mission has been to respond to the urgent needs of the most vulnerable individuals and families in our region. \n\nIn FY2020, thanks to community support, Bridges helped 119 families, totaling 343 individuals. On average, participants are substantially engaged with us for 1.5 to 2 years.\n\nSullivan House, the emergency shelter, sheltered 57 families, totaling 146 individuals. \n• This is a 6% increase in number of individuals served from the prior year\n• 17 of the individuals were transition aged youth facing homeless (ages 18-24) with children\n• Approximately 60% of the families were employed at the time they left Sullivan House\n• Approximately 74% of the families maintained or increased income upon leaving the shelter\n• During COVID, Bridges put safety measure in place so that there was only one family per apartment unit instead of two or more. While this decreases the number of families Bridges can serve at one time, a part-time Housing Locator ensured families moved quickly from shelter in to housing so that rooms opened up more frequently\n\nThe Rapid Re-Housing Program served 62 families, totaling 197 individuals.\n• Bridges experienced an increase in demand – the need was much greater than what was budgeted and saw a 151% utilization rate\n• The average length of stay in the housing program is 11 months, which is below the federal standard of 16 months, demonstrating Bridges success at moving families quickly into sustainable, longer-term situations, even during the pandemic\n• Approximately 72% of families maintained employment upon completion of the program\no At the start of COVID, approximately 80% of all families (shelter and housing) almost immediately became unemployed or saw a reduction in hours. During COVID, Bridges has worked with families to obtain certifications or continue their education\n\nBridges’ Youth Development Program trained, supported, and empowered 134 children/youth. \n• There was a 28% increase in number of youth served from the prior fiscal year \nMilestones in 2017 included the following: \n• Aftercare Program: We created an Aftercare Program to reduce recidivism among families exiting our Rapid Re-Housing Program.\n• New Employment Program: We launched our Bridge to Work program with an annual job fair as its capstone event.\n• Reserve Fund: A capital campaign and the sale of property enabled us to establish a reserve fund to support long-term growth and sustainability. \n\n2020 Milestones include: \n- Merging with Bonder & Amanda Johnson CDC\n- Launching a new five-year strategic planning process\n- Launching a post-merger program integration process with Compass, pro-bono consulting services