| Three years ago, as we approached Bridge of Hope’s 30th anniversary, we began a deliberate process of innovating our services to meet the needs of homeless women and children today, as well as the needs of volunteers from churches. The process became known as our Strangers to Neighbors Initiative and it completely revamped our program, outcomes, benchmarks and language, while staying true to the model and mission of Bridge of Hope. Our goal was to create even better support and outcomes for the families we serve and the church volunteers, whom today we call Neighboring Volunteers (instead of mentoring groups). Today I have great news to share with you. One of the most important goals in our Strangers to Neighbors Initiative included decreasing the number of days that it takes to find housing for a family facing homelessness to 60 days or less. And the Bridge of Hope network has worked hard to make this important housing goal happen for the vulnerable families we serve! Bridge of Hope has achieved a 49% decrease in days to find housing, from 84 days to 43 days! That’s a 95% increase in efficiency! Congratulations to the staff and Neighboring Volunteers who are working hard to make this happen! You are bringing hope and stability more quickly to the families we serve! 
It’s all so worthwhile when you see families succeeding! I’m so grateful that we are now within $54,900 of finishing our $1 million Strangers to Neighbors campaign, that helped make this and so much more possible. We have a special matching challenge to finish off this campaign. It’s not too late to help make it happen – your gift now or commitment by Sept. 30 will be matched dollar for dollar! Join us! Wishing you joy on this neighboring journey, Edith Yoder
Executive Director Click here to view entire September 2019 eNews |
