Our Programs
Bridges to Community is committed to providing a meaningful cross-cultural service learning experience for our volunteers, and at the same time engaging in sustainable long-term community development projects that have lasting impact for some of the most impoverished people in the Western Hemisphere.
"Shared Work" is one of Bridges to Community’s core values, and it’s at the heart of all of our programs. That’s why our volunteers are so important. We hope they discover that our programs aren’t simply about the house, or stove, or school that they’re building, but about the ability of people from different cultures, places, and economic backgrounds to come together and accomplish something significant.
Bridges to Community works in four program areas: housing, health, education, and economic development.
Housing
It’s astounding what a difference a safe and solid home can make. Unfortunately, for many impoverished families, such a home is only a dream. Reality is a house cobbled together with scrap lumber, rusted metal, and plastic sheeting. Reality is a house with a leaky roof and a dirt floor — a breeding ground for chronic health problems. Reality is doors and windows that can’t lock or even close, that can’t keep out the weather or keep the family safe from intruders.
Bridges to Community’s Housing Program builds new homes for impoverished families, and repairs existing structures. We work to secure land titles for the owners so that families have a place to call their own for generations. And we work with engineers to ensure the homes are earthquake resistant, make the best use of available light and natural heating and cooling, and can withstand the wind and rain for many years. The new homes become a place of pride where the owners can proudly host their friends, families, and neighbors.
Health
In many parts of the world, health care is limited or inaccessible. In these communities, an illness or injury can make it difficult or impossible for a parent to work, for a child to attend school, or even for families to complete basic daily chores.
Bridges to Community’s Health Program strives to remove the obstacles that impoverished families face daily as they try to achieve a better future. Health projects address both immediate and long-term health issues with a focus on preventative care as well as improvements to infrastructure. Recent Bridges to Community Health Program projects include the installation of high efficiency indoor cook stoves to reduce smoke related illness, the construction of water systems to deliver potable water, and the construction and repair of medical facilities.
Education
In many impoverished communities where we work—due to their remoteness or lack of government-supported infrastructure—the children of impoverished families often travel for hours on foot to attend elementary school classes. They do it knowing that their parents have made enormous sacrifices to provide even this simple opportunity for them to learn basic math and literacy skills. Few of these children continue their education. High schools, trade schools, and universities are not only more expensive, but there are fewer of them. Many young students can’t afford these schools, or can’t get there. They give up before their education is complete, limiting future opportunities. And the communities where they live will continue to do without educated leaders– no doctors, no engineers, no skilled workers.
Bridges to Community’s Education Program seeks to address these issues through the construction of classrooms, libraries, and other school buildings, through scholarships, and through workshops and adult education programs.
Economic Development
Better health, homes, and education are a start. But it is hard to make a permanent difference when there are no jobs. In the communities where we work, economic opportunities are scarce, and community members aren’t well prepared to create their own opportunities. They are farmers who have no way to bring crops or livestock to market, or men and women who work long, exhausting shifts at textile mills for extremely low wages.
Bridges to Community’s Economic Development Program provides training workshops in basic arithmetic, accounting and small business administration, and grants for small cooperative business ventures like fair-trade organic farming.
