About The Bridge
Building Bridges for Individuals and Families in Recovery. Creating Freedom and Positive Choices for our Children.
We Bridge the Gaps: Our Bridge to Recovery Program builds Bridges for Individuals of all ages and families seeking recovery housing, supportive services, and programming they otherwise could not access or afford. Our Fiscal Sponsorship Builds Bridges for Start-up community-based grass roots organizations seeking to support young people and families for whom current Systems have failed. Our Collaborative Programming Builds Bridges of communication, cooperation and coordination between organizations and institutions serving the recovery community.
The Bridge Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) Recovery Community Organization (RCO) organized to provide a supportive community environment and “safe haven” for individuals for whom the current societal systems have failed. We are a Public Charity and Community Development Corporation and we work closely with Community-Based Philanthropic, Educational and Governmental Organizations to provide a collaborative approach to combating substance abuse and addiction, partnering with others to provide Programming and Systems Reform in local Communities, Educational and Government institutions.
The Bridge grant making program focuses on helping individuals transitioning from treatment, incarceration or homelessness seeking direction, support and choices for healing within a community environment. We provide scholarships to individuals who are committed to their sobriety and require financial assistance for supportive Recovery housing, services and programming. We serve all of Pennsylvania, targeting individuals of all ages including adolescents and young adults who Use, Abuse or are Dependent upon Alcohol and Other Drugs, are in Recovery or struggling with self-destructive behavior, and those not meeting their goals within the current educational institutions or workforce. We also provide Education-Based Systems and Programming to support young people who are using or abusing drugs and alcohol, and promote awareness, early detection, intervention and available services on campus and in academic settings for high school, college, and graduate students.
Strategic Partnerships are developed with local area treatment and support programs, educational, philanthropic, and community service organizations working in a collaborative Model. Areas of priority for funding include Transitional Housing, Coordination of Housing availability with Community Service Projects, and development of a supportive group environment and social network that transcends any single physical individual placement as a critical element to long-term recovery.
Bridge Programs
The Bridge Provides support for individuals of all ages and families in Recovery in four primary areas of focus:
- Direct individual scholarships for for up to three months of Recovery Housing with connection to Recovery Support Services (Peer Support (CRS) and case management) for all Pennsylvania residents transitioning to recovery housing, regardless of county
- Family Education and Support Programs
- The Bridge to Nature, Creativity, Music and Arts Program
- Recovery Information, Resources and Support and connection to housing, peer support and case management services with referrals in the Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania
The Bridge Solution
The Bridge Foundation is a non-profit organization which supports individuals and families in Recovery from substance use disorder and other co-occurring mental health issues. We believe that there exists a need for a local, supportive, community-based and inclusive residential Peer environment for individuals as they are in the process of navigating challenging transitions that occur during the Recovery Process, and offers a new paradigm that will:
- Provide a physical environment and holistic community where people in recovery can come together in fellowship to work toward common healthy practices
- Foster the quest for adults to find the right balance in their lives and relationships
- Enable opportunities for sustainable skill development and cultivation of a trade to foster financial independence while pursuing one’s own individual interests and passions
- Provide tools for survival, self-sufficiency, dignity and lifelong freedom from limitations
- Create programming to support sustainable, environmentally conscious, long-term housing security
- Connect individuals to a long-term recovery oriented system of care
- Engage in a 12 Step Program when appropriate in ways that are meaningful
- Create Bridges to Nature, Creativity, Music, the Arts, and Community
The Bridge Foundation represents a sturdy Bridge for participants to walk on as they move about their lives and integrate the often challenging world of recovery and sobriety. Its aim is lifelong freedom from constricting limitations and achievement of best potential.
Roots & Wings Farm: A Pennsylvania Recovery Care Farm Collaborative
The Bridge Foundation supports the development and implementation of an evidence-based and practice-based Care Farm Model to offer an additional pathway to recovery for people and families impacted by substance use and mental health conditions. Three agencies currently make up this collaboration: The Bridge Foundation, C4 Innovations, and the Vilomah Foundation. The Pennsylvania Recovery Care Farm Collaborative is a Member of the Care Farming Network, the umbrella organization for the care farm movement in the US, defined as “the intentional integration of agricultural practices with therapeutic interventions to promote health, well-being and belonging. Care farming offers a purposeful, structured approach where participants engage with nature or agricultural tasks within a supportive community.” Our pilot Project, Roots and Wings Farm, is currently in development.
Our Board
- Caroline Fenkel, LCSW
- Mark G. Hopkins
- LaToya Monroe, Treasurer
- Nancy Marcus Newman, President
- Denise Parmet
- Fred Way, Jr., Secretary