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"Bridge Over Troubled Waters enables at-risk and homeless youth to achieve a healthy and productive adulthood through prevention, intervention and education services."

Bridge is a trusted and welcoming organization, providing essential help to at-risk young people, empowering each individual to achieve personal success.

Description:
Bridge Over Troubled Waters was founded in Boston on July 1, 1970 to serve runaway and other youths on the streets with nowhere else to turn. Since then, Bridge has evolved into a multiservice agency, serving an average of 4,000 young people annually. The programs in Bridge's system include:

The Bridge Crisis Hotline offers 24-hour-per day connection to Bridge, helping families and youth to overcome immediate crisis and prevent more serious conflict and consequences.

The Runaway Program responds immediately to family crisis and builds on family strengths, helping families to create effective support systems, leading to reconciliation, and preventing disruption for over 70% of the families served.

The Streetwork Program is the agency's front-line service for reaching high-risk youth who are cut off from traditional support systems within their families and communities. Through Streetwork, Bridge responds to youths directly on the streets, providing support, education, and prevention services with the goal of motivating youths to enter long-term programs. Counseling helps youths to cope with the effects of abuse and neglect, build self-esteem and interpersonal skills, and gain resources to prevent homelessness, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and other problems for which they are at risk.

Bridge's Medical Services offer accessible, acute health care for youths who have no other access to the medical system, often preventing serious illness and disease. HIV antibody testing offers age-appropriate, caring service and access to medical care which can lead to treatment and prolonged life. Over 2,000 people a year visit the Bridge Medical Van. While about half received medical care and referrals from the Van's volunteer medical staff, the others received crisis counseling, support, and referrals to other human services.

Bridge's Education/Pre-Employment Program offers education and job-readiness services to provide young school dropouts with academic skills to enter higher education and training, preventing long-term joblessness and despair.

In the Transitional Living Program, Single Parent House, and Cooperative Apartments, over 60 youths and young adults, and 17 children, each year find a nurturing home with warm meals, warm beds, and warm, empowering adult support.
The Transitional Day Program targets truly homeless street youths and youths who use the adult shelters. The Day Program offers a semistructured, easily accessible array of activities, discussion groups, drop-in workshops, and opportunities for participation, with the aim of gaining youths' trust and increasing their motivation to enter Bridge's other empowering services: counseling, substance abuse treatment, alternative education, job readiness, or long-term transitional housing -- whatever they need to become self-sufficient.

History:
Founded in 1970, Bridge was a leader in creating alternative services, outside of the criminal justice system, for youths and their families. Bridge was the first agency in the country to combine street outreach, counseling, and mobile health care, innovations which have led to inestimable access to service for youth on the streets.

Bridge has been recognized for innovation and excellence for youth services, for development of transitional housing for homeless youths, youth-oriented HIV/AIDS services, peer-led education/prevention services, and more. In 1997, Bridge received the First Harvard Award for Excellence in Children's Health, sponsored by Harvard Center for Children/The Harvard School for Public Health, Children's Hospital, and the City of Boston. In making the award, the sponsors wrote: "to Bridge Over Troubled Waters for protecting the health of children by making accessible health care, prevention, and early-intervention services for homeless adolescents, runaways, and other troubled young people for over 29 years." One of the premier youth agencies in the nation, Bridge maintains its mission: "Enable at-risk and homeless youth to achieve a healthy and productive adulthood through prevention, intervention and education services."

Contact person: Stacy DellOrfano, Grant Writer / Development Associate, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: 617-482-5459

Address:

47 West Street Boston, MA 02111 (See a map)

Directions:

From the SOUTH: 93N to Downtown/South Station exit. At end of exit, take a left onto Kneeland St., a right onto Washington St., and a left onto West St. (There is an All Right Parking lot on the right hand. . . (more)   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: Park Street Station,   Walk distance (in minutes): 3   Nearest Bus Stop: Park Street Station, 3 minute walk For maps or information, please see http://www.mbta.com