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PROGRAM SUMMARY
Our vision: To end and prevent homelessness for women and children in Burlington County by calling churches into action.
Our mission: To call and equip compassionate people from many Christian faith traditions to exemplify Christ's love to homeless women and children. Bridge of Hope Burlington County brings together professional staff and trained church-based mentoring groups to empower homeless and at-risk single mothers to attain:
* permanent housing
* financial self-sufficiency through employment
* life-changing friendships
* increased self-esteem and growth in areas of holistic living
Our ministry model: Bridge of Hope's model is a three-way partnership between professionally trained staff, one homeless or at-risk single mother and her children, and a trained, church-based mentoring group of 8 to 12 mentors. Through use of this model, Bridge of Hope Burlington County seeks to promote physical, emotional, social and spiritual wholeness.
Our core value: Bridge of Hope Burlington County is motivated by a desire to exemplify Christ's love to the single mothers and children they serve. Board members, staff and mentoring groups are recruited from Protestant and Catholic churches.
The Role of Churches
Meeting the Needs of Homeless Single Mothers and their Children: What is the Role of Churches?
In 2 Kings 4:1 - 7, a widow with two sons comes to the people of God for help. Her husband has died and his creditors are threatening the very survival of her family. Elisha tells her to take stock of what she has and go to her neighbors for some extra resources. Then he counsels her to act in faith.
What is the role of churches today in responding to the needs of the widow, the fatherless, the poor, the homeless or the stranger? Looking at the 2 Kings story gives us a model. Elisha offers guidance and the hope that God can provide a miracle. Neighbors respond to the family's need with generosity and compassion. With the emotional and physical support of God's people, the single mother has the faith and confidence to begin filling jars with oil to sell. God blesses her and she is able to pay her debtors and support her family.
Bridge of Hope Burlington County engages churches in ending and preventing homelessness for single mothers and their children. Our model is a three-way partnership between one trained, church-based mentoring group, one homeless or at-risk woman and her children, and professional staff. Our goal is to exemplify Christ's love by equipping mothers for financial self-sufficiency and training mentors in a ministry of friendship.
A Biblical Basis for Mentoring: Church Members as Mentors
At the end of the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25 - 37), Jesus asks, "Who was a neighbor to the man?"
The teacher of the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
Who are our neighbors today? How are we to respond to them with mercy?
Jesus calls us to an active love for the poor, hurting and homeless in our communities. These neighbors include homeless and at-risk single mothers and their children, one of the most vulnerable groups in America today.
In his earthly life, Jesus exemplified love for the poor and hurting. This kind of love is costly because it calls us to sacrificial living and unselfish loving without expecting anything in return.
But as communities of faith who have experienced Jesus' love, churches are places where love and nurture are natural responses to those who are hurting. In fact, there is no better place to care for homeless families than in this atmosphere of support and love. There is no better place than a church for a homeless family to be loved, cared for and restored to wholeness.
The body of Christ - the Church - can and must be a source of healing and wholeness for the homeless, our neighbors.
What is a Bridge of Hope Mentoring Group?
Who is in a mentoring group?
* Eight to 12 people from within one congregation
* Women and men, young and old, married couples and singles
* People who are willing to establish an ongoing ministry of friendship with a homeless single mother and her children
* Individuals who have been trained to mentor homeless families and have made an initial commitment to befriend the family during the 12 to 18 months the woman is in Bridge of Hope and working towards financial self-sufficiency
How much time is involved?
* Weekly phone call to the woman being mentored
* Monthly individual activity with the woman and her children (such as watching a video, going grocery shopping or other things friends do together)
* Monthly attendance at Bridge of Hope Nights with the woman being mentored and the whole mentoring group (designed to strengthen mentoring relationships and provide ongoing training and support from Bridge of Hope staff)
Can anyone do it?
* If you can be a friend, you can be part of a mentoring group!
How are mentors supported?
* Four and one-half hours of training prior to meeting the family who will be mentored
* A staff-facilitated "match night" at which mentors and the family meet
* Monthly support and training by staff throughout the 12 to 18 month program
* Unlimited staff phone support for mentors
If you are a member of a Burlington County church and would like to get your church involved, please call us directly at 609-864-6277 or you can email our Church Relations Committee
Why is Bridge of Hope Christian Faith-based?
Bridge of Hope Burlington County is a faith-based ministry that has been called into existence by the Church. As such, our unique role is to challenge and be a voice on behalf of homeless single mothers. We call local churches from a wide variety of Christian traditions to work together to respond to homelessness in their community. Then we train and equip them in a response that is life-giving and holistic.
Bridge of Hope Burlington County serves homeless single mothers and children from diverse religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In addition, we recognize the unique context of each world religion and we value similar work done by nonprofits representing other faith traditions.
Bridge of Hope's work to end and prevent homelessness is done through the Christian Church. This allows us to build relationships with local churches and motivate them in ways that are unique to our faith context. As stated in our values statement, Bridge of Hope's unifying belief is that Jesus Christ is our example in bringing love and hope to the poor, the broken-hearted, the oppressed, the homeless and all those who suffer.
Programmatic implications
The context of our faith tradition has programmatic implications, especially in how we recruit, train and support the work of mentors. Mentoring groups are recruited from one local church. They are encouraged to see their role as a ministry of friendship motivated by a desire to exemplify the unconditional love of Christ to homeless families.
Staff members pray regularly for families and mentors. And mentor training includes a call to prayer as a foundation for the group's primary task-building and nurturing a caring and supportive relationship with the mother and her children.
We value physical, emotional, social and spiritual wholeness in all families, mentors, board members, staff and volunteers involved in Bridge of Hope. Our training and other materials reflect gratitude to God, nurture of each other, compassion for those we serve and joy in our Christian faith.
A way to practice unity in Christ
Through work with local churches, Bridge of Hope Burlington County also fills a role in bringing together diverse streams from within the Christian faith tradition, including those who are Protestant, Catholic, mainline, social justice-oriented, evangelical, liturgical, charismatic, orthodox, post-modern, emergent, pentecostal, missional or contemplative.
We are committed to ministry across the broad spectrum of Christianity and are grateful to play a small part in nurturing unity within the sometimes divided body of believers. On this we agree: Christian churches provide a wonderful circle of friends in which homeless single mothers can find love and wholeness. The body of Christ, the Church, can and must be a source of belonging and healing for homeless families, our neighbors.
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