Programs
Four programs, one way across.
A bridge needs an anchor on both banks. We work with the people trying to get across and with the community they are crossing into.
Adults ready to move
Getting Ahead
20 weeks, every Monday night, in a group of 6 to 12 people. You investigate what causes poverty, in the world and in your own life, and you build a plan out of it.
Dinner at 5:00 pm for the whole family. Childcare the entire time. A $25 gift card every session you attend. A graduation ceremony and banquet at the end.
Apply for the class
Getting Ahead graduates
Staying Ahead
Graduation is not the finish line, it is the point where the work gets specific. Graduates keep meeting in ongoing groups to build on what they started.
The groups work through personal finance, parenting, relationships, service, and employment. Same people, same room, longer horizon.
Ask about joining a group
Kids and teenagers
Bridges for Students
While parents are in class, their kids get a night of their own. Mentors, friendships, life skills, and a plan for what comes next.
It happens through play, through heart-to-heart group talks, and through plain hanging out together. Some of it happens at a table with crayons. Some of it happens standing in front of a waterfall.
Ask about the student programA bridge is only useful if both banks are willing to hold one end of it.
Businesses, churches, service clubs
Bridges Out of Poverty workshops
A half-day session that gives your team the actual framework: how poverty works, why the usual advice does not land, and what changes on Monday morning.
Built for anyone whose work puts them across the table from people in crisis. Employers, clinics, schools, churches, city staff.
See workshop detailsNot sure which one fits? Call Ernie Jones at 865-244-9321 and talk it through with him.