Bridge House

Program Name:

Ready to Work

Program Description:

RTW is a “work-first” approach to addressing homelessness. RTW offers 1 year of housing, employment and support for adults experiencing homelessness. RTW is the only holistic model in Colorado focused on addressing homelessness through social enterprise and employment combined with housing. Ready to Work operates in 2 communities in Metro Denver. After 7 years in Boulder, Bridge House replicated the model in Aurora, CO, which expands its presence from a capacity of 44 in Boulder to 94 in the region. Our methodology at Ready to Work encompasses a more dynamic approach. We offer a paid employment and job training in a Bridge House social enterprise for one year coupled with housing and supportive services including sobriety support, financial management and life skills. Ready to Work breaks the expensive and persistent cycles of homelessness and incarceration through this investment.
Results:
166 individuals participated in the program in 2018 as either an intern or a trainee
42 trainees graduated with full time employment and permanent housing
44 continued into the program in 2019

Beneficiaries:

Adults experiencing homelessness

Budget:

3422650

Success Story:

Kyle is clean cut and wearing a company uniform for his job as an electrician, there are no outward signs pointing to his internal trauma. When he first sat down it was obvious by the look on his face that his experience living on the street changed him forever.
Kyle is charismatic with a great sense of humor. Throughout our meeting he courageously unveiled the intimate details of his story with an honest and insightful perspective.
“I want to help others not make the same mistakes I made. I want to give back to others like Bridge House and the Ready to Work program have given to me.”
In the beginning of our conversation, Kyle gazed out of the window as if he was searching for the right place to begin his story. “I lived a double life in high school,” Kyle said in a clearly disappointed tone. “I started using crystal meth when I was 15 and even as I began to sink deeper into my addiction, I still graduated in the top 10% of my class. I was confident that using drugs would not affect my life in the least bit.”
Kyle described his early childhood as “typical” and he thoughtfully recalled growing up in a very loving home. His parents were never aware of how entrenched he had gotten into his drug use.
After high school, Kyle continued to be expert at living a double life. Although he waded deeper and deeper into his addiction, he was still able to maintain high paying jobs in the tech industry.
By the time he was 21, Kyle was married and owned a home in Greeley. He was offered a promotion at work yet he was still immersed in his drug addiction and he began to drink heavily. Soon after he was arrested for a DUI, his wife left him, and he turned to a new and very dangerous new drug - heroin. Working in middle management, Kyle juggled his heroin addiction and his career for many years, but his carefully designed life began to crumble as he entered the world of drug dealing and selling stolen goods to feed his addiction.
“I thought I had a handle on it. I thought I was in control until I woke up one morning and I had lost my apartment and my car was now my home. Eventually I was so beaten down from all of the drugs that I thought my only option was to ditch my car and live on the street. While I was living on the street, I did manage to find a couple of jobs but I quit all of them as soon as I was hired. I just couldn’t handle it.”
For over a year, Kyle lived under a bridge even during the dead of winter. He suffered from life threating frostbite twice and almost lost his fingers. Kyle ate his meals at Bridge House every day and talked to a few case managers seeking a way off the street. In one of his meetings he was told about the Ready to Work program.
“When I found out about Ready to Work, I knew this was a program that I just had to be a part of so I applied, but was told I needed to be clean and sober before I would be accepted. I desperately needed a way off the street. I was slowly losing my sanity and knew if I didn’t sober up, I would end up spending the rest of my life on the street. I continued to live on the street for 5 more months while I struggled to quit drinking and doing drugs. Living sober on the street was almost unbearable, but I was determined. What most people do not understand is the trauma that happens to an individual when they are on the street. Every day we are in a constant state of stress struggling to stay safe and alive. I needed more than just a job, I needed a safe place to recover. I needed a program to help me reenter society.”
The first few months living in the Ready to Work House was difficult for Kyle. Living inside after spending all that time outdoors was not an easy adjustment.
“Thankfully I had the Ready to Work case managers to help support me through this transition. I felt like a caged animal…like I didn’t belong. In Ready to Work I learned a new way to live. Before Ready to Work, it would have been impossible for me to move into a place of my own and work 40 hours a week. I needed more support – I needed a reintroduction into mainstream living. In Ready to Work, I was able to get my feet wet and gain some traction. Ready to Work is set-up for someone like me to succeed with the consistent work schedule and case management support. I knew that everyone at the Ready to Work House wanted me to succeed.”
Throughout the year Kyle was in the program he opened a bank account, utilized the mentor program and addressed his debt. In two months his credit score jumped 100 points.
As Kyle spoke of the new direction his life has taken since Ready to Work, his optimism lit up the room. Kyle has his life back, finally free from his addictions and he is thriving. Working as an electrician and living in his own apartment, Kyle’s self-esteem has bloomed and he has hope.

Program Name:

Community Table Kitchen

Program Description:

Opened in 2013 as one of two Bridge House social enterprises, Community Table Kitchen demonstrates what is possible when mission and business merge. CTK has 3 ultimate outcomes. First, CTK produces meals for hungry people who have no other access to food. Community Table Kitchen provides nutritious meals three times a day, seven days a week throughout the year for adults experiencing homelessness. We prepare meals that are healthy, nutritious and balanced by cooking in real-time, from scratch.We also discovered the lack of convenient meal options for low-income families in Boulder. To address this need we now prepare frozen meals for our community’s food-insecure families by strategically partnering with a local food bank to distribute these meals. CTK serves over 90,000 meals a year to people experiencing homelessness and hunger in Boulder across all of its programs.

In addition to providing meals, CTK creates employment opportunities by providing jobs and job training for Ready to Work trainees through meaningful paid work that builds resumes and real-world work experience. Community Table Kitchen’s culinary arts program provides training for a career in the food service industry. Trainees work 29 hours a week of paid, on-the-job training learning food preparation, safe food handling, production cooking, and customer service skills as a stepping stone into the mainstream workforce. Finally, CTK runs three market-based lines of business - catering, wholesale and café operations. Through these ventures, Community Table Kitchen earns revenue to support operations and our social mission. CTK operates two cafes at Naropa University, caters private events and provide wholesale products for customers including 2 grocery stores and a local brownie company.

Beneficiaries:

Adults experiencing homelessness

Budget:

1265350

Program Name:

Path to Home

Program Description:

Path to Home (PTH) is the navigation and emergency shelter in the City of Boulder. In addition to providing a safe and legal place to sleep, Path to Home is structured to support 50 clients at any given time not only with basic needs services but with intensive housing-focused case management. In 2017, after a long search for a location we found an appropriate site for our new 24 hour program. This new location allows us to provide our services 24 hours a day and all aspects of the program are located in one building. Path to Home is in line with the City of Boulder’s new homeless services initiative called Coordinated Entry. Open year-round, we have space for over 50 clientsand all clients complete a comprehensive intake and assessment at entry. Through this assessment we are able to collect self-reported data that informs our clients’ navigation plan and personally tailored strategies for re-housing. The Bridge House case management team also provides access to more than $48,000 in direct financial assistance for transportation, re-housing, family reunification, prescriptions, and identification. All meals are supplied on site by Community Table Kitchen and when paired with a safe and stable place to sleep every night our clients are able to work alongside a case manager and focus on their goal of rehousing. Through our Path to Home program we offer safe and immediate access to overnight shelter coupled with a personalized navigation plan to provide a pathway off the street for our clients. We are deliberate in assisting clients with obtaining the necessary items in order to obtain employment and housing such as acquiring an ID, benefits acquisition and deposit and rental assistance.

Beneficiaries:

Adults experiencing homelessness

Budget:

981750

Success Story:

John found himself without a home, without a job and on the verge of suicide. Each day he walked the streets of Boulder looking for a safe place to sleep for the night. With winter was just around the corner, sleeping outside was soon going to be very dangerous. John needed shelter. Through talking with other individuals on the street John found out about Bridge House’s Severe Weather Overnight Shelter. That night in October 2017 when he walked in the door of Bridge House’s Severe Weather Shelter generously hosted at faith communities, a sense of relief flooded over John. He would be warm and safe for tonight. John slept soundly and in the morning a Bridge House case manager spoke with him asking about his situation and how Bridge House could help.
“I need a place to live,” John said desperately. With compassion and care, the case manager explained to John that Bridge House’s Path to Home program which includes consistent overnight shelter along coupled with housing-focused case management could help. John was scared and out of options, so he agreed to join the program.
Before John ended up struggling on the street, he had a great job in a college admissions office. He was living in his own apartment. He was thriving, stable and working hard to further his career at the college. While John had struggled with mental health issues his whole life, he thought he had a handle on his illness. However, over the years his mental health worsened which led to a full mental breakdown. His condition became so serious that he was unable to work and subsequently lost his apartment. With nowhere to go, John moved in with his father in order to recover and regain his independence. After a few months living with his father it became unbearable and he had to leave. When he left, he felt like he had no options and had no hope of ever becoming self-sufficient again.
Finding himself on the streets was the lowest point in John’s life. Extreme depression set in and he was completely lost.
“I thought there was no way out. I thought I would die on the street until I met Einav my case manager at Path to Home.”
Together Einav and John worked to create his comprehensive housing-focused navigation plan. John worked diligently following his plan and began to feel like there was a way out of homelessness. Part of John’s navigation plan was to connect with Boulder’s mental health resources. After John was on the right medication his life began to turn around. John’s case manager helped him apply for the Rapid Rehousing assistance funds available through Boulder County that would help him fund his deposit and the first month’s rent on a new apartment. His income through his job would cover the rest. Einav assisted John with his apartment search, standing by him every step of the process, and he was able to find a two bedroom available at the Nest apartment complex.
“It was miraculous to see the change in John’s outlook on life,” Einav remembers. “From the day John began the Path to Home program, he put his navigation plan into action and his determination to change his circumstance was powerful to watch.”
After John found his new apartment, he began to look for a roommate and a graduate of Bridge House’s Ready to Work program was also searching for an apartment and a roommate as well. The case managers made the connection and John happened to already know Rob, the Ready to Work graduate, so they both agreed to move in together. Bridge House was able to help them with some furnishings and beds for their new apartment.
John told Einav his case manager, “I really am thankful for all you all have done and continue to do for me. I greatly appreciate it. All things are working for the good. I haven't had this much support before, and I'm trying not to get ahead of myself, but dang I feel good. “
Change is possible and every day Bridge House case managers see amazing results from their clients. They come to work motivated to end homelessness one person at a time. John is just one example, one individual, who was offered an opportunity and he took it. At Bridge House, we see many clients like John who are struggling and just need an opportunity. That opportunity sparks hope and that hope breeds transformation. John’s transformation happened because he was serious about changing his life and Bridge House was there to support him along the way.