ABOUT THE BRIDGE
THE BRIDGE, INC. exists to alleviate the suffering of underprivileged children, the homeless, and the working poor by providing life-sustaining resources and a message of hope.
HOW THE BRIDGE STARTED
The Bridge began in November of 2004. Birthed out of a desire to help feed and clothe the homeless of Nashville, Candy Christmas began taking huge pots of jambalaya down to the homeless living under the Jefferson Street bridge. After seeing that the need was far greater than just one hot meal a week, Candy began to collect clothing and non-perishable food items to pass out to her friends. She stored it all in her garage and friends volunteered to come over and fill grocery bags with food. The more people that began finding out about this ministry and caught the vision, the faster the ministry grew.
THE BRIDGE TODAY
The Bridge is housed in a 20,000 square foot warehouse in Nashville, TN, that not only stores the food for the Tuesday evening services, but also acts as a local food bank for other area ministries. The Bridge Ministry also aids school children on assisted lunch programs by filling their backpacks with food on Friday afternoons so that they have food to eat over the weekend.
THE FOUR PHASES OF THE BRIDGE
CHURCH UNDER THE BRIDGE
Prior to Nashville's March tornadoes and the COVID pandemic, every Tuesday Night under the Jefferson Street Bridge we served 300 – 500 of our homeless and under-resourced friends. Everyone received a delicious hot meal and participated in a powerful worship service. At the close of service we distributed 15,000 – 25,000 pounds of food, clothing and toiletries to our friends. Currently, we are adhering to CDC guidelines as well as following closely our mayor's pandemic response mandates and finding adaptive ways to strategically serve this vulnerable population. We have not missed a Tuesday night with our friends and are still serving hundreds each week with a hot meal, food bags, water, toiletries, sleeping bags and tents. As soon as it is safe, we will return to including a worship service with our Tuesday night experience.
BRIDGE TO KIDS
Previous to Nashville's March tornadoes and the COVID pandemic, the Bridge To Kids Program was growing very quickly. Not only did we have a special Bridge To Kids Service under the bridge every Tuesday evening. We also served thousands of students each week with weekend food bags. These are students who suffer significant food insecurity issues and struggle to have food to eat when not receiving free breakfast and lunch at school. Our teams have been innovative during this unprecedented season. We are continuing to serve thousands of students each week through Metro School distribution centers, aftercare programs, and have recently added new distribution sites to our weekly deliveries.
BRIDGE TO YOU
Following Nashville’s March tornado and the onset of the COVID pandemic our Bridge To You area of ministry evolved to direct service to hundreds of families and individuals and is currently serving at multiple distribution sites throughout the greater Nashville area.
BRIDGE TO COMMUNITY
Bridge To Community works with other like-minded partners and organizations to help serve those in need by sharing resources when organizations experience resource gaps to complete their mission. We truly do believe we are better together.
THE BRIDGE, INC. exists to alleviate the suffering of underprivileged children, the homeless, and the working poor by providing life-sustaining resources and a message of hope.
HOW THE BRIDGE STARTED
The Bridge began in November of 2004. Birthed out of a desire to help feed and clothe the homeless of Nashville, Candy Christmas began taking huge pots of jambalaya down to the homeless living under the Jefferson Street bridge. After seeing that the need was far greater than just one hot meal a week, Candy began to collect clothing and non-perishable food items to pass out to her friends. She stored it all in her garage and friends volunteered to come over and fill grocery bags with food. The more people that began finding out about this ministry and caught the vision, the faster the ministry grew.
THE BRIDGE TODAY
The Bridge is housed in a 20,000 square foot warehouse in Nashville, TN, that not only stores the food for the Tuesday evening services, but also acts as a local food bank for other area ministries. The Bridge Ministry also aids school children on assisted lunch programs by filling their backpacks with food on Friday afternoons so that they have food to eat over the weekend.
THE FOUR PHASES OF THE BRIDGE
CHURCH UNDER THE BRIDGE
Prior to Nashville's March tornadoes and the COVID pandemic, every Tuesday Night under the Jefferson Street Bridge we served 300 – 500 of our homeless and under-resourced friends. Everyone received a delicious hot meal and participated in a powerful worship service. At the close of service we distributed 15,000 – 25,000 pounds of food, clothing and toiletries to our friends. Currently, we are adhering to CDC guidelines as well as following closely our mayor's pandemic response mandates and finding adaptive ways to strategically serve this vulnerable population. We have not missed a Tuesday night with our friends and are still serving hundreds each week with a hot meal, food bags, water, toiletries, sleeping bags and tents. As soon as it is safe, we will return to including a worship service with our Tuesday night experience.
BRIDGE TO KIDS
Previous to Nashville's March tornadoes and the COVID pandemic, the Bridge To Kids Program was growing very quickly. Not only did we have a special Bridge To Kids Service under the bridge every Tuesday evening. We also served thousands of students each week with weekend food bags. These are students who suffer significant food insecurity issues and struggle to have food to eat when not receiving free breakfast and lunch at school. Our teams have been innovative during this unprecedented season. We are continuing to serve thousands of students each week through Metro School distribution centers, aftercare programs, and have recently added new distribution sites to our weekly deliveries.
BRIDGE TO YOU
Following Nashville’s March tornado and the onset of the COVID pandemic our Bridge To You area of ministry evolved to direct service to hundreds of families and individuals and is currently serving at multiple distribution sites throughout the greater Nashville area.
BRIDGE TO COMMUNITY
Bridge To Community works with other like-minded partners and organizations to help serve those in need by sharing resources when organizations experience resource gaps to complete their mission. We truly do believe we are better together.
