Community Bridges - A Vitial Community Resource

Posted by Jon Winston 
 
Today's speaker was SC Sunrise member and Development Director for Community Bridges, Bruce Christopher.  Bruce took us through the evolution of C.B. from its inception in 1977 as the "Food and Nutrition Program" to becoming Community Bridges in the 90's. As an umbrella organization, C.B. provides admin, fundraising and executive management support for 7 key programs serving over 20,000 county residents.
 

The programs include: Child & Adult Food Program, Child Development Programs, La Manzana, Lift Line, Life Oak Family Center, Meals on Wheels and Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program.

C.B., a 503(c), has a staff of 220 employees and a budget of $15M.  A healthy 93% of income goes directly to services. 1 in 10 county residents are touch by C.B.'s over 3 million service hours each year.   

Bruce presented a well researched breakdown of how services intersect with income levels, gender and geographic location.  Exactly who is served?

  • 52% of those below the poverty line (<$20K/yr for a family of 4)
  • 37% of those between 100% and 200% of the povery line ($20K-$40K/yr)
  • 11% of those above 200% (>$40K/yr)
  • 63% of clients are female.
  • 73% of clients are from the south county, 8% mid-county, 11% north county and 2% from the SLV

With a 97% satisfaction rate among clients, the C.B. programs are clearly doing a great job of filling a critical need in our community.   Learn more about Communty Bridges on the web at www.CommunityBridges.org.  

Feel free to contact Bruce if you would like to help by making a donation, volunteering or joining the board.