Our Mission is More Important than Ever: How our Work Continues During COVID-19
April 6, 2020
Hello Neighbors,
I’m Chris Hoover Seidel, director of Bridge of Hope Harrisonburg-Rockingham.
I greet you with love and peace and hope in this moment in time.
There is so much happening in our community right now. It’s beautiful to witness people deepen their understanding of what it means to love their neighbors. Indeed, there are some beautiful emergent responses to immediate needs that have been arising. This is so beautiful, and we are grateful.
I’m sure many are wondering what is happening within our Bridge of Hope affiliate here in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, and that’s what I would like to share with you in the next few minutes.
Bridge of Hope has always been about following Jesus’ call to love our neighbors, specifically the most vulnerable in our communities – single-parent families facing homelessness. Bridge of Hope’s program has long been described as a hand-up. We commit to the long-haul, to walking alongside families for the duration of the 12 to 24 months they are in the program working to break the cycle of homelessness once and for all. We do this with holistic, whole-family case management and match families with small groups of Neighboring Volunteers from local churches, who become their social support network.
At this time, we continue to carry forth this very mission, a mission we know will only become more relevant and more needed than ever because of the impact COVID-19 is having on the economy.
I am pleased to report that all of our Bridge of Hope families are safe and sheltered at this time. The employment situations vary right now, but Bridge of Hope continues to provide rental assistance. Additionally, Bridge of Hope has committed to providing emergency funds for our families as needed, to pay for things like utilities or food if necessary.
Neighboring Volunteers are finding creative ways to connect with families. They are delivering homecooked meals or ordering “no contact” pizza delivery. One group had to postpone a birthday dinner with a mom, but still sent her cards and texts. She said she still had a good day and felt celebrated.
As a life-sustaining organization, we are able to carry out our work as necessary, though we are being incredibly careful and discerning about any tasks that require staff to leave their homes. We are holding all of our meetings virtually, and we continue to train new Neighboring Volunteer groups through an online training program as well. We, like many of you, are being creative and innovative in our approaches to just about everything, including this video. 😀
You should know that none of this could happen without your support. We rely on the generosity of our community as the main source of income for this work. We continue to work toward the vision of Harrisonburg-Rockingham being a community where no family is homeless. While we realize that not everyone can continue to donate at this time, we do ask those who are able to consider donating. I know that many folks who are not in need of stimulus funds are making plans to donate the funds to those who need it most. Monthly rental assistance for one family costs anywhere from $50-750 depending on where families are at in the program. $100 can cover case management for one family for a week, $400 can cover it for a month. $50 can cover training costs for a new Neighboring Volunteer group. Also, just a note that we will still be participating in the Great Community Give, which has been postponed until June 24th.
For those who are unable to give financially, there are still ways to be involved. If you are part of a Christian faith community, please consider whether a small group of 3 or 4 would be able to form a Neighboring Volunteer group to support and encourage a family in our program.
Something that anyone can do is to send a message of hope to our families. Our first message of hope came in from one of our program graduates. She wrote, “You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but as a former Bridge of Hope mom I think about you guys often. IT WILL GET BETTER! You all have your story and just like mine it isn’t a happy one. You’re now in a program with so much support and help to get where you need to be. You even have people on the outside (like me) praying and cheering you and your kids on!! YOU GOT THIS!!” What a great model of a simple yet heartfelt message of hope. A little love goes a long way.
Donation and contact information can be found below…
The other day, someone asked me if I would consider myself obstinately hopeful. I laughed and said, Yes, I really am. Our families give me hope, our staff gives me hope, our community gives me hope and you give me hope. The kingdom of God is in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. It’s in our hearts and it’s in our hands.
Let’s remain committed now more than ever before, to love our neighbors as ourselves. Take care of yourselves. Be safe. And please continue to join us in helping vulnerable families build promising futures as well.
Thank you!
To donate: https://hr.bridgeofhopeinc.org/donate…
or send a check to P.O. Box 535 Harrisonburg, VA 22803
To send a Message of Hope: https://form.jotform.com/200824953715053
For more info: director@hr.bridgeofhopeinc.org