The Bridge Toward Hope, Happiness, and Community
Imagine turning 18 years old – with no home, no family, no support. You have been in one – or, most likely – multiple foster homes over your lifetime, all rooted in realities you did not choose for yourself. This is where Bridge to Brighter steps in, providing a light for the future – and the bridge to get there.
You are resilient, a survivor, and have dreams of your own. To make your goals and dreams a reality however, you must continue to work hard, persevere, learn new skills, and stay the course towards success that the Bridge to Brighter program, staff, and community supports offer.
Bridge to Brighter is a community, grass-roots non-profit organization, existing with the vision to transform the lives of youth aging out of foster care. By extending initial “hand-outs”, but quickly moving towards a “hand-up” model, we work with young men to help them set roots in the community, find “family” among fellow youth and those supporting them, and take the steps towards changing an otherwise uncertain life trajectory – into creating a fruitful and fulfilling one, changing the narrative.
The program’s mission is to meet the physical and emotional needs of youth aging out of foster care, through mentoring, building healthy relationships, and creating life success plans the promote healing and a brighter future. We support these youth by focusing on five key pillars of success: Housing, Employment Assistance and Coaching, Self-Care and Healing, Building Healthy Connections and Relationships, and Life Skills Development and Mentoring.
Understanding the Situation
In Wisconsin alone, over 7,000 children are currently in foster care, with more than 2,000 of those children residing in Milwaukee County. On a larger scale, in the United States, the statistics are similarly shocking. More than 250,000 children enter the foster care system each year, and currently, there are approximately 424,000 children living with foster parents. Of those children, over 23,000 age out of the system annually (source: The National Foster Youth Institute). At an age that is often an exciting time and right-of-passage for so many, it can also prove a terrifying reality for teens aging out of foster care, who don’t know where they will live or work, how they will make ends meet, and to whom they can turn for a family.
Bridge to Brighter started, in fact, from founders Kevin and Shelly Mehring, who learned about caring for others at early ages. Shelly comes from a family of educators and Kevin’s parents welcomed children from foster care into their home when himself, a child. The organization’s Executive Director, Nick Sgarlata, had been a long-time Wauwatosa resident and is a foster parent himself, along with wife Carrie. Wauwatosa and the surrounding area are known a strong community feel and experience. People know their neighbors and look out for one another. Helping our teens from Bridge to Brighter learn and experience, first-hand, the benefits of a strong community helps to set them up for greater life fulfillment, too.
Aging Out of Foster Care
For teens at the point of aging out, there is a significantly higher likelihood of experiencing homelessness, unemployment, and incarceration. In fact, within four years of aging out, 50% have no earnings; and those who do earn an average of $7,500, annually. Half of children in foster care will never graduate high school or obtain a GED. Of the 15% who attend college, only 3% graduate. For females, 7 out of 10 girls who age out will become pregnant by age 21. You can imagine the countless additional statistics related to percentages of youth carrying trauma their whole lives, the volume of PTSD, those facing employment challenges, substance abuse, unhealthy relationships, and the list goes on and on.
Are you ready for the great news? There’s Hope! Bridge to Brighter is one of the very few organizations in Wisconsin looking to effectively address this issue and offer youth a light, a hand, and a bridge to better opportunities and life fulfillment than the statistics depict.
A Local Answer
Nestled on the Wauwatosa and Milwaukee border, Bridge to Brighter currently operates out of an 8-unit, well-maintained apartment complex, where the young men who qualify and are ready to take these next big steps in their future can live, form community, and learn valuable life skills together that others take for granted learning as they grow in a stable family.
Our mentoring services are centered around a Life Success Plan, formed in part by the multiple and varying community connections and networks supporting them. Part of the youths’ commitment to the program involves housing assistance, which evolves into securing employment, finishing their high school degrees and beyond, opening bank accounts and learning financial literacy, making rent payments, and understanding key elements of building a sustainable life.
Youth have options that appeal to them, career-wise, whether learning a trade, through an apprenticeship, or more academic-driven routes. The housing unit offers a community room, the opportunity to exercise, and a space to learn more about a variety of resources, including health care needs, mental health support, spirituality, and other community resources.
Wondering how you can be involved and help us grow? Check out our website for ways to give of your time, share your talents, help furnish apartments, or give financially to continually strengthen our programming and services. It all is needed as we support our current young men – and look to eventually serve more.
Thank you, Wauwatosa, for serving as a strong community for these young men, and we know they, too, are invested and motivated to contribute their own gifts and resources, in return. Check out Bridge to Brighter here: www.bridgetobrighter.org, and we’d love for you to be involved!
