The Bridge House is doing well. As we mentioned in February, everyone in the house is setting short-term and long-term goals for their future. They have several areas to look at: long-term future plans, educational goals, work/volunteer experience, and spiritual goals. Each person has to come up with his or her own individual goals and then have a plan to reach each of those. Educational goals range from setting a personal study schedule to earning a college scholarship provided by their school. Some spiritual goals are to start daily Bible reading and others are to become more involved in church and youth group. Each set of goals is unique because each resident is unique.
Giving back to the community
Since the Bridge House is designed to get our youth prepared for independent life, one of the areas the youth need to focus on is the area of work. They need to understand how to look for jobs, how to interview, and how to be committed to doing excellent work wherever they are. We
want them to find part time, full time, or volunteer opportunities to provide good work experience for them so they are better prepared for life after WGO. Part time work is difficult to find in the city, but with creativity, some of our youth have found tutoring opportunities for pay. Our two seniors in high school automatically have to work with their senior class for about 4 hours weekly fixing up a local primary school. Four other Bridge youth are teaching English in a poor neighborhood. The list goes on from there.
One of our guys, Franklin Hernandez, is one of the four teaching English. The really neat thing about him being there is that his sister and her family live in that same neighborhood. Now Franklin’s 5-year-old niece and 7-year-old nephew are coming weekly to receive English classes from him and the other teachers. What a neat opportunity for him to reach back into a local community (and to his own family) to serve.
Giving back to the community
Since the Bridge House is designed to get our youth prepared for independent life, one of the areas the youth need to focus on is the area of work. They need to understand how to look for jobs, how to interview, and how to be committed to doing excellent work wherever they are. We
want them to find part time, full time, or volunteer opportunities to provide good work experience for them so they are better prepared for life after WGO. Part time work is difficult to find in the city, but with creativity, some of our youth have found tutoring opportunities for pay. Our two seniors in high school automatically have to work with their senior class for about 4 hours weekly fixing up a local primary school. Four other Bridge youth are teaching English in a poor neighborhood. The list goes on from there.
One of our guys, Franklin Hernandez, is one of the four teaching English. The really neat thing about him being there is that his sister and her family live in that same neighborhood. Now Franklin’s 5-year-old niece and 7-year-old nephew are coming weekly to receive English classes from him and the other teachers. What a neat opportunity for him to reach back into a local community (and to his own family) to serve.
*Photos are (left) of Jessica teaching English to a class of family members and friends and (right) of Franklin teaching English to youth at a local church.
