Pivoting During COVID-19 to Continue Our Mission
The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center's mission is to empower adults experiencing homelessness with the tools to homeless recovery as they move into sustainable housing. One of those tools includes helping Guests acquire DHA Housing Vouchers, which give Guests access to affordable, sustainable housing.
Typically, when Guests are approved for a DHA housing voucher, they have to attend a voucher briefing at DHA before they can receive the voucher. When COVID-19 hit our country, DHA closed their doors to the public, and voucher briefings were put on hold.
But that did not stop our amazing Care Manager team from pivoting and finding a way to continue assisting our Guests in moving into homes of their own. Our Homeless Recovery Manager, Ms. Kevelyn Jenkins, advocated for our Guests and worked with DHA on a solution. They approved her request for The Bridge to host the voucher briefings on our campus for our Guests.
Her advocacy to continue offering this resource to our Guests, despite barriers created by COVID-19, has resulted in 11 voucher briefings on our campus, 32 Guests receiving their vouchers, and 14 Guests moving into a home of their own.
Homeless Recovery continues to be possible for The Bridge Guests, even during a pandemic! We are proud of our staff's dedication to our Guests and our mission and proud of our Guests for working hard to achieve homeless recovery.