Winter/Spring Newsletter 2023

Winter/Spring Newsletter 2023

WINTER WALK 2023

Walkers raise over $44K for Bridge at Winter Walk

Along with our fellow nonprofits, we were thrilled to see over 3,000 people turn out on Feb. 12 for the Winter Walk in support of ending homelessness. In total, Bridge supporters and walkers raised $44,230! We are especially thankful to the many teams and organizations that walked with us, including Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, MFS, Boston University’s Social Learning Lab, and the individuals and groups of families and friends that helped raise funds for Bridge. Thank you for walking with us!

The day began in Copley Plaza, with remarks from individuals who had previously experienced homelessness sharing their inspiring stories. The crowd then walked the two miles up Boylston St, through the Common, and down Beacon St before returning to Copley for a concert and snacks.

In addition to being a fun activity, this event is important to Bridge. Not only does it connect us with the wider homelessness prevention community, but the winter weather allows us to feel, even for a morning, what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes. To get involved next year, email donations@bridgeotw.org to learn more!

Bridge expands its partnership with MGH

Bridge Director of Clinical Services Peter Ducharme and collaborators at MGH, including Dr. Colin Burke, Research Assistant Sylvia Lanni (pictured here), and Dr. Tim Wilens teamed up to release an academic paper recently published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The paper highlights a study of Bridge youth that found a strong correlation between substance use and various mental health issues, including depression, suicidality, and ADHD. “It’s great to be able to work with our partners at MGH to study the Bridge population more closely. We hope to continue this partnership to learn more about our youth, the challenges they face, and potential treatments or interventions,” said Ducharme. To learn more, visit our new research page online at bridgeotw.org/research.

BRIDGE UPDATES

A Day in the Life of Field Outreach Manager, Melissa Hoyt

4 PM: As we ride to Bridge, the youth mentions some issues she has been having with alcohol. I casually mention to the youth that there is a weekly AA meeting nearby tomorrow night and I invite her to join. Upon arriving at Bridge, I take the youth to the Intake Department to help get her started on the process.

1 PM: I start my day in the Bridge Transitional Day Program (TDP) to check in with youth I know from the streets to help ease their transition. One youth looks upset, so I ask how she is doing. “I’m fine,” she responds, but I’m not convinced. I remind her that “It’s ok to not be ok. We want to know if there’s a problem, so we can help.” She sighs, “Yeah, I guess I’m not doing great.” We talk for a bit and walk up to the fourth floor to see if she can meet with a counselor that afternoon.

2 PM: After my time on the TDP, I usually engage with youth on the street in Roxbury, North Station, or South Station, but today, I begin in Downtown Crossing. I approach a group of youth, introduce myself, and explain I’m from Bridge. I share some of the services we provide, including day programs, meals, housing, and health checks. One youth takes a business card from me and asks if I’ll come back tomorrow, which I agree to do.

3 PM: I take the Red Line to Andrew, as T stops are places where youth congregate or go to escape the weather. I see an MBTA officer and explain that I’m looking for youth who stay on the platform and appear to be waiting for a train but miss multiple cars in a row. The MBTA officer discreetly indicates a youth. I thank the officer, leave him with a card, and ask him to reach out if he sees other youth. I speak with the youth, who is relieved to learn about Bridge.

5 PM: I meet my Outreach team on the Common, the Mobile Medical Van’s first stop of the night. At one point, we are visited by two young women. They are both looking for long-term housing and need help reaching their educational goals. One of the young women has a baby and is 23 years old, so we speak to her about Bridge’s Single Parent House in Brighton. She agrees to come to Bridge the next morning for intake and assessment as to whether the program will be a fit. The other woman is 28 years old, and thus outside of our age range, so I share adult housing options and programs.

7 PM: We move the van to Harvard Square, where we connect with various youth. While there, we treat a cut on someone’s foot, provide a young couple with hats and coats, and offer a sandwich and granola bar to a visitor who we often see. He admits to feeling a bit under the weather and we repeat, as we always do, that he is welcome to come to Bridge. After a few weeks of visiting us, he is finally ready to accept, and we drop him off at Bridge to spend the night in the Welcome Center.

8:30 PM: We drive the van back to Alewife, where it stays parked, before heading home.

“Helping youth and the next generation find another path, that’s enough inspiration to come and work here.”

— Melissa Hoyt, Field Outreach Manager

Meet our New MGH Psychiatrists

Part of Bridge’s partnership with MGH includes visits twice a week by adolescent psychiatrists, who help youth with medication management and provide additional behavioral health support.

Name: Joseph B. Bond, MD, MPH

Where are you from?: Baton Rouge, LA

What do you like about working in youth psychiatry?: I like hearing people’s stories and being able to base care off of their personal experience. I also like when I can talk about video games and memes with my young patients.

WE’RE HIRING!

We are looking for great people who are committed to helping youth! Check out some of our job openings below, and pass the message along to your networks! To apply or learn more, visit careers.bridgeotw.org

ADMIN ROLES

• Director of IT

• Executive Assistant

DEVELOPMENT ROLES

• Campaign Coordinator

• Manager of Public Grants & Contracts

OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT ROLES

• Transitional Day Program Manager

• Transitional Day Program Counselor

• Field Outreach Specialist

Name: Matthew Fadus, MD

Where are you from?: Hampden, MA

What do you like about working in youth psychiatry?: Making interventions early in life can have a lasting impact well into adulthood!

HOUSING & RESIDENTIAL ROLES

• Rapid Re-housing Manager

• Residential Counselor

EDUCATION ROLES

• Associate Director of Education & Career Development

• Job & Career Development Counselor

• Adult Basic Education Teacher/HiSET Instructor

PROGRAM UPDATES

Youth celebrate completion of Rapid Re-housing Program

In December, Bridge held a graduation ceremony for youth who had completed Rapid Re-housing, a two-year program that helps youth get apartment leases in their own name and offers short-term rental assistance. As they continue in the program, youth are expected to take on more of the rent, maintain employment or schooling, and generally be an excellent tenant. By the time youth graduate from the program, they are paying 100% of their rent. This year, our graduates went on to full-time employment and permanent housing. One youth will continue in his Rapid Re-housing lease and will begin a new job shortly and another is paying rent to a relative while working contract jobs and applying to college. These are great outcomes for these youth, who just a few years ago were without any place to stay, and now are on the path to a bright future!

IN THIS ISSUE

Read about our fundraising success at February’s Winter Walk!

Get to know our MGH Psychiatrists

Spend a day with our Street Outreach team

Hear about our youth’s Rapid Re-housing success!

Bridge Welcomes Kate Bueker and Amy Metet to Board of Directors

Bridge is excited to add two new members to our Board of Directors!

Kate Bueker, Chief Financial Officer at HubSpot, is also the co-executive sponsor of the Women@HubSpot employee resource group. Prior to HubSpot, Kate spent 11 years in finance and business development leadership roles at Akamai Technologies, where she most recently served as Senior Vice President of Business Finance and Operations.

Amy Metet, Senior Vice

President and Chief

Information

at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, has over 20 years of experience in IT and in managing complex, crossfunctional projects. Before joining HMH, Amy led the IT Sales, Marketing, and Communications teams at Charles River Labs.

Officer

“Kate and Amy are committed to Bridge’s mission, to our youth, and to our goals. We are excited to have them join us and help guide Bridge’s work,” said Bridge President and CEO Elisabeth Jackson.