Bridges & Balm Q3 Update & Holiday Funding Drive

Hello to our wonderful Bridges & Balm community! Thank you all for your continued generosity, trust, and unwavering care for those who are vulnerable. Because of you, we’ve been able to provide hope and healing where it’s needed most.

As we enter our second holiday season here at Bridges & Balm, we are reminded that a time of year filled with gift-giving, family, and reflection for many of us can also be an especially challenging time for those facing financial and emotional challenges. Many of the survivors and transitioning workers we serve are recovering from sexual, emotional, and spiritual abuse. 

The holiday season also means an increase in requests for assistance.  The holidays are a difficult time for those who have experienced trauma.  Every week, more survivors and former workers reach out for help, and we anticipate even greater need as accounts of harm emerge from other countries. Behind every statistic is someone who has endured unimaginable pain and is now seeking safety, stability and hope. Your support enables us to respond quickly and compassionately, no matter where the need arises. Together, we can make sure no one is left behind.

Holiday Funding Drive

Our 2025 Holiday Funding Drive is officially underway! We have a Holiday Funding Drive goal of $70,000 to help meet our YE2025 and Q1 2026 assistance commitments. To assist in kicking off our funding drive, a group of anonymous Bridges & Balm donors will match the first $250 of your donation through the rest of 2025. If you are a new donor to Bridges & Balm, you will qualify for a 2:1 match of the first $250 of your donation! You can donate once and make twice or triple the impact!  For more information on our 2025 Holiday Funding Drive, please click here.

If you are able, please consider making a donation. Regardless if you can make a donation or not,  please know that your care, prayers, outreach and “thinking of you” notes can mean even more than donations.

Your Support Matters

The holidays are a difficult time for those struggling with mental health or isolation. Bridges & Balm exists to fill the gaps in traditional support systems by covering basic living expenses and therapy costs, often in partnership with other survivor-focused charities.

Supplementing the  traditionally-informal support system within the fellowship is the very reason that Bridges & Balm was established. Our focus remains on helping with basic living expenses and therapy costs, often collaborating with other survivor charities to maximize our impact. Your assistance has had a real impact on the wellbeing of our recipients.

Your generosity has already made a profound difference in 2025:

• Total donations: $295,000 as of late October ( including 2024 carryover)

• Assistance provided: $244,000 (as of late October) to 37 survivors and 26 resting and transitioning workers over the year.

Assistance Snapshot

In Q3, requests for assistance from transitioning workers and survivors continued to rise. We’re currently supporting 35 survivors and 20 transitioning workers, with an average assistance level of nearly $26,000 per month. 

Because of your generosity and assistance from other charities, we’ve been able to eliminate our survivor waitlist.  That enables us to quickly respond to the additional assistance requests that typically come in during the holidays.

We anticipate an increase in assistance requests across regions and internationally during the holiday season. To meet the increased need, we are actively collaborating with other charities, sharing resources, and helping establish new aid organizations in other countries. When local setup isn’t feasible, we work directly with in-country advocate groups to meet urgent needs.

Financial Snapshot

Donations continued at a brisk pace in Q3, easing our concerns of a donation slowdown that often happens in late summer and early fall. Thank you to all who made Q3 stress-free!

• Q3 donations exceeded $75,000, YTD donations through October are more than $250,000!

• 44 recurring donors now contribute over $6,300 monthly.

• We are extremely thankful to our international community for their care and support.  International efforts, including the Camino Walk fundraiser, raised over $5,000 for global outreach. 

As always, we are carefully managing expenses and planning additional outreach programs to sustain our funding levels.

Please visit our Funds Overview & Activity Page for real-time updates.

Thank you for your heartfelt support of Bridges & Balm! Together, we can make this holiday season brighter for those who need it most.