Hello everyone! After months of planning and development Bridges & Balm is finally live! We received our 501(c)(3) certification recently and we’re wrapping up the final updates to the website. We encourage you to check it out and give us feedback via the “Contact Us” link at the bottom of each web page.
Now we’re in the tender stage of ramping up operations. That involves getting the word out to the broader fellowship community about our charity that focuses on supporting the well-being of resting and transitioning workers as well as survivors of sexual and emotional abuse. We encourage you to tell your meetings, friends and family about us - both to those who might need support, or want to help us provide support.
Ideally, we will ramp up donations in parallel with assistance requests. That way we can be a help to those in need as we continue to receive donations and fund new requests. But of course, nothing happens without donations to start the process.
Donating to Bridges & Balm is extremely easy, flexible and intuitive. On the donation page, you just fill out a few fields about who you are, how much you want to donate to one or both funds, and any specific criteria that you may want to apply to your donation. The worker fund especially offers a lot of flexibility in specifying preferences for how your donation is used. The donation page also provides informational popup messages to provide assistance, and links to various donation policies are listed on the donation page for your perusal. Also note that donor and donation information is confidential unless disclosure is expressly requested by the donor.
Requesting assistance is difficult for anyone, especially workers and survivors. Resting and transitioning workers are often reluctant to request financial assistance - not wanting to be an imposition and make do with what “God provides”. We would propose that this IS one of God's ways of providing. We are therefore asking for your help to ensure all impacted in our community have their needs met as much as possible.
Some who are in the position of need may prefer that someone "advocate" for them. If you know of a resting or transitioning worker who may be in need and you are in a position to help us determine their budget and assistance needs, please contact us through any of the methods listed on the resting and transitioning worker page. Any communications or information that is shared with us is strictly confidential and will not be shared with anyone outside of Bridges & Balm without your express permission.
Survivors are often reluctant to reach out because they’re concerned that the application process will be triggering and emotionally painful. Bridges & Balm is committed to providing survivors with compassionate, confidential, and personalized therapeutic support. Our approach is designed to respect the privacy and specific needs of each survivor, offering a safe and nurturing path towards recovery. As noted on the CSA/SA page, we are still finalizing the relationships with our third party providers, but we encourage you to reach out to us via a trusted friend or through an anonymous email provider to start the process, or to simply get more information. Please visit the CSA/SA Assistance Fund page for more information.
Finally, donations to Bridges & Balm will be used solely to provide supplemental assistance to resting/transitioning workers, assist with therapy costs for CSA/SA survivors and for operational expenses to support those efforts. All staff are voluntary and uncompensated, so all expenses relate to direct costs of operations. Our operations are completely transparent within the boundaries of our privacy and confidentiality policies and requirements, and fund status, fund health, and assistance metrics are displayed on the "Fund Overview & Activity“ page on the website.
Please tell your meetings, friends and family, and the broader fellowship community about Bridges & Balm - both to those who might need support, or those who want to help provide support. Thank you for visiting and supporting Bridges & Balm and visit us often as we are continually posting and working to improve our site.
Thank You!
The Bridges & Balm team
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