2025 Mid-year Update

The Myth of the Self-Made Man 

“He’s a self-made man,” is a phrase that has been used in our culture to describe people who’ve achieved success on their own. We admire people who pull themselves up by their bootstraps.  

If we look closely, however, self-made men are extremely rare. We can almost always find a network of support lurking backstage. Every Luke Skywalker has an Obi Wan. Every Moana has a Tala. And this is true not just for the children in our program, but also for their parents. 

This year another one of our families was investigated by the Department of Children and Families and their children were placed in foster care. Foster care--even when it is needed or helpful--is disruptive, frightening, damaging to children, and expensive. So, when our student’s mother messaged two members of our team in the middle of the night, our team worked feverishly to help the children be placed with local foster families who are volunteers and friends of The Bridge. The parents then received help and encouragement as they worked heroically to secure employment and housing, and to maintain connection with their children. Our team helped in the background, advocating, praying, and watching as the parents played the role of the hero in the story.

The family was reunited in under six months, an uncommon result for any single child in foster care, much less for large sibling groups. 

Every successful family needs a support network. We're glad to be a part of that network for the families of our Bridge kids.

The Bridge Farms

Thanks to a grant from The Women’s Fund at the Topeka Community Foundation we began a program for growing food, flowers, and farmers at the heart of Topeka. Our vision is to teach our students about healthy nutrition by growing their own food, about entrepreneurship by selling it at the farmers market, about cooking by preparing meals in the kitchen, and about community connection by enjoying the meals at the table with their families and mentors.     

Though this project just began in May, all of our students have sampled the life and work of farmers, three of our students have experimented with entrepreneurship at the market, and three of our students have prepared a full meal for their entire family then shared that meal at a table.   

What our Parents are Saying About Their Mentors

After spending the last three to four years with our Life Buddies families, the parents and caregivers are increasingly connected, encouraged to participate, and engaged in directing the mentor relationship with their children. Here is what parents and caregivers are saying about their mentors:   

>From a single mother who recently left a fraught relationship with long time boyfriend: “You are the highlight of [her] week, I’m so glad she has you. She doesn’t have other people to take her to do things.”  

>From a mother who works third shift and has struggled to wake her child for outings with his mentor: “You’re family. I don’t mind if you let yourself in to wake him up,”

>From a mother whose family lost their home to a house fire: “Thank you for coming into our lives, our hearts and becoming a part of our family. You were the missing piece we didn’t know was missing until you found us.”  

>From a mother whose children were taken into foster care: “I don’t know how you did it but we hit the foster parent jackpot. We feel like you guys want us to be a family.”

The Bridge Farms Market

Join us at The Bridge Farms Market September 27th from 9am-12pm. (1023 SW 8th Ave. Topeka, KS 66606)

Our goals this summer were to get more:

Hands in the soil.

Entrepreneurs in the market.

Cooks in the kitchen. And,

Families at the table.

Life Buddies at The Bridge are gardeners, bakers, and tie-dye makers who are excited to show you their products.

Come see what these young entrepreneurs have made!