The Bridge began in 2008 when a small local church decided to reach out and serve the community in central Topeka, Kansas. Three families moved into the neighborhood and started an after school program, serving eight students from Meadows Elementary. The vision was to start with a few kids in elementary school and follow them through high school graduation. 

A few years later The Bridge began to collaborate with Topeka Young Life to mentor those students as they moved on to Robinson Middle School and Topeka High School. 

​In 2015 The Bridge launched the Lunch Buddies program, partnering with local churches to send over one hundred mentors into elementary schools across the city.

Recently, however, the leadership team has sensed a problem: some kids need more depth. The Bridge had grown wide, and was struggling to go deep. The kids facing the most obstacles in life are the hardest to reach with volunteer mentors, especially during a pandemic.  Leaders began to dream of a new way to serve the most vulnerable children and their families.

What's next?
Life Buddies Mentoring Program:
Start earlier. Go deeper. Stay longer.

In 2021 The Bridge implemented a new mentoring model designed to support the most vulnerable children and their families. This new program will match children facing the most obstacles in life with a salaried, professional mentor. Mentors will begin in kindergarten, and walk with each child through high school graduation, no matter what. Each mentor will serve only eight children, working with each child every week on our strengths based curriculum--things like resilience, integrity, and belonging.