Q2 2023 BRIDGE UPDATE

Jul 9, 2023

If you’re new to Revive Church, you might be asking: what is The Bridge?

Physically speaking, The Bridge is the shopping center where we’re located, and which Revive Church owns. Our vision and mission for The Bridge is to foster the peace and prosperity of the northwest Denver metro area through a community in which motivated individuals and families have practical access to the resources they need to thrive. Our goal is to offer families in need a one-stop access point with critical resources and a collaborative environment for non-profits to best serve the community.

The need for The Bridge is great!

Many people in the northwest Denver metro area are in a vulnerable economic, relational, mental, or spiritual situation. Parts of the northwest Denver metro area within 5 miles of The Bridge have poverty rates of 12% to 20% and include at least 223 Section 8 affordable housing units. 75% of meals in the local elementary, middle, and high schools are subsidized. For every available childcare slot in the area, there are three children who need it. Suicide deaths for 10 to 19-year-olds in Colorado more than doubled between 2007 and 2020. Colorado ranks 5th in terms of highest drug use per state and 3rd in terms of drug addictions.

The Bridge is focused on development:

How can we help a motivated and hard-working person/family achieve a self-sufficient economic state? Our heart is to give people a hand up so they can go from a place of struggling to one of thriving, economically, relationally, mentally, and spiritually. We believe that relief programs alone (handouts alone) can create patterns of dependency. Our aim is self-sufficiency; we do not intend to do things for neighbors that they can do for themselves.

The Bridge provides a platform of purpose for excellent organizations

who are subject matter experts in their respective fields, and who can benefit from being part of an ecosystem designed to provide patrons with holistic support – where organizations can work in tandem to provide wraparound service that create substantial, long-term, and positive change, including:

  • Haven’s Hope: providing one-on-one mentoring and support for single moms
  • CrossPurpose (classes starting in 2024) and Thrive: helping families escape poverty through workforce development
  • Packs of Hope: serving children and youth transitioning into foster care through nine counties, and supporting youth through community service
  • Lionheart Children’s Academy: provides quality Christian childcare, with a large percentage of students supported by scholarships and/or CCAP funding
  • BeyondHome (coming to the vacant lot east of Revive): serving families who work hard to achieve personalized goals for their education, housing, finances, and family
  • Primary Purpose Recovery Center: A positive, sober community space offering 12-step addiction recovery support
  • Colorado Foundation for Conductive Education: providing conductive training and education opportunities for individuals with motor challenges to achieve optimal physical, cognitive, and social independence (CFCE is expanding and recently almost doubled the size of their space at The Bridge)
  • The Bridge Food Pantry: currently serving over 160 families per week, and providing an opportunity to establish relationships with patrons so they can be introduced to transformational, life-changing partners at The Bridge so that long-term and indefinite food pantry use becomes unnecessary
  • Global Thrift Store: providing affordable clothing and household essentials and serving vulnerable people in the Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Gameday Baseball: impacting lives for Christ through baseball and driven by three core values: Faith, Character, and Excellence
  • Integrated Medical Health: Lord willing, coming soon to provide integrated mental and medical health services

Fundraising and tying it all together.

Through our Bridge for the Future External Capital Campaign, through Q2 we raised over $100,000 toward a 2025 EOY goal of raising $2.5M. Funding proposals to foundations totaling over $2M have been submitted, and your prayers for the Lord’s favor as foundations make funding decisions are appreciated! As soon as we have the required funding, we plan to staff the Reference Hub (“The Hub”) – a reception office and data center that will provide resources to patrons regarding organizations within and outside of The Bridge to ensure families’ needs are met, and to be “the glue” for Bridge partners to best provide holistic support for our neighbors.

How you can make a difference for our neighbors:

  • Pray for The Bridge and our guests, that they will meet Jesus through the love of Bridge partners
  • Serve as a volunteer with one or more of the many and diverse Bridge partners
  • Refer potential missionally aligned Bridge partners to us (particularly potential mental and medical health providers who might be interested in joining our work of serving neighbors)
  • Support  The Bridge financially through the internal Revive Capital Campaign (“For Love’s Sake”) or the external capital campaign (“Bridge for the Future”)

Questions or comments can be directed to Cam Kenyon (Bridge Director) at ckenyon@revivearvada.org.