Bridge to Change is a Reach of Washington County program that focuses on developing human potential through purposeful work experiences for the homeless. The program will give Reach homeless clients that are ready for change, the opportunity to work by cleaning the City of Hagerstown. This program will help develop soft skills and confidence needed to gain employment or enter a job services program (responsibility, reliability, teamwork). Participants will be paid hourly by Reach. While in the program, participants will work with Case Managers to move towards independence with financial literacy classes, behavioral health services, employment/job services support, and permanent housing). Two to three days a week, a supervisor will take a team of 4-6 program participants to an area of the city to clean (year-round). This program benefits both our counties most vulnerable population and our community.
This program already enjoys significant community support and has generated great excitement. As you can imagine, the more we work together, the more we can do for these individuals and our community overall. Bridge to Change officially launched on July 30, 2019 and you can follow all updates on our Facebook page. For more information see our PRESS RELEASE or contact our Bridge to Change Supervisor, Liz Yingling.