Alicia and her daughter had been sleeping on friends’ sofas for months. Most recently, they’d been staying at Alicia’s mother’s house when her mother gave them a deadline to leave. That’s when Alicia turned to her child’s school for help, who referred her to The Neighborhood Bridge. The Neighborhood Bridge contacted several human service providers to help her find a place to live. Today they have a place to call their own.
The Neighborhood Bridge was established in 2023 to help connect Austin families to existing, high-performing human services. We conducted surveys and held focus groups with more than 600 parents and guardians of school-age children in Austin to understand their needs. There was consensus that while there are many service providers in the Austin area, families and schools don’t know who to contact or struggle to overcome barriers such as trust, bureaucracy, paperwork, and transportation.
That’s where The Neighborhood Bridge comes in. We have built connections to over 40 service providers in Austin. In January, we will begin training our first group of volunteer Advocates. These Advocates will be assigned to families to help connect them to the services they need to thrive. And when families thrive, a whole community thrives.
Help us “bridge the gap” for the services Austin families need and deserve. For information about volunteering with The Neighborhood Bridge, contact Jeanne Gallo at jeanne.gallo@theneighborhoodbridge.org. To donate, go to theneighborhoodbridge.org.
The Neighborhood Bridge
The Neighborhood Bridge (TNB) is a nonprofit established in 2023 that is working to connect Austin neighborhood families to existing high-performing human service providers. Our singular goal is to help families tackle their most pressing needs—for primary and mental health care, food and housing support, financial counseling, job readiness, and family counseling, among others.
While resources exist to help Austin residents, families often struggle to access them.
TNB will provide the support they need to “bridge the gap.”
To learn more about how you can help families access the services they need and deserve, go to theneighborhoodbridge.org.