Above / November 4, 2017, in the Midwest could be a chilly and rainy experience outdoors during Sleep Out Saturday, a fundraiser with a purpose for Bridge Communities. (PN Photo)
Bridge Communities’ will host its largest fundraiser, Sleep Out Saturday, on Sat., Nov. 4.
The annual event aims to heighten awareness and raise money to help support families in the Bridge Communities Transitional Housing Program; funding the housing, employment training, mentoring, case management, plus tutoring and summer camps for kids.
Individuals can help out by forming a group to sleep out, by sponsoring a group or supporting someone already participating.
Organizers say nearly “2,000 DuPage County residents will spend a very frosty night inside tents, boxes and cars” as a way to shed light on homelessness. The all-night event will be held in 25-plus DuPage County communities.
Anyone who browses the page of participants likely will find someone familiar who has pledged to participate, a way to help provide three months of housing to one homeless family.
For instance, Director of Community Engagement Chad Pedigo writes, “…I have personally seen the difference a transitional home with Bridge Communities can offer to the more than 100 adults and 200 children who are sleeping in Bridge housing tonight and working with mentors, tutors, staff, and volunteers to transform their lives and the futures of their children.”
For information, to register or to make a donation, visit www.sleepoutsaturday.org.
The Bridge Communities’ Transitional Housing Program welcomes support to offer hope.
Naperville Mom: From Homelessness to Hope
At age 10, I immigrated from Peru in pursuit of the American Dream: to get an education, be financially stable, marry, have children, and live in a beautiful home with a white picket fence.
By the age of 30, I had fled an abusive marriage, was working as the sole provider for my four kids, and hopping from living situation to living situation. It was chaotic, stressful and scary. My dream was long gone.
One day at church, I explained my need for help and a home to a pastor. She told me about the Bridge Communities transitional housing program. I remember thinking, my life can’t get any worse–what did I have to lose? Little did I know that one phone call would change my life and my kids’ lives forever.
I qualified for the program and, with the help of Bridge staff and my three amazing mentors, I was blessed with a safe apartment, daycare and school for my children, a new job, and the opportunity to study business management at the College of DuPage. It is hard work, but I am working toward my dream again.
Now, after one year in the program, my life has completely changed for the better. Bridge isn’t just providing a home to me and my kids – it is rebuilding us from the inside out.
Eventually, I want to pay it forward and give back to Bridge.
Thanks to this amazing organization and group of people, I know I can achieve my dreams and provide a stable future for my family.
Thank you.
—Maria
For more information, visit www.sleepoutsaturday.org.
