Breaking the Cycle of Poverty
In 2010 Lynn Brown, principal at McDougle Elementary School in Houston, approached Pastor Dale Slagle of Faithbridge UMC with a shocking need. There were children at a Title 1 school in Faithbridge’s backdoor who were desperately hungry. On the last day before each school holiday, the children went through the lunch line and stuffed their pockets full of food because they knew they wouldn’t eat lunch again until school was back in session. Faithbridge quickly responded to the need by providing bags of food for the children to take home over each school break. Seven years later, that simple feeding ministry has grown into Bridging for Tomorrow, a non-profit organization dedicated to not only providing relief for hungry kids but resources to empower them to escape the cycle of poverty.
A Community in Crisis
Bridging for Tomorrow is committed to bring long term solutions to a community in crisis.
And the need is great. An average of 25 percent of Bridging for Tomorrow’s neighbors, many of them children, are living below the poverty level. 18 percent of the adults have less than a 9th grade education, and 60 percent speak a language other than English at home. Bridging for Tomorrow Executive Director, Maria Belusar, knows these numbers represent daunting challenges for the people she serves.
“The cycle of poverty, lack of education, and risk factors repeat all over again if there is no intervention for the families who fall into these categories,” Maria said. “Bridging for Tomorrow is here to empower families to break the poverty cycle.”