2015-2016 Annual Report Volume 1 | Page 3

Dear Friends, Mission: Bridges connects the housed and homeless to establish relationships that lead to greater acceptance and understanding, social and economic growth, and wellbeing. Vision: The elimination of the social and economic divides between the housed and the homeless. This has been a banner year for Bridges! We expanded our reach to 226 Runs (street outreach visits), a record high in our 28-year history. We experienced growth in all of our initiatives, with the ultimate goal of uniting the housed and homeless in community in New York City, Newark, Irvington and Summit. Each week Bridges’ volunteers and staff bring food, necessities, and friendship to the homeless people we meet. This year, those necessities amounted to more than 19,000 new seasonal items, including gloves, thermal underwear, boots, coats, jeans, hooded sweatshirts, and hand, foot and body warmers. We also handed out more than 62,000 brown bag meals. We continue to improve our Runs to ensure that our volunteers and street friends benefit from their time together. We have studied logistics and feedback so that everyone involved gets what they need during the Runs, while deepening our connections across the socio-economic divide. And we are happy to share that for the past 28 years, we have never missed a Friday night with our street friends in New York City. In its second year, Bridges’ Project Connect continued to be a beacon of hope and support in Newark. Our case managers work with individuals and families toward ending chronic homelessness. We help people in need receive benefits, medical and social services and work with them to find housing and employment. In 2015-2016 Bridges’ dedicated support and guidance enabled 1,292 people to secure government I.D.s. We helped 20 people find jobs, and 45 people, including through our partner, Soldier On, attain permanent housing. With our Runs and Project Connect reaching new heights, our board seeks to grow our operations and implement strategies that will enable Bridges to have even greater impact. This year’s strategic plan refocused our vision on three elements of our organization: optimize Runs, extend the continuum of support at Project Connect to include jobs and housing, and secure Bridges’ future with dynamic planning and development. We could not have made it this far without you. We cherish your support as we continue to grow. Thank you for supporting Bridges. Best Regards,, Amanda Parrish Block Board Chair