University Christian Church ends homelessness for a single mom and her infant 

by Mindy Fetherman, Bridge of Hope

In 2014, University Christian Church (Hyattsville, MD) became a Bridge of Hope OneChurch Site to end homelessness for a family.  Bridge of Hope OneChurch Sites normally partner with a local social service agency to provide Bridge of Hope case management, but social worker and church member Marcia Mityga volunteered her services.  The church secured funds to provide temporary rental assistance.

With the support of Rev. Nathan Hill and the congregation, Rev. Marshall Dunn recruited 12 church members to be Bridge of Hope mentoring friends.  The mentoring group received 4 hours of Bridge of Hope training and 12 copies of the Mentor's Resource Guide.

Marshall explains, "We interviewed four homeless moms and had the very difficult task of choosing one. We ultimately chose the one who needed us the most. Living in a friend's car with her baby with no valid license and plates, she was one police stop away from jail and possibly losing her infant in foster care. She impressed us with her drive to improve her life and graduated from a dental assistant training program while living in her car and working in retail. We fell in love with the baby and were very drawn to her mom."

Marshall, Marcia and the church's Bridge of Hope mentors helped *Sophia to find an apartment, furniture and a used car.  They held a baby shower.  Sophia found a job as a dental assistant.   She reconnected with her family from whom she was estranged and began to attend the church of her youth.  

Sophia says the mentors and church are "angels sent from God," and regularly expresses how very grateful she is for all their support.  Her journey continues to be bumpy, but she reaches out to her new mentoring friends during the bad and good times.

Learn how 8-12 mentoring friends from your church can be trained to end homelessness for a single mother and her children.  Visit www.bridgeofhopeinc.org.

Since 1989, Bridge of Hope's program model has been implemented to end and prevent homelessness.  Through three-way partnerships between homeless single mothers, trained church-based mentoring groups, and trained case managers, the model has shown an 80% success rate.  Women graduate from the Bridge of Hope program having attained permanent rental housing, financial stability through employment, and a support network of friends from a church in their community.