A Message from Oscar Pollock, Chairman and Co-Founder
In its 30-year history, those of us involved at The Bridge Fund have experienced a number of serious crises. In each case we have stepped up to do even more to lessen the adverse impact on our working poor clients and to stabilize them in their housing.
Actually, The Bridge Fund was started in 1991 in response to a serious homelessness problem in Westchester. As our program grew in size and scope, homelessness gradually receded in the county because of our efforts and the positive initiatives of others.
After the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, The Bridge Fund initiated Project Recovery, which was designed to help secondary economic victims of the event. This effort lasted two years and prevented an additional 313 evictions and foreclosures and assisted 747 people.
In 2008, the great financial crisis gripped New York City. With the support of New York Community Trust, The Bridge Fund launched a large program to serve clients experiencing serious dislocations. It doubled the total activity and size of the city program by 2009. For the first time, The Bridge Fund provided assistance to more than 1,000 households which included over 2,000 people.
With the devastation of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, we reacted with a special initiative to help working poor families whose finances were impacted by the storm.
Now COVID-19 has created a health and economic crisis for the whole country, with New York City and Westchester especially hard hit. In addition, racial tensions and unrest have increased. Our Executive Director, Anthony Sabia, explains our current response to the urgent needs of the working poor in our communities. Let me conclude by saying that you can count on The Bridge Fund for a major effort.