‍Dear Friends,

‍On Thursday evening, the BRIDGE Foundation of Santa Cruz County officially launched — and we did it surrounded by you.

‍Our sold-out celebration at Natural Bridges Farm, in partnership with the Homeless Garden Project, was everything we hoped a beginning would be. The light was golden, the farm was in full late-summer bloom, and as the evening went on, the sky over the ocean gave us a fitting sunset for what turned out to be an absolutely joyful celebration.

‍Dirty Ukulele and the Entwood Troubadours filled the fields with music. Defenders, staff, and volunteers catered the event themselves, laying out a beautiful grazing table built around Homeless Garden Project produce, alongside HGP's signature strawberry shrub, which disappeared about as quickly as we could pour it.

‍But the heart of the evening was the presentations—from our keynote speaker Willie Elliott-McCrea, community consultant and former Executive Director of Second Harvest Food Bank, who reminded us that work, food, housing, and community are all connected, to Darrie Ganzhorn, Executive Director of the Homeless Garden Project, who shared her vision for expanding HGP to include more farmland and a classroom to continue the connective, healing work the project is known for. And above all one testimonial moved us. A man who has been served by the Public Defender's office, the BRIDGE Foundation, and the Homeless Garden Project stood up and shared his story — of courage, of recovery, and of reunification with his family and his children. He reminded every one of us why this work matters, and what becomes possible when a community decides to invest in people.

‍That is the belief BRIDGE was built on: that lasting public safety, equity, and justice come not only from client-centered advocacy, but from investing in people, strengthening community partnerships, and creating real pathways to stability and opportunity. On Thursday night, we got to see what that looks like in practice — over a hundred neighbors, advocates, community leaders, and supporters standing together to bridge barriers to our neighbors’ success.

‍ Thank you to our generous donors and sponsors, whose support made the evening possible and continues to sustain our work—including event sponsors, the Honorable Jerry Vinluan and his wife Fenix Bedoya, Bryan Hackett, Trina Barton and our community sponsor, Options by DMS, represented on Thursday by Ryan Leary. Thank you to the Homeless Garden Project for welcoming us to Natural Bridges Farm and for a partnership that has already taught us so much. Thank you to our musicians, our speakers, and the staff and volunteers who cooked, carried, poured, set up, and cleaned up. And thank you to everyone who reached out with warm wishes and congratulations — from across the county and well beyond it — whether or not you were able to be with us in person.

‍This was a launch, not a finish line. There is real work ahead: warm socks and work boots, treatment program fees, transportation, working phones, school clothes and camp fees for kids and families who deserve every chance. We would love to have you alongside us for it. Follow along, volunteer, come to the next gathering, or simply keep spreading the word.

‍We are just getting started, and we could not be more grateful for the community that showed up to begin it with us.

‍In community,

Athena Reis
Vice President of the BRIDGE Foundation