A Brief History of The Bridge Fund of New York

The Bridge Fund was created in response to a severe homelessness crisis in Westchester County. In 1990, Westchester had the highest per capita rate of homelessness in the country, with a peak of 4,500 people in shelters. Several experienced advocates for the homeless told the founders of The Bridge Fund,

"If we just had access to some private capital that we could use freely and flexibly, we could prevent a lot of people from becoming homeless."

Over the next 16 years, the number of homeless in the county's shelter system was reduced by 70%, and The Bridge Fund of Westchester received considerable credit for its role. The success in Westchdester led to the creation of The Bridge Fund of New York City, which now serves all 5 boroughs.

The Bridge Fund of Westchester and The Bridge Fund of New York City are operating programs of The Bridge Fund of New York Inc.

1991	The Bridge Fund of Westchester was founded by Oscar and Nan Pollock, with the encouragement of Father Peter Larom of Grace Episcopal Church, White Plains, and Carl Bertrand, to address a homelessness crisis in Westchester County. In the first year, we issued 132 loans and grants.
1992	Building on the success of the Westchester program, The Bridge Fund of New York City was created to serve two crisis-ridden neighborhoods in New York City.
1996	The Bridge Fund model was replicated by organizations in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Church Avenue Merchants Block Association (CAMBA) opened The Bridge Fund of Brooklyn with start-up funding from The Clark Foundation and US Trust.
1997	Bridge Fund services were expanded to cover all of Manhattan.
1998	The Bridge Fund began serving the Bronx.
2001	With funding from Chase Manhattan Foundation, Ridgewood Savings Bank, and The Independence Community Foundation, The Bridge Fund expanded to Queens.
2002	The Bridge Fund initiated Project Recovery to assist secondary victims of The Wold Trade Center attacks on 9/11 of 2001. Project Recovery served 313 households consisting of 747 people in 2002 and 2003.
2003	The Bridge Fund of New York City expanded services into Staten Island, serving 148 families on Staten Island in its first year.
2004	Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed February 12th, 2004 as “Bridge Fund Day” in recognition of the contributions of The Bridge Fund to homelessness prevention. Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano honored The Bridge Fund of Westchester with a proclamation for its services in preventing homelessness in the County.
2006	The New York City and Westchester programs mobilized more than $1.6 million to help 596 working poor families stay in their homes. These loans and grants helped 1,524 people, 49% of those being children.
2007	The Bridge Fund of New York City takes over administration of services to Brooklyn from CAMBA, and now covers all 5 boroughs. The Residential Brokerage Division of the Real Estate Board of New York selected The Bridge Fund of New York Inc. as a major benefactor of the 2007 Residential Deal of the Year Gala.