The Bridge Fund of Westchester

A Program of The Bridge Fund of New York Inc.

The Bridge Fund of Westchester is a leader in homelessness prevention

Since our pioneering efforts 17 years ago in 1991, The Bridge Fund of Westchester has continued to take a leading role in homelessness prevention in the county and has had a significant impact on the housing crisis affecting the working poor. Our approach, which combines compassionate listening, lessons in financial literacy, and interest-free loans or grants, has been recognized as a model for many successful programs in the county and in neighboring states.

When we compare annual financial assistance, The Bridge Fund of Westchester is pre-eminent among the major sources for eviction prevention in Westchester:

$168,000 – County 2007 Funding
$ 50,000 – Federal (ESG) Emergency Shelter Grants
$143,000 – Federal (EFSP) Emergency Food & Shelter Program
$250,000 – The Bridge Fund of Westchester

We offer assistance to clients throughout the county and all year long. Government funding is often restricted to certain areas and timelines. Our funding does not run out and our doors are always open.

The Challenges in 2007

As 2007 unfolded, it became clear that there was an increased demand for our services.

According to Westchester County reports, homelessness is on the rise. Escalating rents (approximately 15% in the last two years) are making living here increasingly untenable for anyone of modest means, including young couples, students, entry-level employees, retirees, police officers, and teachers. These are just the sort of people who make a community vibrant and healthy and save it from economic stagnation. Last year, the average annual net income (after deductions) of our families and individuals was $21,000. The average rent they paid was $9,000 or 43% of their income.

And now many landlords are requiring two months’ security deposit in addition to first month’s rent to move into an apartment. This is the equivalent of three months’ rent!

With a weak economy, incomes not keeping pace with the cost of living and skyrocketing utility bills causing record numbers of shut-off notices, many of our clients have been faced with the choice of keeping electricity on or staying current with their rent. Next year, residential utility rates may rise as much as 17% if proposed rate increases are approved.

But even in this difficult economy, The Bridge Fund of Westchester succeeded in keeping families together in safe and stable housing due to the efforts of our caseworkers and our proven track record of finding solutions.

The experience and skill level of our caseworkers allow us to dovetail and partner with other government and non-profit programs to provide not only effective but long-term results for our clients.

Our reputation is such that landlords and management companies will refer their tenants to us before commencing eviction proceedings, thus giving us time to develop a plan that will work for all parties.

So, in just one year (see chart on page 8), The Bridge Fund of Westchester:

• Prevented 310 evictions and foreclosures

• Issued $249,595 in loans and grants

• Received $33,380 in repayments. Clients are gratified to know that these repayments are used to help additional clients at risk of homelessness.
Those we assist are the working poor with an established work history. In 2007 we assisted a total of 814 individuals of whom 50% were children. Approximately 32% of our clients were on fixed incomes and are either disabled and/or are senior citizens. And about 45% of the households were headed by single mothers.

Even though the average assistance was just $817 per household, our annual monitoring revealed that 92% of those households monitored were still in their homes one year after The Bridge Fund intervention. The cost-effectiveness of prevention, when compared with housing one family in a government shelter at $36,000 per year, is self-evident, and a far better solution for the family. Once homeless, day-to-day existence is at best chaotic, unpredictable, and often dangerous. Life in the shelter system can be the beginning of an unbreakable, unbearable cycle of dependence on our social service system.

Bridge Fund assistance is more than financial. Our staff provides intensive one-on-one budget counseling, referrals to supportive services such as legal counsel, food pantries, affordable child and medical care, etc. We also house an emergency food pantry with the invaluable support of Congregation Kol Ami. This pantry met the immediate food needs of 206 of our client families in 2007.

In addition, The Bridge Fund of Westchester provides financial literacy workshops in community centers, Municipal Housing Authorities, and churches. We have found that it is difficult for clients to come to our office in White Plains due to inadequate public transportation and the travel distances involved. We therefore take our workshops to the communities of Yonkers and Mount Vernon where most of our clients live. These workshops present an opportunity for us to inform these potential clients of the services we provide at The Bridge Fund and of the steps to take to apply and be approved for our assistance.

The staff of The Bridge Fund of Westchester delivers these vital services with empathy and understanding. Our clients are hard-working, deserving people and our compassionate listening helps us to manage each case with a personalized, realistic, and respectful approach.

Last Year We...