Bridge Builders

It's all about relationships. Bridge Builders pairs RCP families with Bridge Builder Volunteers, emphasizing the unlearning of saviorism and the conventional “service” relationship in favor of relationships of reciprocity and mutual aid. We aim to eliminate the American Boot Straps Myth from our collective psyche, centering instead experiences of collective care and solidarity.

RCP's Bridge Builder program was recently featured in the Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies! Check out the article for lessons learned about building networks of solidarity and mutual aid among neighbors.

Bridge Builders is where neighbors take care of one another. Local residents are trained and matched with RCP families, walking alongside Members to assist them in addressing immediate needs – like finding housing or employment – and working toward long term goals, like going to college. Bridge Builders serve as cultural consultants and emergency contacts, accompanying Members to job interviews or medical appointments, and supporting them in times of crisis, like natural disasters or police encounters. These relationships are deliberately reciprocal, where both parties support one another, and are grounded in a critical awareness of structures and legacies of power and oppression, so that we may building an enduring foundation of radical companionship and solidarity.

Pre-COVID, 230+ residents worked with 520+ RCP Members per year. While Bridge Builders requires a 12-month minimum commitment, the relationships between Bridge Builders and Members last many more. Many Bridge Builders and Members have been working together since the initiative began in 2012.