Activate Our Place at Ben Washer Park!
After 11 years of dedication and hard work, Bridge Kids International is preparing to open Our Place at Ben Washer Park this fall! Our Place Café and Boutique will be open to the public by November. We are preparing to host our expanded programs, including offering Our Place as a venue to showcase Black artists and their work.
On Give for Good day, you can help Activate the ATTIC, the multifunctional second floor of Our Place where we will host our programs that celebrate African heritage culture, teach skills for life, and build creative confidence. While young people, their families and community are at the center of our work, many of our programs are multigenerational and open to everyone. We will also provide space for our community partners and friends to hold meetings and gatherings.
Your gifts on Give for Good Day will support programs like:
We especially need your help making BKI’s 7 Generations African Heritage Culture Camp available to all kids ages 7-12 who wish to attend. The 2025 camp will be held at Our Place and we are seeking scholarships to make the camp free or very low cost for participants.
Bridge Kids International Around the World
BKI continues to support our Bridge Kids Groups in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda and Senegal. We are currently completing a partnership with the University of Louisville and SOS to send medical supplies to a local clinic in Malawi. We are also working with the South Oldham Rotary Club to install a library, computer lab and STEM lab at the expanded BK School in Ghana. Your gifts on Give for Good Day will ensure that these kinds of locally-led projects will continue to build bonds of friendship and development between Africa and the African Diaspora!
Who We Are
Bridge Kids International uses the power of African heritage culture to create communities that support the well-being of young people. We help young people of Africa and the African Diaspora unleash their social entrepreneurial spirits to solve economic development, education, environmental, girls' rights, and health challenges and link African, African-American, Caribbean and other Diaspora groups for the purposes of friendship, cooperation, and individual and community empowerment.
BKI envisions young people and communities that have the confidence, skills, tools and resources to develop creative solutions and thrive. In Louisville, KY, BKI typically reaches approximately 250 people annually through its hands-on, educational and cultural programs and 700 people through the African Heritage Festival. BKI’s Culture is the Cure programs promote positive racial/ethnic/cultural and gender identity, empower young families, nurture creative confidence, and foster self-determination in young people from birth to young adulthood.