Bridges to Hope

Under-Served Population

Bridges to Hope in Lincoln, NE is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) agency serving men and women soon to be or recently released from correctional institutions (referred to as “Reentrants”). The goal is to create and sustain joint efforts to prevent reentrants from falling back into their criminal behaviors and to lower the recidivism rate. This is done by providing reentrants with everything they would need to start up a new home. Beds, sofas, tables, chairs, kitchen items, bathroom items, clothing and hygiene products are a few of the items provided to them at no cost. All items are donated by community members.

Over the past 10 years, according to the Nebraska Department of Corrections statistical data, Nebraska alone housed an average of 4,759 inmates monthly within their 10 facilities. The annual average of admissions over that same 10 year period was 2,944 and the annual average of releases was 2,910. More people are being admitted than are being released and many of those being admitted are rearrests. The average cost to house an inmate is $28,000 per year paid for by your tax dollars. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics Reentry Trends, at least 95 percent of all inmates are going to come home to our neighborhoods and if we do not give them the wherewithal to establish independent living, they are going to come back to prison and we are going to be housing them again at tax payers’ expense.

What can be done to help people who are released from prison keep from being rearrested? With no job, no money, no treatment, no clothes, no furniture and no place to live, those reentering the community often find themselves facing the same pressures and temptations that landed them in prison in the first place.

This is where Bridges to Hope fits into the community. At Bridges to Hope in Nebraska we help reentrants, the formerly incarcerated, to become re-established into communities. One way we do this is with our 4,800 square foot warehouse of donated, gently used items needed to restart a home. A reentrant can come to the warehouse twice in an eighteen month time frame. Typically, the first time is for clothing and hygiene products, the second time for a sofa, table, bed, kitchen items or whatever may be needed to establish independent living. Last year Bridges to Hope provided services to over 500 reentrants and the number and need continues to rise.

Many of the reentrants we have served have gone on to live successful, crime free lives and are giving back by volunteering for Bridges to Hope. Your generous contribution will allow us to continue working with this underserved population and in the long run save tax payers money and create safe neighborhoods.