Youth Bridge Reaches Out For Funding
by February 16, 2004 12:00 am 110 views
Youth Bridge, a nonprofit agency providing services to at-risk teens and their families, has launched a direct mail campaign to raise funds for an expansion project. The agency recently sent 16,000 letters to Northwest Arkansas residents asking for support to expand its residential substance abuse program from 13 to 30 beds.
Bud Troutner, director of development, said the agency hasn’t determined a cost for that expansion yet and, he said, Youth Bridge’s campaign goes beyond adding beds for teens with drug problems. The agency, celebrating 40 years of service, needs to develop alternative funding sources, he said. Its state funding has been cut by 25 percent or about $80,000 and that hurts an agency serving seven counties, Troutner said.
Youth Bridge’s annual $4.1 million budget provides more than 500,000 hours of service to children each year. The agency serves 3,600 kids each year — about one-third of them on a long-term basis.
According to the letter the agency sent to prospective donors, drug and alcohol abuse account for more than 50 percent of the juvenile arrests in Northwest Arkansas. And, children under the age of 18 make up 25 percent of the area’s total population.
In addition to housing and care for kids with drug problems, Youth Bridge also provides services to homeless and abused kids.
Youth Bridge has four different facilities in the area. A youth shelter in Centerton provides long-term care and housing for a variety of teens, including kids coming from bad family situations, kids between foster homes, runaways and homeless kids, or kids in a modest amount of trouble. Three other facilities in Springdale and Fayetteville provide short and long-term care for teens in need, whether it’s a substance abuse problem or emergency youth housing, including a half-way house for kids who have been incarcerated but aren’t violent or a sexual predator.
“We offer safe, secure shelter and immediate support,” Troutner said, explaining that support includes immediate counseling services. “We try to treat the whole child, the physical and emotional needs.”
Youth Bridge was originally established as Boyland in 1963.