NPN Spotlight: Bridges Homeward

Bridges Homeward believes everyone deserves a safe, secure, and permanent family. The organization has provided support and advocacy for children, adults, and families for over 150 years. Today, its services encompass adoption, comprehensive foster care, family services, family support and stabilization, and a developmental disabilities program.

What They Do

Adoption and foster care programs at Bridges Homeward focus on ensuring children and teens can grow up in a committed, healthy, loving family. The adoption program provides planning and case management services for youth in the custody of the Department of Children and Families, who often face the greatest challenges to adoption: older children, sibling groups, and children with special needs. Their team supports children and parents every step of the way, ensuring parents are fully prepared to offer a home where children can thrive. Foster care programs focus on transitional, therapeutic foster care for youth who were born exposed to substances, experienced abuse or neglect, or have complex medical needs.

The organization’s family services program recruits, trains, and supports adoptive and foster parents, helping to ensure their journey goes as smoothly as possible and offering the resources necessary to provide a safe, loving, and therapeutic home. Their range of family support services are designed to stabilize youth and families and ensure that they have the skills, resources and family connections they need to be successful and maintain long term permanency. Finally, the developmental disabilities program helps individuals remain in their homes and have meaningful relationships with their families, friends and communities.

Their Impact

Founded as an orphanage for 10 homeless youth in Cambridge in 1874, the organization has evolved to support almost 1,200 individuals and families annually today. Last year, the organization served 178 children and families through the adoption program, 394 through family support and services, and 584 through developmental disability services.

As Bridges Homeward undertakes its next cycle of strategic planning, Chief Executive Officer Yoyo Yau looks forward to the organization’s next chapter, and the ability to continue to help individuals to have a family in which to thrive.

Learn more about Bridges Homeward at https://bridgeshomeward.org.

Bridges Homeward is currently participating in NPN's Leadership Acceleration Program, engaging in a year of leadership growth and strategic partnership.