Ourbridge

Afterschool -We welcomed back 150 students to our East site for the tenth year and started our second year at Pinewood Elementary, where 80 students attend. Our focus continues to be caring for the overall adjustment of newly-arrived refugee and immigrant children in the United States by supporting their English acquisition, socio-emotional wellbeing, and cultural appreciation and pride. Our curriculum was developed in house with these goals at its core. Attendance goals of 80% were met at both locations and teacher surveys demonstrated that the impact of attending our ourBRIDGE is great for the students. Teachers reported that 97% improved Literacy and Class Participation, 95% improved Behavior in Class, 90% improved Homework Completion. 85% of teachers believe that ourBRIDGE is beneficial to the students and their families. A program evaluation performed by UNC-Charlotte assessed how ourBRIDGE supports children's and parents' English Acquisition, Socio-emotional wellbeing and Cultural. Appreciation and Pride. Investigators found that on a scale from 1-4, the Bridge Kids scored 3.9 for the question "Does ourBRIDGE remind you of the country you and your family are from?". The study also found that a substantial majority of parents expressed that they gained a hightened sense of control over their lives. Parents perceived ourBRIDGE as "instrumental in increasing their quality of life and self-efficacy, while also enhancing their sense of belonging and maintaining hope for the future".Family Support -322 newly arrived immigrant families were supported by ourBRIDGE in FY2023. Families received wraparound support that covered basic needs such as foodand home security, access to comprehensive, culturally responsive healthcare, resources for legal advise, and in the most dire situations, acccess to emergency funds that allowed nearly 30 families to stay in their homes and avoid eviction.Community Awareness and Engagement - Our list of active partneships with mission-aligned organizations continues to grow with over 150 collaborations. We have hosted or organized 16 community events, including our biggest ever Internationa Fall Festival, which drew over 1500 people representing countries from all over the world.