The Bridge Program: Eric's Story

Eric’s life experience taught him not to trust anyone. People who were supposed to care had let him down repeatedly by failing to follow through on promises and commitments they made to him. By the time Eric entered middle school, he had already learned to protect himself from the empty promises by shutting down and closing himself off to anyone who tried to reach out with help.

His Bridge mentor was undeterred. “After speaking with school administrators, I sat down with Eric and made him one promise: to bring him a strawberry milkshake on my next weekly visit. And I followed through.”

Eric was shocked when his mentor walked in the next week, milkshake in hand.

“It really had nothing to do with the milkshake,” his mentor said. “He was testing me to see if I would come through with something as simple as that. He told me later that he really thought I’d come back with an excuse about why I couldn’t bring him a shake. Instead, I showed up and delivered on a promise, something he no longer expected from most people.”

The two had a conversation. Eric wanted to know why the mentor would want to help him. Their conversation led to him agreeing to one visit a month. This quickly evolved into two visits a month, and then every week.

Eric went from being a troubled student with failing grades, often at risk of being held back, to sustaining a 2.0 or better grade point average. When he faced a difficult time in his home environment, including abuse, he had someone to trust with his story. As a result, he was placed in a new home, where he continues to do well.

At the core of The Bridge’s Check & Connect program is a trusting relationship between the student and their mentor, who advocates for and challenges their student to keep education relevant. This is perfectly illustrated in Eric’s story.

“He came to understand that I really cared, and that was all it took for him to start to care, too,” his mentor said.