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Baltimore
Regional
Initiative
Developing
Genuine
Equality |
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BRIDGE is... ...a congregation-based organization uniting communities across denominational, racial, geographic, and socio-economic boundaries in the Baltimore metropolitan area in order to create equity and justice by changing policies that perpetuate concentrated poverty and deep disparities between communities.
BRIDGE unites from Baltimore City and Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard, Harford, and Carroll counties. The faith communities of BRIDGE have committed to work together -- using relationship building, faith-based organizing, and leadership-development training -- to create a powerful people’s organization capable of ensuring that the region’s poor and disenfranchised have a voice at the public decision-making tables that shape their lives.
The ultimate objective is to reverse regional and state policies that create, promote, or perpetuate social, racial, and economic inequities. BRIDGE will span the gulf between the region’s marginalized people and places and the region’s structures of social and economic opportunity.
BRIDGE began... ...from two earlier (and ongoing) regional initiatives in metropolitan Baltimore: the Archdiocese’s Beyond the Boundaries program for its parishes, and Citizens Planning & Housing Association (CPHA)’s Campaign for Regional Solutions. As religious leaders engaged in those initiatives became increasingly attuned to the implications of regional disparities for their communities, they began to explore the creation of a faith-based, interdenominational regional organization. BRIDGE was organized in 2000 and formally came into existence in January 2001.
¨ 2000 - 2001 Clergy organize meetings about regional problems and Faith-Based Community Organizing, and commit to build grassroots, interfaith metropolitan equity organization. Recruitment strategies and leadership trainings planned.
¨ 2002 600 leaders from 30 congregations attend Covenant Service and pledge to work together to bring justice and equity to Baltimore region. In Fall, thousands of one-to-one conversations are conducted to strengthen relationships, identify new leaders, and identify issues in congregations. ¨ 2003 Congregations vote Housing and Livable Communities, Education and Crime and Drugs as campaign priorities at Issue Convention. Taskforces launched to research and develop organizing strategies. In July, over 1300 attend our first public action at Church of the Redeemer. Local and state legislators, as well as key allies, made commitments to work with BRIDGE to:
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