Changing Memphis kids: How Bridge Builders is shaping the city's next generation

During her seventh-grade year at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, Erika Ross saw a white envelope taped to her locker. At first, she panicked.

“Oh gosh, am I in trouble?” She thought. “Am I getting asked to meet with the principal?”

Ross opened the envelope and was relieved to find out she hadn’t done anything wrong. To the contrary, she was being encouraged to apply for Bridge Builders, the flagship youth development program run by the Memphis-based nonprofit Bridges USA.

Ross didn’t know anything about it, but an older friend who had participated in the program told her that it was focused on leadership training and collaboration, and had introduced her to people she wouldn’t have met otherwise. Intrigued, the self-described shy middle schooler decided to apply.

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So, in the summer of 2017, Ross joined Bridge Builders. At the time, she had no idea it would change her outlook on life.

What is Bridge Builders?

Each year, Bridges leverages its partnerships with more than 90 Memphis area schools to bring together a large, diverse cohort of students for the Bridge Builders program. As president and CEO Dana Wilson put it: “It's about bringing people together from different walks of life ― different backgrounds, different schools, different racial backgrounds, socioeconomic backgrounds, religious backgrounds, zip codes, types of schools, and interests.”

Recently, the nonprofit received a $1 million donation from the philanthropist MacKenzie Scott; and it's currently accepting applications for the upcoming cohort, with the goal of recruiting 1,000 participants by the final deadline on April 19. Already, it’s received about 800 applications.

The goal, Wilson explained, is to bring people together to develop leadership skills, with an emphasis on “transforming our community for the better.” The program is for rising seventh through 12th graders; and it begins each year with a Monday-Friday summer leadership conference, which offers team building and conflict resolution activities, while also exploring community issues.

A student’s experience at the conference depends on their grade level. Rising seventh and eighth graders, for example, go to the Bridges headquarters at 477 N 5th St. from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a week in June, and focus on environmental justice. They examine food deserts in Memphis and visit urban farms, where they learn how to grow their own food. Rising ninth and 10th graders, like the middle schoolers, go to the Bridges headquarters. But their conference is in July, and they focus on educational justice, exploring the differences in the local school systems.

Rising 11th and 12th graders spend a week living at the University of Memphis in June and July, respectively. For 11th graders, the conference includes a trust fall from a six-foot ladder. And for 12th graders, it includes an “urban trek,” which requires them to ride the bus to historical sites throughout the city to help them understand the challenges faced by locals without cars, and give them a greater appreciation for Memphis.

“Everything that we do is experiential,” said Mario Hendrix, the VP of programs at Bridges, who also went through the program as a student in the 1990s. “We're not in front of the class telling students what to think or how to think. We're providing an experience to them to do it for themselves.”

After the summer conference, students of all grade levels continue to partake in Bridge Builders activities throughout the academic year. They receive mental health support training, conflict-resolution training, and communication training. They take electives, which can include, among other things, visiting the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, going to the Cloud901 Teen Learning Lab in the Memphis Library, or taking a cooking class at Church Health. They also participate in community service efforts, working with nonprofits to advance their causes or helping with neighborhood cleanups.

Many of the students also remain in the Bridge Builders program for more than one year; it isn’t uncommon for students who join in seventh grade to stick around until they graduate from high school. Justin Chatman joined Bridges as a seventh grader. Now a high school senior, he’s set to head to college next year, and he believes Bridges has helped prepare him for it.

Through the program, he’s grown more confident and outgoing.

"Throughout my whole life… I was really super shy, I didn’t talk to anybody,” he said. “But now I have many friends from the Bridges program, many friends from around the city.”

'An educated citizen'

Ross is another student who went the distance with Bridge Builders.

When she first joined the program and took part in the summer leadership conference as a 13-year-old, she learned about the challenges so many of her fellow Memphians faced ― challenges, even, that other students in her Bridge Builders cohort faced. There were others at the conference, she realized, who didn’t have stable access to food. She always knew there would be a meal on the table for her when she got home. It was something she had never thought about before.

She continued to become more informed about community issues as the years progressed. She learned about transportation issues, as well as redlining and its disastrous effects.

“It really makes me think back to how naive I was going into it, and how informed and empowered I felt leaving, because I was able to explain and understand and identify issues within our community,” she said.

The program also brought her out of her shell. When she joined, she was shy, just as Chatman had been. But Bridge Builders, she explained, “taught me that I could talk to anyone and make friends with pretty much whoever.”

These days, Ross is a freshman at Auburn University, where she’s studying business, with a supply chain management concentration. But the lessons she learned at Bridge Builders remain close to her heart.

“It made me an educated citizen, and taught me leadership skills… And truly how to be involved in Memphis,” she said. “I think that's what I was yearning for. And I definitely took that away.”

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Bridge Builders Memphis is recuriting hundreds more area students