The Bridge Building is a safe haven where families create a welcoming, close-knit community to recover from the shared trauma of homelessness.
Opened on Christmas Eve 1991, the Bridge Building was created to provide safe and affordable one- and two-bedroom apartments for mothers and their children without homes. Located in East Harlem, the Bridge Building was one of the first, pioneering model programs financed with federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits as a way to create stable permanent housing for homeless New Yorkers.
The Bridge Building contains 14 comfortable apartments that allow formerly homeless mothers to create a safe, nurturing environment for their kids while fostering a strong sense of community. Our on-site Program Director works with tenants to establish goals related to their individual family needs. The Program Director supports tenants in many areas, including with educational, vocational, household, childcare, medical and therapeutic needs – while also coordinating building-wide tenant meetings and social events.
The stability and success of the program is evidenced by our extremely low turnover rate: our tenants remain in the building for an average of 12 years.
The basement of the Bridge Building also houses the kitchen where more than a thousand meals are prepared daily for the individuals served by our Grand Central Food Program.
“I had been living in the shelter when I was introduced to the Coalition. I couldn’t believe it when they told me I was accepted and that I would get to move into my own apartment. I feel like I won the Lottery!”
