"By changing the way people see the world, we change how they see themselves."  Matthew Warner Messy and Foolish

Dear Bridges to Home Ministry Friends:
I greet you all with sincerest hope that you are persevering well during this difficult and unpredictable pandemic.   I marvel at how the coronavirus has unfolded over the months and that the prognosis is that it will be with us for a while longer.  I offer my sympathies to those who have lost loved ones during this time, who have suffered physically and emotionally from the virus, and who have been affected financially and economically as well.  It is the ultimate understatement to say that 2020 has been an usually tough year.  Whatever God's will seeks to accomplish through this time is, in all likelihood, veiled to most of us, but our faith tells us to persist in our mantra  "Thy will be done."    We pray with hope and faith and trust that His love surpasses all that we struggle with and that He is always beside us; and in the times when we are exhausted, He carries us.

Bridges to Home completed its last move on Saturday March 21, 2020 before closing down operations due to the pandemic.    Our hopes were to commence service this summer, but as the number of infections kept rising, that was not possible. The next best idea was to contact our very generous and sympathetic mattress supplier, HTC Mattress Liquidation and our equally helpful and generous appliance supplier, Good Quality Appliance.  Both businesses agreed to deliver mattresses/box springs/ frames and refrigerators and stoves, respectively, to clients seeking our assistance.   I am excited to tell you that during the month of September, 4 clients were blessed with donations thanks to these suppliers.   DeLance, a military veteran and his wife who live in San Bernardino, received a much needed refrigerator on 9/2/20.   Kathy, another military veteran, was Bridges to Homes' 13th move on 10/2/2014.  Her 3 sons were 2 and 3 years old and 3 months old then.  Kathy was overwhelmed with life at that time, and the team who did her move went overboard to give her not only material assistance but much needed  moral support as well.   Kathy returned to Bridges to Home in 2020 to ask for a bed for herself, which she did not ask for in 2014.   She was delighted when I called to tell her the bed would be delivered.  As we chatted, she was almost apologetic at how naive and overwhelmed she was during the first move, but she said the people on that move literally changed her life and gave her the impetus to take charge of her life.   She has now graduated from nursing school and is waiting to take her state board exams for her license once the pandemic allows that to happen.   She repeatedly said that the team was the blessing she needed then, and she will be grateful to that team and Bridges to Home for the rest of her life.   Gilbert is another referral received from the Veterans' Administration.  He needed a refrigerator, and Good Quality Appliance was pleased to accommodate him on 9/26/20.  Haydee is an 80 year old woman who was referred to us for assistance after losing her living accommodations recently.   Cheryl and her family, who are Bridges to Home supporters, gathered all of the furniture and miscellaneous items from our Cable Airport storage units, loaded them in a truck, and moved them into Haydee's mobile home in Hemet on Saturday 9/26/20.   Here are a few pictures of that move.

Superpowers are not needed to change the world. Many things embedded in our everyday lives  can be done to make the world a better place.  Even the smallest things can lead to big changes; there is no way to quantify how small but meaningful deeds make a positive impact on other people.  

 “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa

I will continue to pray for all of you and for our nation and the world.   Stay well and safe.   

Blessings,
Mary
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