Buenas tardes a todos, soy Gabriela Cruz y este dia tengo el placer de hablar de una gran mujer llamada Gwendolyn,La conocí hace doce años en el programa de masajes para bebés donde ella era la intérprete.

Empezamos a crear una relacion y ella empezó hablarme sobre su sueño de crear una organización que ayude a integrar a las personas de diferentes culturas a este país y brindarles servicios y ayuda,

Lo primero fue organizar cenas donde se mostraba a las personas como preparar los platillos se compartían las recetas y se hablaba de la cultura de ese país.

Después inició su organización llamada Bridge, ella estaba feliz porque no había sido facil, pero siempre ha sido una mujer persistente. Posteriormente se inició el programa de mujeres. Donde asistíamos mujeres de diferentes países, donde nos brindaban información de diferentes temas que nos ayudaban a tener una mejor relación con nuestra familia, en la escuela de nuestros hijos y en nuestros trabajos. Nos educaban sobre las leyes y cultura de este país lo cual nos permite integrarnos más fácil y sentirnos parte de esta comunidad.
El trabajo de ella no ha sido fácil ha tenido que vencer muchos obstáculos, pero ella nunca se rinde, jamás he visto una mujer tan apasionada y entregada a su comunidad, sacrificando tiempo con su familia o descanso personal por ayudar los demás. Siempre buscando solución a los problemas.

Es una mujer quien siempre tiene una sonrisa y una Buena actitud para todos, una mujer que celebra el triunfo de los demás.

Agradezco a la vida el haber la conocida a Gwendolyn VanSant

Good afternoon, my name is Gabriela Cruz, today I will be talking about a great woman. Her name is Gwendolyn.

​I met her 12 years ago in a baby’s massage program, where she was an interpreter.
We talked more, after that, and became friends; she talked about her plans, helping other woman and people from different countries, offering services to help them integrate in our communities.

She started cultural dinners where I shared my dishes, recipes and culture. It was amazing.
Later she created an organization, it was called Bridge. She was so happy for this goal. In this organization she started a program called Women to Women. The purpose is to put women together sharing their experiences and bringing different subjects and other organizations to help us. Also she created more programs for young people and summer camps for kids.

Gwendolyn’s work has not been easy, she has had to overcome many obstacles, I have never seen a woman who is so brave and thoughtful for her community.

She inspires me to be a better person. Gwendolyn, a lot of the time, has to sacrifice her days off to take care of other people, looking for justice for everybody.

She is a great woman, friend, mother, and wife. I have been learning a lot from her.

Thank you Gwendolyn for your amazing work. You are the lady who always has a smile and good words for everybody. I think that Gwendolyn is an angel of the Berkshires.

I became involved with BRIDGE about three years ago in response to the 2016 election. I wanted to get involved locally because I recognized that I needed to leverage my resources and abilities to stand up for what I believe in--safe communities where everyone is valued and treated with dignity. I'm honored to join an organization that's been working for justice and equity for over a decade.

A lot of volunteers first get connected with BRIDGE through its grassroots organizing, like the Towards Racial Justice and Equity in the Berkshires campaign (Race Task Force and TRJ-South), or its community classes like Real Talk on Race--but I first became involved as an office volunteer because I felt that would be the best way for me to contribute my experience and skills to BRIDGE's mission.

Through working in the office over the last three years, I've learned so much about BRIDGE's work with individuals, communities and institutions to create a more just, equitable and safe world. It's inspired and empowered me to get more involved and promote BRIDGE's racial justice work in my own life and community, and I have gained a more informed perspective as a working donor by learning what is actually needed--as opposed to what I think is needed--inside and outside of BRIDGE. I've been especially moved by and proud to support BRIDGE's work in lifting up the life and legacy of Dr. W.E.B Du Bois, the Not in our County campaign and town Trust Policy work, as well as numerous events and performances that feature authors with a different voice and perspective from my own.

Today, I'm both a BRIDGE donor and volunteer. It's rewarding to work behind-the-scenes in the office--Gwendolyn and the entire BRIDGE team accomplish so much every day: facilitating support and leadership groups for immigrant women; organizing community meetings with local leaders and residents in response to incidents of injustice; leading trainings on bias in the workplace for local businesses; designing and implementing curriculum for schools, parents and guardians to learn tools and resources for discussing issues of race, gender and class within families--and so much more! I'm honored to be a part of it, and to see and experience BRIDGE's growth organizationally. Over the last few years, I've seen the shift and impact in hiring of invaluable office support staff that has enabled Gwendolyn to focus on outreach, which has resulted in several generous matching grants. I'm also grateful to be able to see the impact of my donation, which has been used enable underfunded organizations to obtain BRIDGE's training and consultation. I'm encouraged by the increased training requested by institutions large and small, to learn how to better support their clients, employees and communities as a whole.

I'm so excited for what BRIDGE has planned in 2020! Please join me and make a donation today to help promote equity, inclusion and justice.

Dear friends,
Looking ahead to 2020, as representatives of the BRIDGE Board, we (A.J. Enchill and Ari Cameron), are focused on resourcing and supporting the BRIDGE team as it transitions into its second decade (yes!) of organizing, service, and training for equity and justice here in the Berkshires. Toward this effort, we are looking to expand our work and welcome in new board members. We currently seek potential new board members who are happy and eager to fundraise for BRIDGE as well as lift up and represent the work of BRIDGE while also showing commitment to self-reflection and ongoing learning. 

It’s an exciting time at BRIDGE! Many wonderful community and organizational partnerships are blossoming. BRIDGE holds a minority and women-run status through the state of Massachusetts’ Supplier Diversity Program, something we are committed to maintaining on the board with intentionality and care. As our CEO Gwendolyn VanSant recently shared with us, we can also expand our definition of “diversity” for the board to include profession, age, region, etc. We look forward to collaborating with corporate leaders across all sectors as board members and advocates, something we know is a best practice in corporate responsibility. More than anything, we want to continue to build a strong board of directors who will work together to guide and support BRIDGE as it becomes a nationally-recognized model for training, education, and rural organizing!

We, A.J. Enchill and Ari Cameron, are honored to step into the Board Co-Chair role and work with our brilliant CEO, Gwendolyn VanSant, to steward BRIDGE into a new chapter of network- and momentum-building, with a continued commitment to accountability, collaboration, and equity at all levels. By accountability, we mean taking responsibility for the impact of one’s actions and following the leadership of people of color who have been at the core of BRIDGE’s mission since its founding. Through cultural competency coaching and strong structures already in place at BRIDGE, we have worked with Gwendolyn as a Governance Committee to create a set of Operating Agreements and formalize an Accountability Committee within BRIDGE’s bylaws intended to fortify and guide our board of directors. BRIDGE will also move forward with a Co-Board Chair structure as a part of our bylaws to further weave in BRIDGE values of shared leadership, space for multiple social identities, and collaboration.  

We choose to invest in BRIDGE at this time in history because we have witnessed and experienced the impact that BRIDGE’s organizing, training, resources, dialogue, and work toward repair has had on young people, adults across a range of professional sectors, organizations, institutions, and ultimately, the social and structural fabric of the Berkshires. This is work that touches people’s hearts and lives, increases self-understanding, and shows us our interconnectedness. Now is the time that we need full community collaboration in creating the world we want to live in. As co-chairs, we are passionate about serving as ambassadors for BRIDGE, building resilient connections, and creating a well-resourced future for BRIDGE by supporting our CEO Gwendolyn VanSant and her team to grow BRIDGE as a model for accountable, grass roots movement-building and systematic change. 

With excitement,
A.J. Enchill and Ari Cameron

In our course, Gwendolyn had identified an ongoing basic need to reduce the barriers that many face due to lack of transportation. One underutilized service due to that barrier was access to the BRIDGE Women to Women (W2W) group. I started offering rides there in collaboration with Silvia and Stephanie, the W2W coordinators. From there my awareness was heightened and during some local crises I could see the need expand throughout our community.  I volunteered to steward a volunteer ride service through BRIDGE for clients to make appointments for health and human services, school needs, legal support, grocery shopping, work and whatever else helps bring ease to these BRIDGE folks and their families.

This RIDEshare program supports access for individuals and also helps develop mutual relationships that support both the health and wellbeing of underserved members that are so often overlooked, muted or erased and those of us living blindly in our community. To show up, listen, and support folks advocating for themselves is imperative.

RIDEshare operates within an accountability framework that BRIDGE holds central to its culture. It is essential that we (I am speaking directly to white and other privileged folks here) are accountable to the leadership of People of color and underheard voices. I have learned and been humbled through this practice.

RIDEshare is never just a designated amount of time. It disrupts my life: work, schedule, income, and other priorities— as exactly it should.

I have felt myself change and grow as a person: it has fortified and built up my resilience, understanding, humanity, perspective, values, connectedness, relationships and trust.

Seeing how we, as white and/or privileged folks, so often perpetuate the exact behavior that we are claiming to want to dismantle has underscored how essential BRIDGE training is as a prerequisite for showing up for any and all underrepresented folks to minimize harm while gaining a deeper understanding of the intersections of class, race, poverty, privilege, and accessibility.  

I have a deep sense of commitment and responsibility to the mission of BRIDGE. Collectively we must resource this work especially for generations to come. 

I am grateful to Gwendolyn, my sister-in-law who is a persistent leader and resource, for encouraging me to open my eyes to what it really means to live and engage as an active member of our community.

Please join me in supporting BRIDGE with a contribution today.

Thank you so much for making this a memorable year for us—for protecting and stewarding the courage and heart of BRIDGE. That was YOUR work!

2018 marked our 10th anniversary as an organization—wow! With your help, we shared and
celebrated the collective positive impact that we’ve made, here in the Berkshires and across the country. We are so grateful for our resilient connections with you, our BRIDGE community.

This year we also launched a new membership program, which allows you to help support
BRIDGE by making a membership donation or sustaining pledge. We invite you to join us as part of our intentional family and community, focused on trust, safety, and equity. As an added bonus, your donation can bring benefits to your business, partner organizations or favorite non-profit—consultation or trainings on topics like cultural competency, leadership development, diversity in the workplace, and more!

In looking back over the last decade, the BRIDGE message is clear: Let’s persist in our charge to be catalysts for change and integration, just as we started out to do ten years ago. And, as we’ve all grown together in the work, BRIDGE now layers in an ongoing commitment to accountability, happiness, justice and equity—aiming to touch the hearts and minds of every child, student, banker, teacher, law enforcement officer, and elder we meet.

As we enter in to 2019, I know we all will continue to work together to make our lives safer for everyone—in our homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, towns, and cities.
I invite you to lean in with us at BRIDGE, so we can make ripples for justice that travel far and wide. Together, we are the change we want to see.

We are here but for a second, but our impact ripples through time. - Neetal Parekh

With love and gratitude,

- Gwendolyn VanSant, CEO and Founding Director

PS. This summer, we also launched our new logo and website. If you haven’t already, take a look and let us know what you think—lots to read on the site capturing our last year!

My work as a family physician over the past few decades, has highlighted for me the reality of health disparities for these groups of people. We know that people of color in the United States have far worse health care outcomes than their white counterparts: higher rates of preterm labor and infant mortality, worse access to health care, higher rates of death for similar disease processes (such as cancer, asthma, heart disease, HIV and diabetes) and the list goes on. So, I ask myself, as I am sure many of you do, what can I do to be part of the solution and not simply another part of the problem? A central part of the answer for me has been to join the already incredible work of Multicultural BRIDGE right here in our community.

We know that health is more than what happens in a doctor’s office. Health is all around us: our schools, our jobs, our communities. That’s just one of the reasons I’m proud to serve as the Board Chair for Multicultural BRIDGE. BRIDGE connects vulnerable community members with networks and key resources, while also advancing equity and justice -- key pieces of community health -- by providing education and consultation to local institutions like hospitals, law enforcement, public safety and municipal leaders, as well as to the community at large.  

Whether it’s acting as a partner of the Berkshire Opioid Addiction Prevention Collaborative -- leading culturally-competent conversations of addiction, recovery and treatment -- or helping young people learn resiliency, communication skills and conflict resolution through the Happiness Toolbox program, BRIDGE is laying the groundwork to good health for all of us.

BRIDGE has spent the last decade cultivating health and equity across our communities, and we’re just getting started! As 2018 comes to a close, please consider making a donation to BRIDGE to help us keep the momentum going.

Thank you,
Dr. Lara Setti
Multicultural BRIDGE Board Chair

We want to close with a special shout out to JV Hampton-VanSant for their contribution of gender identity and gender trainings for the workplace within the BRIDGE cultural humility training in their authentic leadership on this topic as Massachusetts leads the nation with transgender rights!
 
Another special shout out to Jeff Lowenstein in co-leading Spanish for the Workplace with native and Spanish-language learners in banking!

And Stephanie Wright and Silvia Soria for leading our Women to Women program with heart and compassion!

Thank you for joining the BRIDGE board of directors and giving to BRIDGE and showing immense gratitude and support to our staff.

~ Lara, Steve, AJ, Christy, Patrick, Arsema and Ari!

​BRIDGE is closing out its tenth year of celebration and celebrating the fruition, as a co-founder, of a vision of what our community needed. In one way it was to close the gaps of services for new immigrants and very specifically value women and women of color’s labor, contribution and value to our community. But in a larger way it was to foster a sense of humanity, justice and interconnectedness.

“To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color is like living Alaska and being against snow.” William Faulkner
 
I was introduced to Multicultural Bridge by Natalie Shiras, my classmate from College who was the Pastor of Church on the Hill in Lenox MA. At first I was incredulous that there was racial discrimination in the Berkshires, but I was told otherwise. As an immigrant who has been bullied both in France and in the US, I feel it is important to protect the rights of all people, regardless of the color of their skin, or their origin. I am proud of the work of Gwendolyn and congratulate her and Multicultural Bridge on their 10th Anniversary. Yeou-Cheng Ma