The Bridge of Grace Compassionate Ministry Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has begun two new community initiatives to support residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, including providing internet access and financial support. 

“While certain concerns have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, we realize that coronavirus didn’t cause a lot of the things that are happening right now, it just made it more obvious to all of us,” said Réna Bradley, community development director. “Now we can all see just how tough it is for our kids to continue learning, or even adults to apply for jobs when they don’t have access to the internet or a digital device.”

The first initiative comes out of the emergence of a “Community Resource Site.” The center’s plan is to convert its food distribution site into a community resource center where people from the surrounding neighborhood can apply for jobs, obtain access to the internet, learn a new language, and even receive guidance on their finances. 

Lack of internet access has been a major problem for families who are trying to ensure their children’s educational needs are being met since the onset of the pandemic. Cindy Reid, the education program director for Bridge of Grace, contacted the parents of children enrolled in the center’s programs to find out what they needed.

 “We realized that there were very few households that had books or learning materials in them,” Reid said.

In addition to providing internet at the Community Resource Site, center leaders also want to implement a community mesh network so the neighborhood has affordable access to the internet. A mesh network is a group of devices that act as a single wi-fi network connection, giving multiple sources of Wi-Fi instead of just one. While this is usually done in homes and offices, it can be done on a larger scale from home to home with a central hub of internet connection.

While internet access is a major focus of community center, it boils down to finances in the end: many community members cannot afford to pay for internet. 

“Now we can also see just how many families are just one pay check, or one school day, away from going hungry, missing out on life saving medications that they might be able to afford, or falling into a payday loan trap,” Bradley said.

To help combat these financial issues, Bridge of Grace is in the process of developing a micro loan fund so residents can build credit and avoid payday loans. 

While Bridge of Grace’s ministry mainly focuses on community re-development, the members are excited to share Christ’s love with their community in a different way than they have done before.

“We believe that if we all work together to capitalize upon our God given strengths, abilities, knowledge, and skills, we can dismantle the challenges facing our community, and ultimately we can share that love and hope with our neighborhood and the world,” Bradley said.