Dear Bridges to Home Friends:
A grand time was enjoyed by all who supported our recent fundraiser at Panera in the Upland Colonies on June 21st.   It was a fun evening to dine on tasty meals and enjoy the company of many of the different groups that partner with St. Anthony Bridges to Home.  Friends from Grace Lutheran Church, and Upland-Foothill Kiwanis, and Uplanders Club Charitable Organization, and many, many parishioners from St. Anthony parish gathered in the main dining room and greeted people we know and met new friends at the event.  Thank you also to all who made purchases online as well.  A heartfelt thank you to all of you for making this event a great success!   Please enjoy the pictures in the gallery below.

St. Anthony Bridges to Home has come to a junction involving our storage units.  The storage units that we purchased used 9 years ago are eroding in condition.  They have no insulation, no electricity or air conditioning, and no lighting; they can reach up to 130 degrees inside in the summer, which melts our plastic houseware items and warps our wooden furniture.  The excessive heat disintegrates fabric on the couches and ruins the elasticity on our fitted sheets.  When it rains the units leak although we have had them sealed year after year, which makes it challenging to protect our precious inventory.  The roll up doors are dislocating from their tracks and are in need of repair, which is costly, but we have been reticent to use our funds for this purpose. The safety of our volunteers working in these units is in question at times. 

 If we are to continue to pursue giving much needed aid to the homeless, it appears imperative that we take steps to correct these conditions.  It seems prudent at this time to consider renting modest storage space in Upland that has electricity, a restroom, air conditioning, a rollup door for loading furniture, and sufficient parking for our Suburban and trailer and volunteers’ vehicles.  This coveted enhancement will resolve some of the challenges we currently face not only with our inventory but in guarding the wellbeing of our volunteers who give of their time freely and joyfully to accomplish this great work week after week.  

The three storage units we currently own have almost 2000 square feet of space for us to utilize so that is the size of space we are searching for.  The problem we have encountered thus far, however, is that we are not in a financial position to pay the rent being charged for a space that large.   Our finances do not allow us to make this commitment at this stage of our growth.   Does anyone know of a space this size or larger that might be offered to us as a write-off to the owner and so either rent free or with the rent partially subsidized?   We have had a faithful member searching since February without any luck, so the Holy Spirit might be encouraging us to reach out to all of you.   Please contact me (Mary at [email protected]) if you have any information that might lead to a successful conclusion for this issue.
 
The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up His countenance upon us, and give us peace, this day and forever more. Amen.

Mary