MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Every Tuesday as part of our Greater Memphis on a Mission series, we highlight organizations making Memphis better.
Fifteen-year-old Jasmine Bernard has been part of Bridges for the last four years. Bridges is a youth empowerment organization that helps 7th through 12th graders develop the skills to lead, collaborate, and engage in positive community action.
“I’ve learned how to advocate for myself, how to make my voice heard, and how to communicate and network with different people who I would have never been able to do so without bridges,” said Bernard.
They focus on civic leadership and offer different tracks a youth can take.
“The youth of Memphis are the future of Memphis. So, think of it as a return on an investment. If we invest in them now, we will have great returns later on,” said CEO Sam O’bryant. “There’s health and wellness. There’s arts and culture and there’s business and environmentalism.”
In the business track, students learn about balancing a checkbook, the stock market, and what it takes to establish a business.
The arts and culture track consists of building up writing skills.
“This is a chance for us to really build in what it means to piece together a sentence. To piece together a paragraph. To piece together the best ways of communication through writing,” said O’bryant.
For the health and wellness track, Bridges brings in instructors to demonstrate exercises and the best dietary options.
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“As someone who likes to write, I really am better expressing myself in written word. And when we would have our group circle-ups, we would debrief which is something really important to our experience during the learning process,” said Meridith Rucker.
Rucker is the senior director of programming at Bridges and a bridge builder alumna. Even after high school graduation and college, the connections you make at Bridges are always there.
“When I moved to New York, I did not know anyone there. I reached out to a few other bridge builders who had gone to Morehouse and they had moved to New York as well. Those were the only people that I knew. So, they really helped me adjust and acclimate to the city,” said Rucker.
That is why Brown Missionary Baptist Church and the Mid-South Genesis CDC donated $1,000 to Bridges. Because helping the youth find their voice will always strengthen our community.