Flooding forces The Bridge to relocate services

The Bridge Community Hope Center is temporarily operating out of a new location on Birch Bay Drive after repeated flooding forced the nonprofit to move out of its Alderson Road facility.

The Bridge is moving its operations to 7620 Birch Bay Drive after the flooding in late December filled The Bridge’s Alderson Road building with three feet of water, as high as its doorknobs. The Bridge executive director Lee Connors said this was the largest flood the building had endured as flooding typically only reaches one foot.

“We pretty much lost everything,” volunteer Doug Lang said. “We filled a 30-yard container up with all of the stuff and could probably get another half one.”

Lee and The Bridge director Rosemary Connors said they only started having flooding in the past three years after having rented the Alderson building for the past seven years.

The Bridge’s services are continuing at the new location, a quarter of the size of the old location. The nonprofit resumed its food bank program, which will run 2:30-4:30 p.m. Fridays, on January 27. 

The International Veterans Coffee Group, which offers veterans a place to talk, resumed February 1 and will be held 1-3 p.m. every Wednesday at the new location. The clothing boutique, which sells clothing at affordable prices and through vouchers, will return in mid-February and be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. The location will soon have an area for coffee, juices and sodas by donation.

The Bridge Coffee Bar program, which trains teenagers on professional development, will be paused until the nonprofit finds a space for it, Lee said. While the learning center hasn’t returned, which offered a space for studying with computers, people who would like to arrange one-on-one tutoring for their students can contact The Bridge and use the Grace Core Academy office.

The Bridge will continue offering counseling services at its Grace Core office, which opened in October 2022 at 4823 Alderson Road, unit 106.

Lee said Jack Gerity, who owns the Alderson Road facility, told the nonprofit it could move into his Birch Bay Drive building and offered two months of free rent. Great Floors donated flooring, Rodda Paint donated paint, Pacific Building Center donated cleaning supplies and Northwood Chapel and Christ the King Community Church in Birch Bay provided volunteers.

Lee said they need to spend the next few months determining what options are available to repair the building and prevent further flooding in the building. But, at the moment, he said it doesn’t look promising. 

Lee and Rosemary said they’ll need financial donations to replace what the flooding destroyed. The Bridge is also looking for food donations. The Connorses hope to fill its shelves with pasta, rice, oatmeal, canned soup, bread and canned veggies and proteins such as tuna, chicken and salmon.

“This is where we are and it’s going to serve our needs for the time being,” Lee said.

For more information, visit thebridgehope.com. People who were receiving food from The Bridge need to call 360/366-8763 and add themselves to the list again.