24,100+ careers launched since 1989.
76% 90-day retention (2015-2024), 78% in PY2025.
Bridges is a Mathematica-evaluated workforce model: we prepare young adults with disabilities for real jobs, match them with vetted employers, and coach them through their first year. Your gift to Bridges, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is tax-deductible and funds outcomes that last.
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Because of Bridges, I can pay my bills, manage my money, go to prom,
save for college,
I can drive my own car, I can get an apartment,
take care of myself, and support my family.
Bridges helped me try new things,
get a job, keep it, and advance, achieve my goals.
Bridges never gave up on me, even when I did. Bridges helped me succeed. I've
become responsible at work, at home, and at school. I'm organized, motivated to grow, independent.
I've become a better person, and a positive person.
The clearest sign your gift produces lasting outcomes: companies who hire Bridges candidates hire them again.
98%
Employer satisfaction
92%
Employers who hire again
90%
Youth satisfaction
6,659+
Employer partners
Bridges placements have launched careers at UPS, McDonald’s, Target, Kroger, Walmart, and Home Depot, with 6,659+ employer partners across 12 U.S. cities. See our employer partner network →
Three stages. Each measured. Each producing outcomes funders can track.
Prepare
Job-ready candidates
Individualized assessments, workplace readiness training, and strength-based employment plans turn potential into hireable talent.
Place
Employers who hire and rehire
Strength-based matching with vetted employer partners. We find the right fit before introductions, then prepare each candidate specifically for that workplace.
Support
Careers that stick
12 months of structured retention coaching: 30/60/90 day check-ins plus ongoing support through the first year on the job.
Getting someone hired is the visible part. Keeping them employed is the expensive part, and it is where most funding stops. Your gift pays for the same Youth Employment Specialist to stay with the hire, and their employer, through the first twelve months.
The Youth Employment Specialist travels to the workplace with the new hire and coordinates onboarding with the employer's HR team.
Check-ins at 30, 60, and 90 days with both the hire and the manager, catching the small problems that end jobs early.
60%still employed at 90 days
Support shifts from settling in to staying: schedule changes, new responsibilities, transport, and workplace conflict.
42%still employed at 180 days
The same specialist stays engaged for the full first year, the window where most placements are won or lost.
The 90 and 180-day figures are lifetime rates across all program years, on unique participants placed, so both are measured the same way. One-year retention is tracked separately as a single aggregate and currently sits at 44%; it is not shown as the next step above because it is computed on a different basis and the two are not directly comparable. The 90-day rate for the most recent decade is higher than the lifetime rate shown here. See the full series.
Independently rated
Bridges holds Candid’s Platinum Transparency seal and a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, the highest available marks for nonprofit accountability.
Recent recognition
Bridges was awarded a competitive three-year Workforce Pathways for Youth grant (one of only six national organizations selected) to scale our placement and retention model.
For donor-advised funds, foundations, and check writers
Bridges from School to Work is a 501(c)(3) public charity. Gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Our federal returns and independently audited statements, published here in full rather than on request.
Schedule B, the list of contributors, is omitted from these filings. The IRS allows this, and it keeps our donors' names and addresses private.
Considering a leadership gift, planned giving, or institutional partnership? Talk to development directly →
Stories from the young adults whose careers were launched with Bridges.
Yours funds the next one: career exploration, job readiness training, and a full year of coaching after the hire.
Interested in supporting Bridges? Tell us about your organization and we'll connect you with our development team.
