River Street Bridge Club

It's Been Awhile

2011-07-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

By Cliff Harrison

Due to some major illness and other troubles this is one of the most neglected sites in the network. Originally this site was to be the meeting place for ideas and to keep former homeless people connected with the RIVER Organization. It was designed to help them from having a relapse and going back into homelessness, especially on the streets.

By having a support system set up to help them bridge the difficulties, matching volunteers with the needy, to prevent backstepping was the idea. Well, things didn't work out as planned in more ways than one. So, as time goes by what I very well may do is use this site as a facts and fiction site.

The facts part will be ideas describing what the River Street Bridge Club was meant to do had it been successfully started. The fiction part would be telling stories I would create describing cases of what could have been and what should be out there for organizations helping the homeless.

Just getting people off the streets isn't enough, there needs to be a support group to keep them from returning to the streets. That was what River Street Bridge Club was suppose to do.

Homelessness is something of a tragedy in the United States. We have people who could care less about the homeless, and they will never care until they themselves are homeless. And then we have people who want to claim they want to help the homeless, but in reality all they want to do is collect a handsome salary and tell their friends they are helping the homeless as if some high god will come down and place favoritism on them. The truth is, for many of these people, the real God, Jesus Christ, frowns on that kind of stuff.

The RIVER Organization never developed the way I wanted it to. But then, the entire world has been locked into a sort of Twilight Zone economy. Nobody is really doing well. If my writing pays off in the end, then I'll have the funds to fund the RIVER Organization the way I want it to be funded and run. That way the world would see the reality. Until that time comes, I'll let the world see the window of what could be by fiction stories.

We Pause

2009-03-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

We will return to updating this page after we complete some more pressing issues.

The Bridge to the World

2009-02-03T11:31:00.003-08:00

Create your own visitor map!

Season's Greetings

2008-12-21T14:46:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Beyond the Coffee Break

2008-10-29T12:24:00.000-07:00

Although I have numerous other things to do with the broader focus of the RIVER Organization, I think it is essential that we launch the River Street Bridge Club sooner, rather than later, as originally planned.

The River Street Bridge Club will be an assembly of people, mostly homeless people and those with first-hand experience with homelessness.

We will meet for multi-purpose objectives.

We intend to have fun and make the atmosphere of the club social-friendly.

It will be a social club, but a social club is not all that it will be.

It will be a club of people helping other people. People sharing ideas with one another. People solving problems. People finding solutions to homelessness and to poverty in general.

Like the RIVER Organization itself, the River Street Bridge Club will be an interaction of people responding to the needs of those in destitution.

Let me make it clear, here and now, the River Street Bridge Club is NOT a separate entity from the RIVER Organization. It is part of the RIVER Organization. It is a club within the RIVER Organization. It is an in-house club. It is sort of like a committee within the body of a larger organization. The exception is, it has looser reins and offers more entertainment and more casual settings, fun and relaxation, than an ordinary committee.

In other words, the club can not make any decisions on its own to engage in any activities which are not approved by the Board of Directors of the RIVER Organization except for those that are standard and inherently left to the club. That is, what are standard procedures of the club to act upon as a regular function of the club.

We will hold monthly meetings. We may eventually have events, larger events than those of which a small club would engage in.

In the interim, we will use whatever meeting places we can find available to begin our meetings. So that we may operate in an orderly, organized fashion until we find a more suitable, permanent gathering location. Such meeting places may also be local church meeting rooms.

One thing that will obviously be important to us is that the meeting place is located on a bus route the homeless can use to come and go to club meetings.

If we can locate such a church which will donate us space to meet and hold our meetings for the small start-up number of members that would be great.

One of the local libraries would be an acceptable alternative since most libraries have public meeting rooms we could use. There are a number of alternatives we can look into for a meeting place.

We also may consider a local McDonald's which has been receptive to small numbers of us well-behaved homeless people in the past. Such meeting places as McDonald's, especially the ones located inside a Wal*Mart and are 24-hour restaurants, will only work for very small numbers of members meeting. Certainly no more than a dozen people or so, and that is stretching it.

The benefit of a McDonald's or similar place is the advantage of being able to have food and drink before, during or after our meetings. We could not do this at the library and even at churches it may create a problem in which we do not want to involve.

Food brings out the best in people. Professional board meetings and any kind of social engagement for the purpose of conducting business meetings always have refreshments. At least, the successful ones do. People are far more responsive when food and drinks, such as soft drinks, coffee or tea is offered.

If need be, we can hold our meetings at library community rooms, church meeting spaces, or a donated business meeting room and then go to someplace like McDonald's afterwards for refreshments.

The idea is simply to create a good atmosphere and allow the members to bond in friendship with one another. This helps them reduce their stress and allows them to interact with other homeless people and those who care about them on a more personal, bonding level.

By setting the mood with inexpensive food and drink and creating a nice social environment, more homeless people would be willing to regularly participate and frequently attend our meetings. Not only that, it provides a way for them to add their input on a number of issues affecting their lives at the same time they are enjoying themselves.

I know of at least one McDonald's where we could even hold our business meetings while having our refreshments without much of a problem.

In warmer weather we could use outside tables at parks while enjoying refreshments as well.

Cliff

Getting Started

2008-10-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

Here we go....

The idea of the River Street Bridge Club is to make it as fun and as exciting a club as possible. Although we will address some serious issues, and we will tackle some hard-pressing problems, we want to have fun while doing so.

Through the exchange of ideas from people who know best about homelessness, we can share our collective experiences and use that input or feedback to place it toward the best possible productive use.

With the club being a social club inside the greater organization of the RIVER Organization, the club provides a means of relaxation, entertainment, and other types of social events that just makes us comfortable being together as a group.

We can enjoy ourselves as a group and yet set up solid bridges to help connect those in perils of homelessness with us. Those people who are either experiencing relapse or are on the verge of a relapse or are experiencing homelessness for the first-time. We can support others while supporting ourselves.

I see no reason to hold meetings more than once per month. Monthly meeting would serve our purpose. Unless there is a need otherwise, of course, in such time we could hold a Special Meeting.

Down the road we can hold Special Events or more expanded events to provide fun things to do such as picnics, outings, BBQs, music and dancing and other forms of social entertainment.

In the coming days I will ask some of the people I have in mind to see if they have an interest in the club. If they express an interest, I will select them to help get the club started.

Once I know that there is an interest, we can build from there.

Through discussions, we can ask individuals such questions as, what caused their homelessness. What could have prevented their individual homelessness? We can ask what they think might solve homelessness? We can address the problems homeless people face each day being homeless and find ideas for solutions to solve homelessness problems.

The foundational twelve people I referred to earlier are all homeless street people, for the exception of one or two. Except for the few, these people live on the streets and not in any kind of shelter.

There is one or two who are not homeless, yet they are poor. So poor, although they have shelter, they can not afford food. We met them at feeding stations, soup kitchens or the DTC and areas like that.

These are people who mingle daily with homeless people and are friends with the homeless. Such people would be an asset to the club; therefore I've included them as prospective members and will ask them to join our club.

As most of these individuals are already friends with one another there would be an immediate bond. Those who haven't met the others yet will likely connect at the first meeting without much effort on anyone's part.

Because of the mutual friendship among us, it will be as simple as introducing one friend to another.

We will start with these twelve or so and then continue another couple of months before adding more members. Then, slowly, we can ask others to join us and add members.

In this way, we can build a good starting foundation. Just like the RIVER Organization itself, it is better to start small and grow. That allows those founding members to adjust to the new organization. It allows us as a group to incorporate our policies and fundamental core believes, vision, ideas and mission within the larger organization.

To rush too quickly into any endeavor will only create mass confusion. Nobody will know the rules, and everybody will wonder what is expected of them.

Starting small and working our way up allow the initial people to create a greater bond with each other. With everybody sharing and learning and participating in the rules and policies of the club, they then have the experience to teach new members joining our rank with accurate description and training methods.

In this way everybody will be on the same page and know what is expected of them. They will know what the club represents and what it does not represent. They will know more about the parent organization, the RIVER Organization, and can better accurately explain not only what the club is but what the organization is.

And this way we can attract more people and grow. Slowly, but surely, we will grow.

The next article will give a little more insight of what we will do during the start-up phase of the River Street Bridge Club.

Cliff

Let's Start the Club!

2008-10-29T06:59:00.001-07:00

I initially figured the River Street Bridge Club would not begin until perhaps a year or more down the road.

Initially, the idea of the club was to provide support to formerly homeless people in order to prevent relapse of homelessness. It was designed as a way to keep formerly homeless people in contact with the RIVER Organization.

No, the River Street Bridge Club is not about the card game, bridge.

Nor, is it about the physical structure that connects two boundaries of land over water or gorge, per say.

The River Street Bridge Club is about connecting people with their future. It helps them cross over to the productive side of life. It is a Christian-based club, yet it is open to all people who are homeless, formerly homeless or at risk to becoming homeless.

Although my intentions were to start the club much farther down the road, I think I will start it sooner. Perhaps, we can start within two months.

I have about a dozen homeless people in mind for the founding membership of the club. These people, are homeless people, and near-homeless people, who are all of good manner, well-behaved, and friendly toward other people. These good-natured people, the dozen or so individuals, would make an excellent core start-up membership for the club.

As I rethink my original intentions, there is no better time than now to start the club. Bringing good, core people into the club can also act as a way to introduce them to the fundamentals of the RIVER Organization and thus help move us forward.

In addition to what I had in mind in the Vision of the River Street Bridge Club for the future, I think starting the club now would be a wise move. If we can bring homeless people together, uniting them, we stand a greater chance of solving some of the many issues of homelessness.

We stand a greater chance of eradicating homelessness due to the fact the core members are homeless themselves and are the best people who can add solutions to the homeless problem.

Simply put, the homeless are the ones who understand the homeless problem more than any one else. The homeless know what works and what does not work. They know what could work, and what will work.

There are many brilliant people on the streets that are homeless and tapping into that vast resource would be the right thing to do.

One must keep in mind that the River Street Bridge Club is not a separate organization from the RIVER Organization, but is part of it. It is a club within the organization.

So, let's start the club and move on... shall we?

Cliff

Bridge Over Troubled Water

2008-06-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

Bridge Over Troubled Water:Simon & Garfunkel

Bridge Over Troubled Water Lyrics
By Paul Simon 1969
Sang By Simon & Garfunkel

When you're weary, feeling small
When tears are in your eyes,
I will dry them all
I'm on your side
When times get rough
And friends just can't be found

Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

When you're down and out
When you're on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you
I'll take your part
When darkness comes
And pain is all around

Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Sail on silver girl
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
When you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Bridge Over Troubled Water: Simon & Garfunkel 2003

Gregorian: Bridge Over Troubled Water

Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water, we will ease your mind and be your friend. We will help you cross over to a better life. One in which the RIVER Flows with the Living Water of Life
The River Street Bridge Club
"Keeping Homeless People In Touch with The RIVER Organization"

We Are Building Bridges

2008-06-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

This site is under construction. Please bare with us as we build our bridges to help homeless people cross over to a better life from the streets.

The River Street Bridge Club will be the last site to be fully operational. So, in the meantime keep abreast to what's going on with the RIVER Organization by monitoring or viewing our family of websites. To select one of the family websites, click onto one of the links provided to the right side of this page.

We are building bridges today and we will be building more bridges tomorrow. We will be building bridges everyday. Bridges to help homeless people cross over from poverty to a better life.

Be sure to stop back again from time to time to check on our progress. We hope by the time you return we will have more bridges already built.

Thanks for your interest.
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