In Chattanooga, Tornado Collides with COVID Crisis
Tuesday, May 5th, 2020
The tornado that ripped through Chattanooga on Easter Sunday night came with no warning. “It happened at midnight,” said Marina Peshterianu, associate director of Bridge’s Chattanooga office. “The majority of people were asleep.” She and her husband rushed to a downstairs bathroom to take refuge, listening to howling winds and crashing trees outside her home. […]
Read More »COVID Impacts Most Vulnerable Clients
Tuesday, May 5th, 2020
With soaring unemployment rates and taxed health care systems across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged everyone in unprecedented and unexpected ways. But the coronavirus outbreak has highlighted how much more vulnerable refugees are during a global crisis. “It’s definitely had an impact,” Bridge Program Manager Katie Weber said of the pandemic’s disruption of […]
Read More »Celebrating Our Knoxville Partners
Friday, April 24th, 2020
There is not a more invested and dedicated church partner than Two Rivers Church. Their Community Assistance Team (CAT) welcomed a young man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September, showing him how to cook, helping furnish his apartment, assisting him in opening a bank account, and inviting him to take part in […]
Read More »Celebrating Our Chattanooga Partners
Friday, April 24th, 2020
“Volunteers of the Year:” Vicki Suttle and Marsha Gentry! Vicki and Marsha have been Bridge volunteers since 2018, and together they lead the Hixson Presbyterian Church Community Assistance Team (CAT), which has co-sponsored FOUR refugee families from Burundi, Colombia and Sudan. They truly go above and beyond as volunteers to build trust and form close […]
Read More »Bridge continues services, spreads hope during pandemic
Wednesday, April 1st, 2020
As the COVID-19 virus has spread globally, Bridge Refugee Services’ leaders have taken their mission to promote hope to heart in East Tennessee. “Our whole team is working collaboratively to help people cope,” said Bridge Executive Director Drocella Mugorowera. “This is a time of action, reflection, compassion, helping one another, sending messages of love and […]
Read More »Monday, March 9th, 2020
Rehema Mukeshimana’s family arrived in Tallahassee, Fla., in August 2016, but relocated, at a friend’s suggestion, to Knoxville in June 2018 for better employment opportunities and to be nearer to a more vibrant Swahili-speaking community. Like they do for most clients, Bridge Refugee Services, which reports the Congolese as its fastest-growing refugee group in Knoxville […]
Read More »Unlikely crossing: Refugee and friend reunite in Chattanooga
Monday, March 9th, 2020
When Sudanese refugee Marwah Kuku learned in 2019 she was going to be resettled in Chattanooga, she had never heard of the city. At the time, she was living in Amman, Jordan, and working for the global humanitarian organization World Relief to serve other refugees from various countries. “I did not know where this is,” […]
Read More »Couple supports Bridge refugees with tax savings
Wednesday, February 5th, 2020
When the federal tax overhaul was passed in 2017, Kevin and Courtney Brown made a decision. Although the new policy put more money in their pockets at the end of the year, they saw that it cost lower-income families more. So, instead of buying a new TV or going on vacation, the couple decided to […]
Read More »Congolese student excels at STEM
Wednesday, February 5th, 2020
Just a month into his freshman year at the L&N STEM Academy, student Phillip Sebu stood in the pit at the Tennessee Valley Fair’s Robo-Rodeo, tools at the ready. As a rookie member of the school’s Robotics team, the STEMpunks, Phillip cheered on the team’s robot, Rosetta, a.k.a. Rosie, as it completed a series of […]
Read More »Christmas project goes year-round for church group
Friday, November 29th, 2019
As the holidays approached last year, Vicki Suttle and Marsha Gentry went to a pastor at their church, seeking a way to better invest themselves in the lives of the people in their community. “We wanted to connect with people on more than a one-time thing,” Vicki said. The pastor steered them to Bridge Refugee […]
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