BTS in the Community

The Salvation Army Massachusetts Division Bridging the Gap Between Youth and Community Services® Youth Violence Prevention and Intervention Program

Bridging the Gap Between Youth and Community Services® (Bridging the Gap) is a free life-skills program that provides safe alternatives to violent and risky behavior in youth ages 12 to 18 and has proven to be a successful method for significantly reducing the potential for court-involved youth to become re-offenders. On average, 87% percent of first-time offending youth do not reoffend within one year of completing the program. This is considered an excellent success rate and truly changes the trajectory of these young people and their families. In fact, The Salvation Army Springfield Bridging the Gap program, the original site and longest operating program in Massachusetts, was the recipient of the Outstanding Juvenile Program Award for 2010 presented by Project Safe Neighborhoods and the US Department of Justice.

To find out more about The Salvation Army Bridging the Gap program, please click here.

St. Francis House rebuilds lives by providing refuge and pathways to stability for adults experiencing homelessness and poverty.

St. Francis House is a welcoming and inclusive community. Every day of the year, we enable individuals to meet their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter. We transform lives using a holistic approach to understanding and addressing behavioral health, housing and employment needs. We commit ourselves to helping those we serve achieve renewed lives of dignity and self-determination.

To find out more about St. Franicis House, please click here.

The BTS Asset Management Youth and Families At Risk Initiative 2013-2017 Supports The Salvation Army

Transforming the Lives of Thousands in Massachusetts

The BTS Asset Management Youth and Families at Risk Initiative began in 2013 and has since provided $2,000,000 in direct contributions. Additionally, thanks to the thoughtful challenges and matches that have been created over the past five years by this Initiative, another $1,300,000 has been raised that otherwise would not have been possible.

Through the generous commitment of the BTS Asset Management leadership and its stakeholders, The Salvation Army is able to fund a broad range of youth and family oriented programs and basic and emergency human services. Thanks to the long-term commitment, The Salvation Army can effectively plan the programs and services that positively impact the health and well-being of thousands while leveraging these gifts to motivate and challenge others to contribute at increased and major levels.

Total Value of Contributions 2013-2017

Over $3,000,000

To learn more about the BTS Asset Management Youth and Families At Risk Initiative, please click here

To learn more about The Salvation Army, please click here

Salvation Army Photo

It’s More Than a Cause, It’s a Kid

The Need is Urgent, Yet Often Overlooked

More than 305,000 Massachusetts children, 12 years old and younger, live in low-income or poverty-stricken households. In any given year, more than 100,000 of them will experience homelessness.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Philadelphia has the highest poverty rate among the nation’s ten largest cities. Nearly one in four Philadelphians, including 130,000 children, live in poverty.
Approximately 200,000 children in Chicago live in poverty – that’s one in three children.

What Poverty Looks and Feels Like for Kids

The kids we help don’t have shoes that fit. Or a coat warm enough to fend off winter winds. Or a backpack to carry their schoolbooks and supplies. Without these basics, they suffer. They don’t want to go to school. They have a hard time learning in school. They don’t go outside to play. They don’t feel valued.

Our Mission: Cradles to Crayons provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essentiall items they need to thrive – at home, at school and at play. We supply these items free of charge by engaging and connecting communities.

The Model That Brings Our Mission to Life

Our efficient and effective three-step model provides kids with the essentials they need, free of charge. This enables us to engage communities that have, connecting them with communities that need.

New and nearly new children’s items are collected through grassroots community drives and corporate donations.
Donations are then processed and packaged by volunteers in our warehouse, The Giving Factory®
Packages from The Giving Factory are distributed to local disadvantaged children — through our collaborative network of diverse service partners.