Bridge House Of Lebanon Looking To Expand to Upper Cumberland

Lebanon’s Bridge House, a non-profit that provides housing for children and youth in state custody, is looking to expand into the Upper Cumberland.

Executive Director John Widrick said the Bridge House in Lebanon serves all of middle Tennessee. He said they need to expand because there are not enough foster homes to care for the growing amount of children currently in state custody.

“There is a need for transitional housing which allows them to stay in our location until they find them foster care placement,” Widrick said. “There’s also a need for housing for children that are aging out.”

Widrick said the Upper Cumberland specifically has a lot of children in need of transitional housing. He said he has been working with local church leaders and businesses to gain support for the expansion. He said they are currently exploring options for building in the region.

‘We’re having conversations with our builder, having conversations with an architect, to see what it would potentially look like and what it would cost to put something like this in that area,” Widrick said. “And then also having conversations with people in the Upper Cumberland area who might have some land that they might be willing to donate.”

Widrick said as a non-profit it is very important for the community to get involved and support them. He said people can reach out to the Bridge house on their website.

“It really is a house that the community builds,” Widrick said. “If the community isn’t consistently involved financially and with the resources, it won’t sustain.”