Building Bridges A Southeast Iowa Initiative

09/02/2026

Read about all of our adventures this last month!
You can subscribe by clicking that button!

This week, every chair in our office was full! When our community gathers, the room overflows with love, laughter, and shared goals.

09/01/2026

🥳 We celebrate an addition to our team!!!

WELCOME TO THE BRIDGES TEAM, Ms.SHEREE!

We are so excited to welcome Sheree Stadler to the Bridges team! She comes to us highly recommended, and has volunteered for about a year with us. We are so thankful to have her joining us!

🤗Sheree will be serving alongside us on programming nights, bringing her gifts, talents, experience, and, most importantly, her heart for kids and families. We know she will be a wonderful addition to our team and a beautiful source of support and encouragement for the children and families we serve.

💫As a Bridges Kids Support Professional, Sheree will work alongside our Bridges Director, staff, volunteers, and Kids Leaders to help create a safe, loving, and trauma-informed environment where every child and family has the opportunity to thrive.

⭐She will provide behavioral and emotional support, assist with crisis intervention and de-escalation when needed, and partner with parents by offering healthy emotional growth and positive behavior strategies.

💛We are so excited to see the impact Sheree will have as she loves on, supports, and encourages our kids and families!

❤️ Welcome to Bridges, Sheree! We are so absolutely excited that you are on our team! 🥳

09/01/2026

🐰🎡 A Day at the Fair with Bridges! 🎡🐰

We had such a wonderful day at the fair with one of our Bridges kiddos Kellen as he showed his borrowed bunny through 4-H! ❤️

What an amazing opportunity for him to learn about showmanship, responsibility, and the process of showcasing an animal.

A huge THANK YOU to Miss Mary ISU Extension & Outreach - Des Moines County Iowa State University for giving our Bridges kids this incredible opportunity! We are so grateful for the experiences, mentorship, and opportunities you provide for our kiddos. 🐰💙

We love watching our Bridges kiddo Kellen discover new interests, build confidence, and learn that he can do amazing things! 🌟

08/31/2026

This week, we had the opportunity to come together, plan, dream, and share the vision for our new Bridges leadership team. ❤️

I am so incredibly thankful for this group of people who willingly come alongside us and serve in so many different ways. They have truly caught the vision that it takes all of us. Every person has a place, every person has a gift, and every person has something valuable to offer as we serve others through the Bridges initiative.

One of my biggest takeaways from this night was realizing just how gifted this group is and one gift that was so evident across the entire room was encouragement.

They lift each other up. They see one another. They celebrate growth in each other. They also will speak the truth in love to one another.

During one of our activities, each person was asked to share something they had seen growing or developing in the person next to them. And it just flowed. No one struggled to find the words. No one had a hard time coming up with something to say. One by one, they spoke life, and encouragement, over each other.

It was such a beautiful thing to witness. ❤️

It has been one of the greatest privileges to watch these wonderful humans grow to see them move from participating to now wanting to lead, serve, encourage, and walk alongside others in their own journeys.

There is something so powerful and heartwarming about watching people who have experienced growth begin to help others grow, too.

I am so grateful for each one of them and so excited for what God is going to do through this team. This is just the beginning. 🙏🏼❤️

Together, we are Bridges. Together, we make a difference.

Shout out to Jade ❤️💛🩵 for her creativity in designing the leadership logo and acronym!! Using her gifts to help us as we become more intentional in the ways we serve!

08/22/2026

💛 We LOVE celebrating our graduates! 💛
CaSondra is a graduate of our programs and has gone on to do wonderful things as a parent partner, helping others who are struggling and walking alongside them.

Miss CaSondra shares her powerful story of overcoming in this video, and we couldn’t be more proud of her! Her journey is a beautiful reminder that your past does not define your future. There is hope, there is growth, and there is a community ready to walk alongside you.

We are so blessed to have been a part of CaSondra's journey and to watch her continue to grow, overcome, and pour into others. We are cheering you on, CaSondra! 🥰🙌

✨ Your story matters. Your journey matters. And your victories are worth celebrating! ✨

What does it look like when someone begins to move from surviving t...

08/20/2026

❤️❤️❤️We are grateful to wonderful partners in our community for doing the good work Community Clothes Closet! Thank you for your compassion and love for others!!

08/20/2026

Extremely grateful for a gift of diapers for our families! Thank you to Mika Chenoweth - Fowler one of our childcare champion volunteers, for bringing in these. We love your heart for community ❤️💯❤️💯

08/19/2026

❤️ Making generational impact!

Read Gianna's whole family story here!

"What has made this experience so special is how it has supported each generation of our family differently—helping my mom, guiding me, and inspiring my children. Building Bridges didn’t just change one of us; it strengthened all of us, together."

❤️ In memory of our Team OG Samie Morrow

The following is from Gianna Morrow, a Burlington Building Bridges graduate. Being part of Building Bridges has been a meaningful, multigenerational experience for my family. My mom, Samie Morrow…

08/18/2026

We had a blast with these world changers tonight we ate some pizza, played some games, and learned some great tools to help our Bridges Kiddos! ❤️

We are so incredibly grateful for these world changers who are willing to give their time, energy, gifts, and talents to help us make an impact on the families we serve.

Without childcare, many of our families-especially our single parents-would not be able to attend Bridges, learn, grow, or work toward their goals.

Our volunteers do so much more than watch children. They create a safe, loving, fun space where kids are cared for while their parents have the opportunity to build a stronger future.

We are beyond grateful for every volunteer who pours love, patience, encouragement, and care into our Bridges kids. You are an important part of the impact we get to make every day! 🥰

Thank you for being willing to serve, love, and help us build stronger families together! 💙

08/15/2026

🌉❤️ From Graduate to Employee: A Journey of Transformation

Today we want to celebrate Kearston and the powerful story she carries with her. She shared her incredible journey and the life-changing impact that Bridges and our community have had on her life and we are beyond proud of the woman she is!

Kearston is a beautiful momma, a leader at Bridges and Celebrate Recovery, and now she serves alongside us at Bridges, helping others find connection, support, and resources throughout our community. Most importantly, she continues to pour out love, encouragement, and hope into every family she meets. ❤️

Her story is a shining reminder that transformation is possible that when someone finds a safe place, a believing community, and people willing to walk beside them, everything can change.

Kearston, we are so deeply grateful for YOU! Thank you for courageously sharing your story, leading with compassion, and continuing to lift others up. Watching you move from receiving support to becoming a source of hope for others is the very heart of what community is all about. 🥹❤️

This is Bridges. We are family. We make connections. We walk together. We grow together. And we celebrate every step of the journey. 🌉✨

Kearston Peterson shares her journey as a Getting Ahead graduate in...