How It All Started
Bridges of Hope International is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2002 by Dennis and Susan Wadley of Santa Barbara, California. The Wadleys first learned about the HIV/AIDS pandemic through Time magazine and subsequently made two visits to South Africa for the purpose of learning first hand about the effects of the disease. After falling in love with the people and the country, the Wadleys assembled a team, received training and moved to the Cape Town area in 2003 where they founded a second non-profit called Bridges of Hope South Africa.
Partnering with St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Philippi, a devasted township of 100,000 people in the center of the Cape Flats, the Wadleys and their team trained a Committee of community members in principles of grass roots, holistic Community Development. Together they created Micro-enterprises, HIV/AIDS Support Groups, After School Programs, Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Support Groups, Gang Member Outreach and Rehabilitation, Computer Training Centers, and the heart of Bridges of Hope’s development strategy, the Community Health Education (CHE) Program.
As the Bridges Staff and Volunteers worked with the growing population of Orphans and Vulnerable Children, it became clear that these children were falling into gangs, sexual activity, HIV infection and pregnancy at alarming rates. Thus the vision for Bridges Academy, a boarding school for Orphans and Vulnerable Children was born.
Transformation…
""I love knowing that we're moving people towards being in an intimate relationship with Christ that is going to transform their whole life."
— Dennis Wadley, International Director
In 2009, the Wadleys were asked to visit Mekele, Ethiopia to look into planting a Community Health Education (CHE) Program there. They were unexpectedly introduced to the leadership of the St. Frumentius Ethiopian Orthodox Theological College, and after forming a quick and natural bond, were invited to launch the nation’s first Ethiopian Orthodox Masters Program.
Bridges of Hope has always valued partnering with other organizations and churches, and has helped to launch CHE programs in Swaziland, the US and the Democratic Republic of Congo.