build bridges with us
Where do I begin? What I am going to write about is the culmination of things I literally only dreamed could turn into reality, and I am so grateful to be able to tell you all about them! If you haven’t read our old blog posts from the last four years (which, let’s be honest, is probably all of you because who reads blogs anymore) you should. The entire reason for writing all those posts was to be open with you all about what we were building and to have a history to point back to when things like this happened (if they ever did). So take a look back on four years of Bridge City history when you can and gain a deeper understanding of how unbelievable it is that we are here now.
this card builds bridges
We are launching the Bridge Fund publicly with two other incredible and generous businesses - Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Village Grind! Simply by purchasing the card below you will spread kindness to someone else by giving them a free cup of coffee and also help others when they need it most. 100% of the money generated by these cards will go directly to the Bridge Fund. You’ll have to read more below to find out how it all works and where it started.
the Bridge City mission
The goal of Bridge City has always been clearly stated in our mission - building value and hope in people through coffee. You can learn more about that by talking to our employees, reading the posts I mentioned, or checking out other content we have from podcasts to a TEDx talk. Bringing that mission to life in an authentic way had to begin with our own house and family, our employees. If we did not start building value in them and helping them understand the priceless intrinsic worth they all posses as unique human beings, everything outside of that would be hypocrisy. If you don’t take care of your family first you can’t truly take care of others. So that’s what we’ve been doing for the past two and a half years and it has been beautiful, amazing, really hard, unpredictable, and worth every moment of sacrifice and uncertainty. We have life changing stories that we will begin to share with you all over the coming weeks and months.
the bridge fund is born… in a pandemic
I’ll just shoot you all straight with this. Right after we opened our shop, around February of 2019, $80,000 of committed investment fell through that we were depending on for operating capital. We were still able to open the drive-thru somehow in July of that year but it put us in a very difficult financial spot. A few months later Jon (initial co-owner) was moving back to Kansas City and transitioning out of the business to help take care of some family that needed him. Fast forward a handful of months and in March of 2020 the business had around $60,000 of credit card debt as a result of the investment falling through, Jon was not a part of the business operations anymore (though still a close friend), we were not generating enough revenue for me to pay myself for almost the third year in a row (putting our family in a very difficult spot), and then a couple weeks later COVID hits. It was a super easy, low key couple years of life…or a time marked by depression, anxiety, joy, celebration, and baseline confusion and uncertainty.
I had a clear choice - I could start cutting corners to keep the business alive or I could hold fast to our mission and go down with it in flames if that’s what it came down to. I chose the latter. In a last ditch effort (before PPP [paycheck protection program] was available) I swallowed my pride and did a virtual fundraiser for the employees. It wasn’t for any business expenses or debt or to pay myself - it was for the employees. That’s why Bridge City began and that’s how I would go down with it if that’s what it took to stay true to the mission. Many of you all were incredibly supportive and we raised around $6,000! During the fundraiser period, PPP became available and that played a big part in keeping us afloat. Because of PPP, I was able to direct the all of the money from the fundraiser to start the Bridge Fund! And the first thing we used it for was to provide supplemental income for employees in the form of PTO. During a time that necessitated businesses closing temporarily or permanently or firing, furloughing, or reducing hours for their employees not only were we able to make it through the entire pandemic without letting a single employee go or lose their hours, we were able to provide them PTO because of a dedication to our mission and your kindness.
In addition to the remaining money left over from the fundraiser we did a really cool collaboration with Swift Cup to help inject more money into the Bridge Fund and put some of our profits in as well. Because of all that we have been able to do the following things as we began to bring the Bridge Fund to life…
a match savings program for an employee to purchase their first car
help an employee get out of predatory lending debt
rolled out the first stage of health care for our employees
come together with our employees to provide a laptop for one of our team members going to college
are in the process of helping another employee with medical bills
I cannot express how grateful I am for all of that! We have been able to accomplish all this so far simply through good business practice and your kindness. We may not be doing business the smartest way, but we believe it’s the best way.
what is the bridge fund?
Great question! The Bridge Fund is the next step in helping people understand what we mean when we say that Bridge City is an impact based for-profit business. We have the impact of a non-profit but are self-sustaining like a for-profit and generate revenue for things like the Bridge Fund through providing you the best coffee we can. We love non-profits and partner with some truly amazing ones. But we also want to show people that we believe for-profit business can be done a different way and a better way than they have historically operated. It’s kind of weird and nobody really understands it because not many other people are doing it, but we’re ok being the guinea pigs.
Part of why we have been doing this behind the scenes for the last couple years is because trust is something to be earned, not blindly given, and most people don’t trust for-profits to actually do good things. We aren’t aiming to have a good business and then support and do other good things afterward when we can afford to. We started out of the gate doing the most good we could (which was very small at the beginning) and that is fused into the very fabric of who we are - it is in our DNA.
The Bridge Fund is designed to help our employees financially when they need it in four areas: health, housing, transportation, and education. Financial literacy and real-life strategies based on their current financial situation are two of the biggest components of long-term financial autonomy and are huge components of what employees are equipped with as they go through the Bridge Fund process. The Bridge Fund is not a band-aid, it’s a slingshot forward.
We are in the process of forming a non-profit to hold the funds and continue to maintain transparency and efficiency and to reiterate, 100% of the money in the Bridge Fund goes to supporting employees. It does not pay bills or buy new things. It is for our people when they need it. Many people in the service industry live paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford large bills that are inevitable to occur in life. We are doing what we can to make life more livable and instill more dignity in everyone we employ and work with. We will be releasing more content explaining how the fund works so stay tuned for that.
the bridge fund launching publicly
While the Bridge Fund began as a pipe dream that I didn’t think was possible for Bridge City, it is now growing to become a collaborative effort with other businesses in the service industry to generate income that goes directly back to our employees when they need it, like in the examples above. This is the first phase of rolling this out publicly with more to come as we are able to build it. I think it’s worth pointing out that no one has done something like this before that we are aware of. Technically, we are 3 separate competing for-profit businesses coming together to support each other and our employees through good business. It’s going to take some time to figure everything out, but we are working toward that together centered around kindness.
spreading kindness - bridges cards
I am holding back tears writing this. For any of those who know me, I’m not some macho man but I don’t cry often. Nor am I too keen on telling people about it when I do, but it’s true. So there ya go. We are partnering with Swamp Rabbit and Village Grind to release these beautifully designed cards that are created to spread kindness and build value in people. Sounds cheesy and unrealistic? Well, maybe, but also not at all. The way it works is you purchase one (or many) cards at Bridge City, Village Grind, or Swamp Rabbit and then you give it to someone else (friends, family, or someone you don’t know who is clearly having a bad day) and they can redeem that card at any of the mentioned locations for a free cup of delicious drip coffee. Oh yeah, and 100% of the money from the cards go to the Bridge Fund. So not only are you spreading kindness by giving someone a cup of coffee, you are helping change people’s lives when they need help the most. Spread kindness, meet in the middle and build bridges with us.
