By Sophie Hunt, D’Ann Urbaniak Lesch & Joel Bisser

St. Catherine University and the Center for Community Work and Learning has been working with Bridging in a multitude of ways since 2008. The collaboration first started through community-engaged learning courses when first-year students in the core course “The Reflective Woman” visited Bridging to learn about housing insecurity and to work, hands-on, in the warehouse. This experience built on what students were learning in their course by encouraging them to think about how they could respond to the needs of their community.

For the past 3 years, Bridging has been a main partner in St. Catherine University’s day of service, Citizen Katie. At this annual event held each September, students, alumni, faculty, and staff have an opportunity to build community, educate themselves and work towards social justice by serving numerous community projects, and for Bridging that means sponsoring and building dressers!

The work invokes collaboration and thoughtfulness, and the experience of coming together to build is hugely impactful. The Dresser Build at St. Kate’s has involved dozens of volunteers, resulting in the assembly of 50 brand new dressers each year for a total of 150 dressers in three years!

In addition to sponsoring and building dressers, St. Kate’s Student Senate toured Bridging’s Roseville warehouse and booked a volunteer date. Also, as part of their final MBA capstone project in 2022, three St. Kate’s students completed a thorough research project, which included a SWOT analysis and determined the average thrift store market value of items Bridging distributes. Their important findings were shared with Bridging’s Board of Directors and leadership team.

Dozens of St. Kate’s students also engage individually as volunteers and through community-engaged learning courses throughout summer, the academic year, and during the J-term. Current Master of Science in Nursing: Nurse Educator major Breanna Richter has been volunteering as an individual at Bridging for nearly 8 years!

She says, “I enjoy volunteering at Bridging because they give clients the dignity of choice and truly make a client’s house a home. It’s been a great experience, over the years, watching Bridging adapt to the different needs of its clients and constantly asking How can we serve them better? Knowing all the great things they do for our community, I am honored to volunteer with the Bridging team.”

St. Catherine University’s commitment to the community and making change is strong. Each year, St. Catherine University offers around 75 community-engaged learning courses where students collaborate with community organizations as part of their academic work. These experiences include hands-on work with nonprofit partners and projects where students conduct research or create other deliverables that these partners can use. Students also hold internships at nonprofits through the Community Leaders program, which employs about 45 student positions per year. They also do service projects as a university community each March for the Feast of St. Joseph.

Bridging’s mission “to empower people to thrive in their homes” offers a way for members of the St. Catherine University community to live out the charism of the founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, who strive to “live in profound love of God and neighbor without distinction.”

Madeline Bjonskaas (’25 St. Kate’s Student Senate) said, “As a university focused on social justice, it is imperative that students are able to interact with organizations such as Bridging. Being able to collaborate with Bridging in multiple ways is amazing! We are able to witness first-hand how this organization supports our community.”

For countless community-engaged learning students, Community Leader interns, and volunteers with Citizen Katie, partnering with Bridging has opened their eyes to the issue of housing instability, helped them gain understanding across cultures, and offered a sense of empowerment to work hands-on for social change.

One of the first community-engaged learning students said it well: “The actual building of the furniture was very empowering as a woman. I was surprised at how great it felt to use the tools, even the drill.”

Bridging is grateful for the devotion and commitment that St. Catherine University has for social justice and making change, not only for Bridging, but for our broader, shared community as well.