Volunteer Cara Coleman (left) and Jill Czanstkowski, Bridges coordinator, sort through donations.


“The mission is to remove obstacles students face so they can access their education.”


Jill Czanstkowski


help struggling students. Long, who had worked in the West Plains district in the past, was familiar with the Bridges program in that dis- trict, which among other things sends low-income children home with back- packs full of food for the weekend so they have something to eat. He sent Czanstkowski to West Plains to meet with that program’s coordinator. Long praises Czanstkowski for her initiative. “She took it upon herself to do some


research on a variety of different pro- grams and went from there. I was famil- iar with it in West Plains and also the Bright Futures program in the Joplin area, following the aftermath of the tor- nado. We looked at both of those models and settled on a more grassroots imple- mentation of the Mountain Home Bridges,” Long says. This is a completely volunteer effort


and it relies on support from the com- munity, says Long. “Any kind of support, we have multi- ple events where manpower is needed,”


14 ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2018 ❚ LIVING WELL


Bridges of Mountain Home also provides a clothes closet to help students of all ages. Bridges allows students to focus on their academics, instead of worrying about things children should not have to worry about in the first place, said volunteer Cara Coleman. PHOTOS BY DEAN CURTIS FOR LIVING WELL


he says. “Time, resources, or financial giving if you feel motivated to, please do so. Everything we do goes directly back to students. There is no administrative cost to it.” Czanstkowski rallied a few volun-


teers, such as Cara Coleman. The two women were acquaintances and have


children the same age, but their rela- tionship has blossomed into friendship as they’ve been united in helping meet student needs. The ladies established the Bridges hub in the back of Nelson Wilks Herron Elementary, painted walls, organized supplies, and also started a clothing


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35