WHO WE ARE

BridgeBuilders restores relationships under the banner of Christ by engaging, equipping, and empowering individuals, families, and communities in South Dallas. 

Meet the Team

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    Nicole Casteel

    Partnership & Community Initiatives Coordinator

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    Chanelle Cook

    Program Administrator

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    Sais Daniel

    Managing Director of Community Impact

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  • A young African American woman with shoulder-length black hair, wearing glasses, a pink and white patterned shirt, and a black blazer, smiling in front of a bookshelf filled with colorful books.

    Porcha Ensley

    Director of Student Services

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  • A man with glasses, a beard, and a bald head, smiling in a bookstore or library, wearing a dark blazer with a sunflower lapel pin and a light-colored shirt.

    Joey Darwin

    Executive Director

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  • Close-up of a smiling woman with long dark hair wearing a blue top in an indoor setting with bookshelves in the background.

    Karina Ibarra

    Director of Administration

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    Pastor Brandon Rowe

    Director of Spiritual Formation & Community Development

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  • A woman with black hair and a pink shirt smiling in front of a bookshelf filled with colorful books.

    Velma Mitchell

    Co-Founder & Community Advocate

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    Maya Sapp

    Teen Services Coordinator

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  • A smiling elderly man with glasses and gray hair, wearing a plaid shirt, standing in front of a bookshelf with colorful books.

    Rick Wyman

    Vice President of Administration

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  • A man with short hair and a beard, wearing a blue shirt, smiling at the camera, with shelves of books in the background.

    Nelson Ward

    Director of Marketing & Communications

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Our hiStory

BridgeBuilders was founded as a result of a dynamic friendship between Velma Mitchell, a devoted mother and resident of the Bonton community, and Mike Fechner, a father and resident of North Dallas. While Mike and Velma shared a common bond in Christ, a centuries-old cultural divide stood between them. Fortunately, a teenage boy helped bridge the racial and economic chasm.

Mike became a mentor for Velma's son, Romon, who became like one of Mike's children and Velma like a sister. The two saw opportunities to bring mutual blessing to their communities, which was further catalyzed on September 5, 1992, when Romon was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting. The tragedy galvanized the resolve of Mike and Velma to see South Dallas restored and lives renewed by the love of Christ and the support of the community. In 1995, they formed the ministry known today as BridgeBuilders.

Today BridgeBuilders is an innovative service organization dedicated to bringing equity and opportunity to the Bonton+Ideal community. We serve over 1,000 individuals annually and engage over 200 volunteers in activating and serving the Bonton+Ideal community.

We accomplish this mission through the following initiatives:

ENGAGE
We engage families through Adopt-A-Block and 100 Homes outreach programs. 

EQUIP
We equip families through job training, employment staffing, financial coaching, life skills training, athletics, afterschool programming, transportation services, and our newly launched grocery store. 

EMPOWER
We empower families through faith-based programming, bible studies, and youth mentoring.

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Our Inspiration

The story of Nehemiah is the inspiration behind all that we do at BridgeBuilders. During Nehemiah’s life, Jerusalem’s temple had been rebuilt after the city was destroyed, but the walls were still torn down leaving the city and the Israelites susceptible to enemy attack.

Nehemiah engaged with the Israelites and saw this terrible problem. His heart broke for them because he knew them. He needed to do something to help God’s people. So, he gathered resources from King Artaxerxes and received his blessing to work with the Israelites to fix the wall. Nehemiah equipped the Israelites with swords in one hand to defend against enemy attacks and bricks in the other hand to build the wall. Each person was empowered to build the portion of the wall right in front of their home, working together, to bring dignity and pride back to the people and protection to their community and city.

Jerusalem’s walls had been down for over 150 years, but Nehemiah and the Israelites rebuilt the wall in 52 days simply through Nehemiah’s willingness to engage, equip, and empower individuals, families, and the nation of Israel.

Our Values

Unite Individuals
(Luke 11:17, 1 Corinthians 1:10, 2 Corinthians 13:11)

We seek to bring people together understanding that we have more in common than different. We want to see biases destroyed and friendships created to promote diversity and unity across the city.

Mutual Transformation
(Galatians, 3:26-28, Romans 2:10-11)

BridgeBuilders is not just about transforming the lives of those living in the communities we serve. We believe that through uniting individuals, we will see mutual transformation for both those coming into the neighborhood to serve and those living in the neighborhood, as every person has different struggles and areas of improvement.

Redemption over Condemnation
(2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 John 1:9)

Our emphasis as a ministry is to see the redemption of all people. We do not condemn, cast judgement, or evoke the justice system, rather we seek to restore, redeem, and renew all people in all areas of life.

Seek First the Kingdom
(Matthew 6:33, Romans 14:17)

In everything we do, from cleaning up the neighborhood to job training, we want to seek first God’s Kingdom. The foundation for all that we do is found in advancing the Gospel, promoting holistic justice, and seeking freedom from sin and physical, spiritual, and emotional bondages for all people.

Build Christ’s Church
(Ephesians 2:20-22, Hebrew 10:24-25, Acts 2:47)

We believe that the Church is the bride of Christ, and that Christ uses His Church as the main instrument for change in our world. Because of this, we want to see a local, indigenous church planted in the communities where we serve so that our work goes beyond BridgeBuilders.

Ministry & Foundation partners

Big Thought

Big Thought

City of Dallas

City of Dallas

Dallas Afterschool

Dallas Afterschool

The Dallas Foundation

The Dallas Foundation

Kroger

Kroger

One Hundred Shares

One Hundred Shares

Pi Beta Phi

Pi Beta Phi

The Rees-Jones Foundation

The Rees-Jones Foundation

The School Zone

The School Zone

State Fair of Texas

State Fair of Texas

Susser Bank

Susser Bank

Texas Methodist Foundation

Texas Methodist Foundation

United Way

United Way

Vanguard

Vanguard

Donate with confidence

We’ve earned a Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid, the world's largest source of information on nonprofit organizations.

We’ve earned a Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid, the world's largest source of information on nonprofit organizations.

Our commitment to responsible stewardship has earned us a Four-Star Charity rating from Charity Navigator through an independent evaluation.

Our commitment to responsible stewardship has earned us a Four-Star Charity rating from Charity Navigator through an independent evaluation.

We’ve received 5-Star ratings from donors, volunteers, and neighbors that love BridgeBuilders at GreatNonprofits, a trusted source for nonprofit reviews.

We’ve received 5-Star ratings from donors, volunteers, and neighbors that love BridgeBuilders at GreatNonprofits, a trusted source for nonprofit reviews.

Contributions are solicited with the understanding that BridgeBuilders has complete control and administration over the use of donated funds. It is the position of BridgeBuilders that any donation given in response to an appeal for a specified project will be used for that purpose. Occasionally, BridgeBuilders raises more money for a project than is needed, or the project is delayed or canceled. In making your donation to this project you acknowledge that this situation may occur and agree that BridgeBuilders may allocate these funds to other projects.