Bridging the Gap (BTG) is a student-run program at the University of Virginia for refugee children resettled in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area. BTG helps refugee youth develop the tools needed to obtain greater opportunities in US society through mentoring and tutoring services. The children come from many countries including Somalia, Kenya, Congo, Russia, Liberia, Thailand, and Burma. BTG is a program of Madison House, a 501(c)3 service organization.
Mission Statement
We seek to improve refugee children's traumatized mental health through our mentoring services, to improve their English learning process through our tutoring services, and by doing so, put them on a path to greater social and academic success.
In the News
Bridging the Gap
The Cavalier Daily - April 25, 2008
Refuge children find new life in Charlottesville
Video: A New Home
Think.MTV.com - April 23, 2008
Student Volunteers Build Bridges for Refuge Children
U.Va. Today - Feb. 12, 2008
An article and slideshow
In Their Own Words
U.Va. Today - May 22, 2007
Editorial by Clay Broga founder of Bridging the Gap
Refugee Relief
The Cavalier Daily - November 15, 2006
Bridging the Gap, a new CIO, attempts to help African children and their families adjust to life in Charlottesville
Program Sites
How We're Helping
Fugee Soccer
Bridging the Gap works with the Soccer Organization of Charlottesville-Albemarle (SOCA) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) of Charlottesville's Family Support division to register children on soccer teams and provide them with transportation to and from practices and games. Many volunteer groups use the soccer experience to base their mentoring around. Fugee Soccer usually has about 35 children participating each season.
Soccer offers the children positive reinforcement and consistency, two things that have been severely lacking in their tumultuous lives. They learn first-hand about team-building, effort and accomplishment, and respect for themselves and others. Self-segregation is a common - and natural - tendency for the refugee groups. Soccer facilitates interaction and relationships with new and different children. This social aspect is especially important because it allows kids to meet people outside of their refugee community. Surveys obtained from coaches last spring indicated that the participating children were valuable contributions to the team, consistent in attendance, and improved their skills and attitudes as the season progressed.
Reading Train
Most of the children are multiple grade levels behind and struggle to make up lost ground because of their poor English skills. As a result, their academic success is undermined, their educational progress stunted. In Spring 2007, BTG created a small children's library, stocked with books of all reading levels and other educational resources. The library will be housed in Madison House starting in Fall 2008 and will serve as a location for on-site tutoring and as the central location of our Reading Train program.
Reading Train is designed to improve the children's English skills while fostering a joy for reading among them. It is an incentives-based program that rewards effort and accomplishment. Upon completion of certain goals, a child receives a train car with their name on it to go up on the library's wall and a certificate of achievement to bring home. For every individual accomplishment, the child is awarded points that, when accumulated, can be used to buy prizes from our library store. The train cars link together to reach stations where the participating kids (each with at least one train car) are rewarded as a group (ex: parties and group events). So, the rewards are both individual- and group-oriented.
