Thanks for everything you have done to get me to where I am today in my growth and healing. I know Bridges to Life has been instrumental in showing me that anger toward my offender is a self destructive downward spiral which could have turned me into a very bitter and isolated person. I am so grateful to have been a part of your program for so many years. I hope that just because I’m moving out of Texas doesn’t mean I’ll never participate again.

Bridges To Life is beneficial because it provides the space, the time, the tools, and the opportunity for victims to focus on their own journey of healing, which may often be overlooked or not given attention as we all go about just living our lives.

Participating in the Bridges To Life program has helped me to better understand and solidify my forgiveness journey.

Telling one’s story is essential to the healing process. BTL provides that venue, with loving support for the victim from the offenders, usually.

Participation in the Bridges To Life program is beneficial to me as a crime victim because it allows an outlet to re-engage with humanity, where the natural inclination might be to disengage and become more hardened and isolated.

No one had ever really asked me about the impact of that crime on my life. I don’t know of any other structured group that could have offered this experience to me like Bridges has.

BTL has helped me understand a little better why people do bad things. But the best thing I receive as a victim volunteer is seeing that hearts can be changed.

Hope…That’s what this program is about. The healing is amazing on both sides.

I am here to make a difference! I want to save the world one person at a time! With God’s instruction and guidance I want to make a difference, by helping families cope with painful tragedies and helping them to realize that they are not alone.

I have several goals in participating in BTL: to glorify my great God, to honor my sister’s life and memory, and to possibly save someone else’s life by helping an offender to see how far his bad choices could take him. I believe that every time I step into a class, I’m doing exactly that!

Our entire world would be better off if we practiced this sort of thing in everything from little neighborhood disputes to international affairs that lead to war and bloodshed.

It is helpful to think that someone (who you imagine could have been your perpetrator) will LISTEN to your story. No lawyers, no interruptions, no denials, no blame—-nothing but listening.

The first thing that victims must do is learn to live again. This program helps them to accept that change and learn to live and trust again.

The reoccurring nightmare that haunted me for decades, no longer visits me. The songs, smells, tastes and other things that I avoided for long, no longer hold me hostage. Bridges To Life has been the most rewarding experience in my life.

I was kind of sick at the thought of confronting these people with what their actions have caused. I have to say though, in the times I’ve gone, I feel a little more at peace with my whole situation. Everything in life happens for a reason. That reason can either make us or break us.