Our History

Bridges of Love NW exists to unify the Body of Christ, meeting the needs of our neighbors. Since 2002, we have been privileged to serve families in the county, impacting countless more lives. Today, we operate a Clearinghouse, some Gap Ministries, and have over 100 local church partners.

In 2000, a group of 11 churches came together, wanting to work together to meet the needs of their community. They were tired of working alone, being overwhelmed by the multitude of the need in Pierce County.

​

The first year and half of Love INC were focused on getting the organization off the ground, struggling the whole way. After much hard work, it looked as if Love INC Pierce County was going to close. However, in July 2002, things turned around. Sherry Phinisey came on as the new Executive Director, relaunching the dream of those 11 churches. The new office was a 70-year-old mobile home with three desks, one computer, and a fax machine. Building off of a new Clearinghouse manager and various volunteers, the church base grew from 11 churches to over 100 within three years.

​

What started as a Clearinghouse that received 25 calls a month, we have now taken over 500 calls within a month (averaging around 300). Our first year’s budget was $30,000 dollars, today it takes $230,000 a year to run all of our programs. Take a look at our brief timeline:

• 2002 Love INC relaunches in a mobile home.

• 2004  Offices move to a 970 square foot building, adding 3 more work stations to accommodate an increase in volunteers.

• 2005 Our Furniture Bank opens, providing beds, dressers, and linens to our clients.

• 2006 Staff has grown to 5; We run a Bridges Out of Poverty class for clients.

• 2009 Offices move to Lakewood, adding even more work stations for new volunteers.

• 2010 Love’s Treasury opens, launching our Christian Bookstore, Personal Care Pantry, Musical Instrument Bank, and Prom Dress Ministry.

• 2011 Built a custom Client Management System to better serve our neighbors and partnering churches.

• 2012 Restructure: Due to budget cuts and the new automated system, we reduced our staff. The system has allowed us to do more work with fewer people to better serve Pierce County.

• 2017 We changed our name to Bridges of Love NW. We closed down the 2nd Hand Christian bookstore site and moved our phone center to a Tacoma location. 

• 2019 We hired two assistant directors to help forge new relationships with local churches and expand the ministry reach.