Mission: To improve the quality of life for children and adults who reside east of the Anacostia River by providing access to the best-in-class facilities, programs, and partnerships in arts and culture, economic opportunity, education, recreation, health, and well-being.

About the organization: Building Bridges Across the River (Building Bridges) envisions a future in which Washington, D.C. residents east of the Anacostia River experience vital, thriving communities characterized by social, cultural, economic and racial equity. The organization provides leadership, management, and financial oversight of the Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus (THEARC), 11th Street Bridge Park, BBAR Farms, THEARC Theater, and Skyland Workforce Center. 

Current programs: The first to open among Building Bridges’ programs was THEARC, built in 2005 as a $27 million, 110,000-square-foot campus and expanded in 2018 with a 92,000-square-foot building on the west side of the campus.   THEARC houses 14 nonprofit organizations, where families can receive high-quality services in their community. It includes the 365-seat THEARC Theater, a black box theater, an urban farm, a gymnasium, libraries, computer labs, classrooms, studios for dance and music, visual arts studios, an art gallery, and public playgrounds.

The BBAR Farms network is anchored by THEARC Farm, built in 2010 to encourage healthy nutrition in the community and utilize green space in a positive way; it offers classes and workshops and runs a farmers market and a CSA farmshare program. The Bridge Park Plots are a network of farms and gardens surrounding the future 11th Street Bridge Park, the district’s first elevated public park, which will be a space for healthy recreation, environmental education, and the arts. And the Skyland Workforce Center is a collaborative designed to engage individuals, business, government, and community-based organizations to serve as a hub for a range of services and opportunities for people working toward self-sufficiency through employment.

Website: Visitors to the Building Bridges Across the River site can learn more about the organization's vision and history and programs, services, and events.

Funding: Building Bridges Across the River is supported by individuals, foundations, corporations, public charities, and government agencies.