The Bridge helps former inmates build a life

Tucsonans Betty and Russ Undlin started this Christian nonprofit for former inmates in February 2003. The couple worked in prison ministries for several years before they bought what's now the Bridge property, near East Grant and North Oracle roads.

"If a man has come to Christ in prison, he's part of the Christian family and should be welcomed on the outside by a Christian family," said Betty Undlin.

Russ died the same year the Bridge opened, leaving Betty to run the 13-bed facility. There are seven men there now and each is enrolled in college, she said. Residents must stay three months. Some have stayed for years.

Dennis Crabtree said the Bridge helped him tremendously after he left prison a few years ago.

"When a guy is stepping out of prison, it's hard even if you want your life to be different and everything that you do is directed at that," he said.

Being treated well and having somewhere safe to stay was critical, he said.

Inmates learn about the Bridge while they are incarcerated. Undlin and her volunteers interview the men in person before they are invited to stay.

"The main thing we consider is, are we really going to be able to help these men change their lives and head off to a good life," said Garth Young, 83, a retired Hughes Aircraft engineer who volunteers with the Bridge and also serves on its board of directors.

"It's amazing what they've been through in their lives - such a lack of any family unity or caring."

Crabtree's trouble started when he became addicted to cocaine. He was serving time at the Pima County jail on drug charges and was out with a work crew, when he tried to escape.

"When you let a drug addict out, he's going to do what a drug addict does," said Crabtree, 43, who was sent to prison on an escape charge. He said 15 months in Arizona's Douglas prison "gave me a chance to get clean and to re-evaluate my life, who I am and who I want to be."

He said living at the Bridge was like being home.

"She's more like a mother to the guys that come through there," he said of Betty Undlin. "A lot of people who come through there have had troubled backgrounds and have had a lot of pain, and family issues."

He said while Undlin is compassionate, she also demands responsible behavior and a commitment to Christianity.

Crabtree has long considered himself a Christian, but said he used to be one with "shallow roots." Now, as he runs his own handyman business, he's strongly committed to his faith. It's been almost two years since he was at the Bridge.

"There's not a place like the Bridge where they genuinely care," he said. "That place, God's hand is upon it."

Miracle Manor Neighborhood Association officers said there haven't been problems with Bridge residents.

Undlin said she doesn't find jobs or schooling for the men, but encourages them to look into choices themselves.

"It's very hard to start a new life as an adult when you've been in prison. They are discriminated against in almost every way you can be discriminated against and everything they do requires an incredible amount of effort," she said.

The cost to stay at the Bridge is $125 per week, or half of that for those who enroll in school.

None of the 80 men who have lived at the Bridge has committed a new crime, Undlin said, although about 20 percent had to return to prison for parole violations.

Contact reporter Patty Machelor at pmachelor@azstarnet.com or 806-7754.