HISTORY: Bridging the Gap-Oregon (BTGO) is a long time vision of a law enforcement officer who would spend countless hours tracking down resources for sexually exploited victims. There were many organizations who had resources and services, but had no way to effectively and efficiently communicate with them in real time during crisis situations, such as in the evening hours or weekends, when many victims are rescued. His idea was to create a way to fill the gap by communicating victim needs, in real time, to organizations that have the resources to help.

In 2014, community leaders helped form Bridging The Gap and developed a private intranet website. Through the website, information was distributed immediately to approved users, who were part of a governmental agency, 501(c)(3) organization or church, via a push notification system, which allowed direct communication with one another to meet the need. In May 2015, BTG leaders were awarded the Portland Police Bureau Commendation Medal for creating the BTG website, which provided resources for hundreds of victims.

In 2016, the City of Portland chose Bridging The Gap to receive an innovation grant to build a mobile app to provide more features and accessibility to users.  (Then) Mayor Charlie Hales and the Portland City Council determined building the BTG mobile app was the #1 of 28 proposals submitted to fund because of its impact and scalability to address multiple communication and limitations often encountered with complex community issues. However, after more than 2 years of delays and negotiations, we ultimately declined the funding. 

In 2019, we began raising funds to build the mobile app which took one year and was completed in February 2021.

BTGO has developed a comprehensive, secure mobile app on a platform designed for a mass communication system—connecting victim needs to community partners who can help. The BTGHT app includes a push notification system with: 

• Ability to post urgent needs, non-urgent needs, resources available, volunteer opportunities, and events/trainings. Government agencies, nonprofit organizations, advocates, churches and other approved members can post and respond to needs immediately. This can be critical during crisis situations.

• Members also can in-app text, dial, and email other members of the same region

• All users have access to local service providers as well as other service provider directories of regions using the app. 

Our vision is to bring the BTGHT mobile app to every region that follows trauma informed standards of care to help sexually exploited survivors and other vulnerable populations. The mobile app naturally fosters collaboration and helps connect rural and tribal communities to resources and service providers in their region.

Future plans include duplicating this amazing app to be used to help other vulnerable populations such as domestic violence, foster care/child welfare, missing persons, crisis and street response teams, homeless, etc. Utilizing the app for these entities could prevent countless vulnerable children from falling through system gaps, often caused by lack of resources and a cohesive support system.

The possibilities are endless for creating systemic change with this powerful tool! We’re so excited! We’d love to have you join us on this adventure!