Child Bridge, a Flathead Valley nonprofit organization that finds and supports foster and adoptive families for Montana children in need, is being recognized by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption this month as an Angel in Adoption.

Selected for the designation by both Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, Child Bridge will be honored in a ceremony Sept. 21 in Washington, D.C.

Although Montana individuals have been honored as Angels in Adoption in the past, this is the first time the designation is being awarded to an organization in Montana.

Founded six years ago in Bigfork by Steve and Mary Bryan, Child Bridge has quickly expanded beyond the couple to an organization serving families in 21 communities throughout Montana.

Today the organization has a 12-person team with locations in the Flathead Valley, Missoula and Billings.

With an ambitious vision of “a family for every child,” the organization hopes to add locations in five additional Montana cities over the next three years.

“I can’t think of an organization more deserving of this award than Child Bridge,” Tester said in a press release. “Their mission is to connect children in need with new families, and there’s not a more noble pursuit than that.”

Co-founder and Executive Director Steve Bryan said Child Bridge is about “building bridges for children who have been the victims of abuse and neglect, and the families who care for them.”

Those connections include bridges to a family, whether the child’s need is temporary or permanent, bridges to services, support and community and bridges to stability, healing and transformation, Bryan said.

Since its inception, Child Bridge has celebrated 38 adoptions, supports over a hundred foster families and provides monthly foster/adoptive resource groups that have served thousands of adults and children statewide.

Gov. Steve Bullock also applauded Child Bridge. “Protecting Montana’s most vulnerable citizens – our children – is a responsibility we all share,” Bullock said.

“As governor, I see every day how public-private partnerships between the state and committed Montana advocates like Child Bridge make a world of difference in the lives of kids across our state. They truly are ‘Angels in Adoption.’”

Child Bridge serves as a customer service-focused liaison with foster families through every step of their journey; guiding them to training and licensing partners, offering ongoing trauma-informed education, and assisting them at all stages of their foster care or adoptive walk.

The Congressional Coalition on Adoption is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to raising awareness about the millions of children around the world in need of permanent, safe, and loving homes and to eliminating the barriers that hinder these children from realizing their basic right to a family.