Free. Funded. First in your city.
Your church never pays to join. You receive a monthly stipend, free products, and a defined zone — and become the reason the block around your front door looks different.
What you receive
A monthly budget with a clear job for every line.
Every participating church is funded each month. The first two lines have strict rules about where they can be spent; the remainder supports your zone team, communications, and the program.
United States · per month, per church
- Directory budget
- Must be spent with member businesses in the directory.
- Outreach budget
- Spent only on people and needs inside your own zone.
- Zone team, communications & program support
- $550
- Total each month
- $2,950
Kenya · per month, per church
- Directory budget
- Must be spent with member businesses in the directory.
- Outreach budget
- Spent only on people and needs inside your own zone.
- Zone team, communications & program support
- KES 63,000
- Total each month
- KES 113,000
Your zone reps send a short monthly report showing where the money was spent. Everything is tracked inside your Nexus account.
What we ask of you
Recruit your first partners. Show up in your zone.
Each partner church brings eight of each partner type into the directory, seeding the local economy your stipend spends into. Household and community data is collected with consent through the Community Data Grid.
The 8-8-8
United States
- 8 home-based businesses
- 8 small-to-mid-size businesses
- 8 NGOs, PBOs, or CBOs
Kenya
- 8 vendors
- 8 merchants
- 8 CBOs
Visible work in your zone
United States
- Pick up trash
- Remove graffiti
- Mow overgrown lots
- Board up unsafe buildings
Nairobi
- Pick up trash
- Unblock drainage channels
- Whitewash and repaint shared structures
- Clear fire and structural hazards
The sign
A promise, planted at your front door.
Your church marks its zone with a sign so every neighbor knows help is available — and knows who to thank.
United States
5 blocks
in every direction from your front door is your Promise Zone, marked with a front-yard sign. Your first sign is free; your zone reps handle delivery and placement. Learn more about how zones work on Bridgewell's partner page.
Kenya
0.5 km
in every direction from your front door is your Promise Zone, marked with a window decal. Your first sign is free; your zone reps handle delivery and placement. Learn more about how zones work on Bridgewell's partner page.
How the money moves
A loop, not a donation.
Every dollar has a job, and every job feeds the next one.
- 1
Funded churches
Partner churches receive a monthly stipend, funded by Alliance Capital Reserve.
- 2
Spent in the directory
The directory portion of that stipend must be spent with member businesses in the zone.
- 3
Businesses get customers
Members receive that steady demand, working business tools, and a no-loss guarantee.
- 4
The block gets renewed
25–30% of membership dues fund visible neighborhood work carried out by the churches.
…and a cleaner, busier neighborhood brings more customers back to member businesses, which starts the loop again.
Where the money comes from
For-profit funding, given as donations.
The stipends and program funds behind the Square Mile program come from for-profit sources: Alliance Capital Reserve's capital and the fees members pay for their digital products and services packages. A portion of those fees supports the program. Those funds are given to Bridgewell Urban Group and to partner churches as donations, and Bridgewell receives and records them as donations.
Partner churches then report each month how their directory and outreach budgets were spent, and those reports are tracked inside Nexus.
What members receive
Real tools on day one — not just a listing.
Every membership comes with a working Nexus High Stack account, supplied through Atlas Digital Grid. Sign in and it's already set up for your organization.
CRM & pipelines
Keep every customer, lead, and conversation in one place.
Website & funnel builder
Launch a real site from 30+ templates, no developer needed.
Calendars & appointments
Let people book you online; never lose track of a booking.
Marketing & automation
Follow up automatically so no lead goes cold.
Conversations & reviews
One inbox, and tools to earn and answer reviews.
Payments
Take payments straight into your own account.
Running an agency and want Nexus for your own clients? See the platform and plans.
Pilot terms
Help us find what's broken, before we go global.
You're a founding partner, not a test subject
Pilot churches shape the final version of this program before it scales.
If we don't deliver, you tell us
Stipend late, product missing, directory not working — you flag it and we fix it before scaling further.
Free stays free
Join before December 31, 2026 and your church's membership never converts to paid, no matter what later churches are charged. Your directory listing and program fees are covered by Alliance Capital Reserve, so the directory is never an extra fee to you.
Questions
The short answers.
What is the Square Mile program?+
A funded system that turns a church and the businesses around it into one connected zone. Churches receive a monthly stipend they must spend with member businesses; member businesses pay for a membership that includes working products and a directory listing; and part of every membership funds visible neighborhood work like trash pickup and graffiti removal.
Do churches pay to join?+
No. Churches that join before December 31, 2026 are founding partners and their membership stays free permanently, even when churches that join later begin paying. The directory listing and program fees for a church are covered by Alliance Capital Reserve — they are never billed to the church, and the directory is not an extra fee.
What do businesses get for their membership?+
A package of working products and services (3–4 for vendors and home-based businesses, 15+ for merchants, small businesses, and community organizations), a directory listing, a Proud Community Sponsor sign, and — for vendors, merchants, and small-to-mid businesses — the no-loss guarantee.
What does a membership cost?+
Businesses and organizations pay a monthly pilot fee that depends on the member type. Every fee, including the one-time set-up fee (waived in the U.S. during the pilot) and the yearly option (ten months' fees for twelve months), is listed in the pilot fee table on the Businesses page, so nothing is a surprise. Your directory listing is included at no extra charge, and churches pay nothing.
How does the no-loss guarantee work?+
Over your first 12 months, we track the business the directory sends you. If it adds up to less than the dues you paid, we refund the difference, and your second year of membership is free. The guarantee covers vendors, merchants, and small-to-mid businesses. It is measured on spending reported through the program and is not a promise of any particular number of customers. CBOs, NGOs, and PBOs are not covered; they have their own stipend track. Read the full terms in section 9 of our Terms of Service. Terms of Service.
Where does the money go?+
Between 25% and 30% of what businesses pay each month goes into the program fund, which pays for visible work in the neighborhood, carried out by partner churches in their zones.
Where does the program's funding come from?+
From for-profit sources: Alliance Capital Reserve's capital and the fees members pay for their digital products and services packages, a portion of which supports the program. Those funds are given to Bridgewell Urban Group and to partner churches as donations, and Bridgewell receives and records them as donations. Partner churches report each month how their directory and outreach budgets were spent.
What is Nexus High Stack?+
The platform your membership package runs on — CRM, website builder, calendars, marketing automation, and more — supplied through Atlas Digital Grid. Members log into their own account; they never need to manage anything technical.
Next step
It's free. What's stopping you?
Tell us about your church. We'll confirm your zone, walk you through the pilot agreement, and help you start recruiting your 8-8-8.