Individuals at Bridgeway have the stars in their eyes when they work in the Macomb Work Center's workforce training program – literally.
Among the many fulfillment services the Macomb Work Center provides to online companies and clients worldwide, the Macomb location and its approximately 40 individuals served and their supervisors, produce and ship Ursa Major Stencil products, which are Bridgeway-exclusive playground stencils, to schools, daycares, businesses and consumers around the globe.
According to Bridgeway CEO Staci Danner, Ursa Major Stencils was created by a Macomb resident many years ago, and Bridgeway bought the company 20-plus years ago. In addition to the Night Sky Star stencil featuring all of the constellations, other products include a Superior Court basketball stencil, a 16' x 27' U.S. map and more. In addition, individuals at the Macomb location fulfill formalwear items for men and boys for the online company, Paragon, as well as for sellers and retailers at such large companies as Amazon, Wal-Mart and Ebay, to name a few. They have also completed packaging and kitting jobs for local industries, including Pella.
'Our ultimate goal is to provide vocational work training for the people we serve, giving them the skills to find jobs in the community,' noted Debbie Moehler, senior director of development, who previously oversaw the Work Center as the director of production & business development for over eight years.
In addition to the work done in-house for numerous local, national and international companies, Bridgeway, which has services and offices in Macomb, Galesburg, Loves Park/Rockford, Monmouth, Pekin/Peoria, Bloomington-Normal and Kewanee, also has a robust Community Employment Services program at all locations and works with local businesses to place consumer trainees in jobs in their communities. Plus, the organization is a State-Use registered vendor and provides janitorial services for select rest stops in Illinois, as well as other state offices. Bridgeway also provides data entry and transcription services to the state.
'Bridgeway is always involved in state-related contract work of some kind,' Danner added.
Bridgeway originated in McDonough County in October 1993 by the merger of McDonough County Rehabilitation Center (MCRC), founded in 1972, and Spoon River Incorporated (SRI) founded in 1971 and its affiliate corporations, Harrington Family Services and Spoon River Center. While Bridgeway in Macomb goes back to 1993, the organization's history dates as far back as 1890 with the formation of the 'Galesburg Free Kindergarten,' which was founded by a local teacher who educated impoverished children in her own home.
Today, Bridgeway serves approximately 75 individuals in Macomb each day, including 40 through the Community Day Services (CDS) Program, which provides vocational training, education and social opportunities both on-site and off-site from the center, which is located at the corner of Grant Street and Deere Road, from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Bridgeway also offers community integrated living arrangements (CILAs). There are currently two homes in Macomb residential neighborhoods, which provide accommodations for four to eight people in each home. Bridgeway has both supervised and supported apartment settings for people with mental health needs or intellectual/developmental disabilities. Residential services are also provided in Galesburg and Kewanee for people with mental health needs and in Pekin for individuals with intellectual/ developmental disabilities.
'We use a strengths-based perspective: seeing clients as resourceful and resilient, connecting them to assets in their environment,' Danner explained. 'It adapts to change as community needs evolve, and funding contexts change, so flexibility is crucial. At Bridgeway, we believe everyone has the potential to succeed. We offer effective resources and tools for individuals in need.'
Some of the work done at the Macomb Work Center for online sellers includes packaging and shipping items; packaging install material for Wal-Mart stores across the U.S.; packaging and shipping goods for retailers like Target and Wayfair, among others; and creating numerous 'multicomponent units' and 'bundles' for customers. The Loves Park/Rockford Work Center, which employs approximately 75 consumer trainees, works with major and international companies, such as Cannon USA, and provides assembly work for many other large manufacturers. They also provide co-packaging services for club stores like Costco and Sam’s Club.
'The majority of the items we get here (in Macomb) are from international manufacturers, and when we receive these items, we inventory, shelve and manage the output to various marketplaces,' Moehler explained. 'We have also had the privilege of working with many large employers in town over the years, and we are pretty well-known across the country in the order-fulfillment business. Given our location in the center of the country, we're a more cost-effective option for many companies, especially those located in urban areas such as New York City.'
When there are lulls in orders or work directly related to the contracts, individuals continue honing their skills through various daily classes at Bridgeway through their Community Day Services program.
'We are passionate about our goal to help persons with disabilities to become independent and productive members of their community,' Danner shared.
Not only do work and daily life skills come into play, the work that individuals complete further builds their confidence, Moheler added.
'Earning a paycheck feels good to anyone,' she stressed. 'It instills you with a great sense of pride.'
Along with its various services and programs, Bridgeway in Macomb offers the only secure document shredding service in McDonough County, by appointment (37 cents/pound), for businesses, industries, individuals and other organizations. If that isn't enough, Bridgeway employs community employment specialists (aka job coaches) to help consumer trainees apply for jobs within the community. The specialists can also help at the job site, provide transportation and support for 12 months and beyond.
'The individuals we serve are able to choose daily what activities/services they participate in,' the women said. 'Work is a choice here and what they choose to do is an important philosophy for us.'
Bridgeway is the packing and shipping company for Paragon formalwear.
A star stencil is packaged and ready to ship.
A boxful of bowties wait to be sorted and placed in formalwear kits.
