This week, one of the favorite things I learned was about Bridgeway’s crisis stabilisation program. I was able to speak with Madison Stegall, who is the crisis stabilisation program manager. Crisis stabilisation specializes in supporting students who are experiencing a detrimental change in behaviour. Meeting with Madison, I learned that many of the students who receive care from the program significantly benefit from the program and are able to return to their daily lives with more independence. One aspect about the program that really stood out to me was that the program was proposed by Madison herself. She told me that she had initially worked at Bridgeway in a different position but was encouraged by Erin and Abby to write a program proposal for it because of her passion for serving students in crisis.  

I also learned that Bridgeway is one of the very few places in the state of Ohio to have a program like crisis. This made me realise how amazing it is to have the expertise of the program’s staff at Bridgeway. However, this also means that the care is inaccessible for students who are experiencing crisis but are not students at Bridgeway and unable to receive care at the few other places.

I spoke about what I learned with Janelle and learned that many of the programs at Bridgeway were introduced by staff. Other programs such as the Bridgeway Academy Market were also introduced by staff and I thought this was amazing because it shows just how much of the organisation is the people working in it. Without the staff at Bridgeway, it would not be what it is. I feel like Madison and the crisis program would be great to highlight in the annual report.