Community center celebrates 13th birthday
By Isabella Schreck
The Bridge Teen Center officially became a teenager itself in June.
In 13 years, the nonprofit community center that serves the south suburbs has connected with over 11,800 students in its goal of supporting students “mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually” as they work through the ups and downs of middle and high school.
“It’s walking alongside a teenager during a very changing time in their life and just making sure they know they’re not alone and they have adults in the community that are cheering them on,” said Priscilla Steinmetz, the Bridge’s founder and executive director. “My heart, my passion is teenagers – helping them grow and helping them to see their value and know that they were created for a purpose.”
The Bridge, located at 15555 S. 71st Court in Orland Park, hosts various programs throughout the school year and summer, which fall into one or more of five “buckets” or categories: community connections, education support, everyday life, expressive arts, and mind/body.
At The Bridge Thrift Store, which is next door to the center, the Bridge offers a Job Readiness Program, volunteer opportunities for adults, college internships and group and family service opportunities.
Recent programs included “Bullet Journaling” on June 15 and “Friday Night Live: Under The Stars & S’mores w/ Meijer & Campfire” on June 20.
A full list of upcoming programs and sign-up information is on The Bridge’s website.
Students in seventh- through 12th-grade can become members by completing a free online application on The Bridge’s website with supervision from a parent or guardian.
The Bridge is “built by the community, for the community,” as stated on its website, and is funded by donors, foundations, businesses, other entities, and The Bridge Thrift Store.
“We really want to teach our students to be not only consumers for the community but to be contributors,” Steinmetz said.
Since the center invites students from across the south suburbs to join, teenagers have made “Bridge friends” from other schools and have met people from outside their regular friend groups.
“They get to meet other students outside of their school structure, which I actually think pays dividends for a student,” Steinmetz said. “They get to spread their wings a little bit, and they don’t have the label maybe that they have at school.”
Steinmetz said The Bridge could not have fulfilled its’ mission throughout the years without the continued support it has received from the community.
“I just want to humbly say ‘thank you’ to everyone over 13 years – to the people who do our programs, to the people who donate and choose to give local at the thrift store, to people who have financially invested in this idea that we had that we can make a difference,” Steinmetz said. “We come in every day, and we work hard, but without the people behind us and people donating financially, we would not be able to do this for all the students that we have.”