ALTON, IL – (August 15, 2023) — Challenge Unlimited (CU), a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Alton, IL, is pleased to announce the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors.

Alton resident Bruce Malone, a highly regarded leader in education and the community, was appointed to the CU board of directors in March for a three-year term. A retired educator, his leadership experience includes a ten-year term as the vice president of the board of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and serving on the board of directors for Madison County and the Alton Housing Authority. Malone also served as president of the Staunton (IL) Federation of Teachers.

As a parent of a daughter with Down Syndrome, Malone has an affinity for Challenge Unlimited’s mission. “I certainly understand first-hand the struggles faced by people with disabilities,” he says. “I envision a period of growth for Challenge and am excited to be part of that process.”

Geri Lynn Arrindell, a licensed attorney in Illinois and Missouri with the law firm Mickes O’Toole, joined CU’s board of directors in May for a three-year term. A resident of University City, MO, she is also general counsel for the organization. Her multi-faceted experience delivers an exceptional set of skills to CU.

Arrindell’s legal experience includes serving as litigation counsel to various entities including nonprofit organizations. Her background also includes arbitrations and administrative proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board and the Illinois Labor Relations Board. Prior to earning her law degree, Arrindell was a licensed clinical social worker with Hope, a nonprofit agency headquartered in Springfield, IL. Hope educates, treats and cares for children with Autism and other developmental disabilities. In addition to being the intake coordinator and program director for community-based programs, she was also instrumental in acquiring and opening several group homes.

“It is an honor to serve on the board which allows me to combine my passion for supporting the disabled community with my extensive legal experience,” she says. “I plan to assist the organization with risk management, policies, procedures and any other area in which I can be a resource.”

Tom Morrissey, chairperson of CU’s board of directors, is looking forward to the contributions each new member will bring to the organization. “Bruce and Geri Lynn have tremendous depth of knowledge and will be invaluable assets to our team,” Morrissey states. “Each is committed to furthering our mission of supporting people with all disabilities by providing pathways to independence through meaningful employment. We are delighted to have them join the board.”

About Challenge Unlimited

For more than 60 years, Challenge Unlimited has operated as a social enterprise, committed to serving individuals with disabilities, while earning a reputation as a trusted business partner to private commercial companies, federal and state government agencies by providing pathways to independence through meaningful employment for individuals with all abilities. As an accredited Community Rehabilitation Program (CRP) provider, Challenge Unlimited fulfills its mission through employment programs and services, skills training centers and community-integrated living options. For more information, please visit www.cuinc.org.

George H.W. Bush: A Champion for People with Disabilities

I would be remiss if I did not give honor and recognition to our 41st President, George H.W. Bush, for his groundbreaking legislation that was signed into law on July 26, 1990. This was a monumental piece of policy that prohibited discrimination against those with physical and intellectual disabilities, the Americans with Disabilities Act that Bush signed was seen as the equivalent of the Civil Rights Act for the individuals impacted by it.

At the time it was passed in 1990, it was endorsed by the Congress – the House and Senate – one of the largest majorities ever to pass a bill, which displays the overwhelming bipartisan support for the legislation. This is sometimes rare to see in politics, but it was clear how important Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility were at that time, even long before many organizations made it a priority.

This law covered several important aspects of life, specifically  accessibility to buildings and public places. This included individuals with mobility challenges but also individuals who have hearing loss, individuals with low vision, limited vision or blindness. In addition to physical accommodations, personnel must be trained to collaborate and interact appropriately with disabled people.

The part of this law that impacts our organization the most is employment. People with disabilities can not and should not be discriminated against in employment settings, either as applicants for a job or as workers. The law covers a broad array of issues pertaining to employment and it gave birth to equal opportunity for thousands of individuals with disabilities to work in more inclusive settings.

Thank you, President George H.W. Bush for your courage and service to our country.

Professional Grounds Management Society® (PGMS®) Announces 239th Certified Grounds Technician

Forest Hill, MD (May 2023) – The Professional Grounds Management Society® (PGMS®) has announced that Jerid Dunavan with Challenge Unlimited Inc. has become the 239th grounds management professional to successfully complete its Certified Grounds Technician (CGT) program. Those achieving the CGT professional designation must have first accomplished a required level of education and on-the-job experience and then successfully complete an examination process administered by PGMS. CGTs are required to maintain their professional designation by accumulating 35 hours of continuing education every five years.

For more information on becoming a Certified Grounds Technician (CGT) contact us or visit: https://pgms.org/page/CertifiedGroundsTechnician.

About the Professional Grounds Management Society® – Serving the profession for over 100 years, PGMS® is an individual membership society of grounds professionals dedicated to advancing the grounds management profession through education and professional development. Further information on PGMS® is available online at www.PGMS.org.

Fun Fact about Jerid: His faithful companion Daisy (pictured below) is as they say “man’s best friend” and her ears are longer than her legs. Isn’t she adorable? Thanks for sharing the photo Jerid and we congratulate you on your certification! We are proud to have you on the AbilityOne Team at Scott Air Force Base.

Challenge Unlimited Delivers a High Quality and Consistent Learning Experience

At Challenge Unlimited we believe in creating an environment that fosters learning and growth for every member of our team.

“Seeing our organization make the shift from a check-the-box compliance-based training mindset, to an organization that values learning at its core! Not only can we launch consistent training company-wide to ensure that all employees, regardless of location, receive the same quality of training – we can also address the learning needs of specific teams and individuals to support employee growth and development.”

Michelle Matsche, Challenge Unlimited’s Director of Training & Development was recently interviewed by the team at BizLibrary highlighting the success of our partnership.  Below is an excerpt from that interview.

“Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.

Let’s say you’re on a road trip across the United States. You stop at McDonald’s in every state and order the same meal each time. No matter the state or part of the country, the experience is the same, everything from the drive-thru script to the taste. It’s part of the reason you always stop. You know you can always expect the same quality, and it’s reliable (and who could turn down hot, crispy fries and a Big Mac – not us!).  

The same concept applies when delivering a training experience to a dispersed workforce.  It can be challenging to ensure that the same information is being conveyed in the same way across multiple different locations. But this is where an online learning management system can help.  

A few years ago, our client, Challenge Unlimited, was going through a season of growth and needed assistance keeping up with training and development. Because their workforce is spread across many office locations and cities, they knew finding a partner to help them stay organized and on top of all their initiatives was key to ensuring a consistent training experience.  

During their research, they came across BizLibrary and loved everything that BizLMS and our content had to offer.

Michelle Matsche, Director of Training and Development, recalls that BizLibrary had “everything we were looking for in one place and an amazing implementation team and ongoing level of support.”  

The ability to search content, track training, and have a dedicated partner was going to bring positive changes to their training experience.  

Challenge Unlimited’s Menu of Programs

Training is a big part of the culture at Challenge Unlimited. No matter if it’s their day one or five-year anniversary, every employee is involved in training for their own personal and professional development. The learning programs fall into three categories:  

• Risk and Compliance: 
  • All staff participates in risk and compliance training every year, and depending on which department an employee works in, they may have additional specific HR or safety training. Partnering with BizLibrary gives them content that can be accessed anywhere and is current and credible. By utilizing on-demand content, Challenge Unlimited saves time and money associated with travel or in-person training.  
• Managing Accessibility: 
  • Challenge Unlimited’s mission is to provide opportunities to individuals with disabilities. Because of this, having off-the-shelf content that educates their employees on how to serve those with disabilities was of the utmost importance. Additionally, they also employ individuals with disabilities, so having a partner that provides accessible options like transcripts, closed captioning, or downloadable flyers were non-negotiable.  
• Culture and Leadership Influence: 
  • Creating cohesive teams and a growth-minded culture is something that Challenge Unlimited values highly. This is not achieved overnight, but by empowering their leaders through development, creating cohorts for learning, offering hybrid training, and giving elective learning opportunities to all employees, they are able to increase retention and employee satisfaction.  

As we dive into the specifics of some of their programs, you’ll see why in order to have a culture of continuous learning they needed to ensure development opportunities are offered to every employee in a consistent way. 

Onboarding

From day one, employees are immersed in an onboarding training experience designed to showcase who Challenge Unlimited is, provide education surrounding serving those with disabilities, and assist with on-the-job training. On an employee’s first day, they used to attend training in person at their headquarters in Alton, Illinois.  

The L&D team quickly realized that because of the growth their organization was experiencing, they needed to shift to virtual to save on travel and lodging expenses. Now, no matter where an employee is hired, they all “attend” the same training.  

Training kicks off with a welcome video from the CEO explaining the importance and purpose of the development (we LOVE this idea). Next, employees are given time to go through their learning initiatives that include courses on everything they would need to know when beginning their career, like communicating with people with disabilities.

After they complete their general onboarding courses, they are provided location-specific training, depending on the role they perform.  

Safety and Compliance

Every year employees complete the required compliance training. It’s extremely important that employees are continually educated on how to be safe and respectful while at work.  

The emphasis placed on creating an equitable workforce allows them to achieve 100% participation from every single employee (I think we can all agree this is IMPRESSIVE!!). When compliance audits come around, the training team can easily pull the reports they need within BizLMS, and maintaining their accreditations is a breeze.   

Leadership Development

Don’t think we are finished yet! The program list keeps going. They offer a specific leadership training program to all of their leaders. Each year they conduct a needs assessment to identify any business challenges and use that information to decide on an overarching topic for their leadership program. The training team at Challenge Unlimited first assigned the Inclusive Mindset expert-led series from BizLibrary and asked their leaders the following questions:  

1. How does this apply to you? 
2. What are your challenges? 
3. What comes easily to you?  

From the survey, they determined that this year’s big focus would be on psychological safety and inclusion. Then, each month covers a subtopic related to the focus. For example, one month was neurodiversity. Ahead of each month’s virtual discussion –hosted using hybrid classroom management within BizLMS—the leaders are assigned courses to watch on their own time. Then they come together to discuss what they learned in a space that promotes transparency and vulnerability.  

Challenge Unlimited didn’t want to stop there with training opportunities for their leaders. They recently implemented a mentorship program as well. There is an application process where the leaders can lay out their personal development goals, and then five to eight managers are chosen and paired with a member of the executive team.  

To kick off the program, they host a celebratory meet and greet where the mentors and mentees sit down and establish a goal plan. Once they have everything mapped out, it gets submitted to the training team who creates learning initiatives in BizLMS to assign content that specifically addresses each mentee’s unique goals.  

During the course of this five-month program, the pairs meet and discuss progress made, and the participants complete their on-demand learning. Once the program wraps, there is a graduation – Alexa play, “Pomp and Circumstance!”  

Training for Everyone

Last, but not least, each year the training team offers an elective learning series for all employees to participate in. This year they are coining the program the “Bizzle Buzz Coffee Talk” where they will go through the Science of Happiness at Work Expert Insights Series. Each month participants watch 12 to 15 minutes of the course, and then meet virtually on the last Thursday of the month to discuss what they learned.  

To encourage employees to participate, they offer an incentive for those who attend every session in the series. We’re just over here wondering if we can come!” (BizLibrary, 2023)

Click here view Michelle’s interview and read the entire article on BizLibrary’s website.

Michelle told our Corporate Marketing Manager,  “with BizLibrary, all of the functions we need are included in one Learning Management System. We can track in-person/classroom training and online sessions. We can upload all of our training content into the library. We have access to over 10,000 relevant, on-demand learning courses ranging from safety, to leadership, to computer programs, to individual health and wellness!”

On behalf of all of us at Challenge Unlimited we want to thank you those who contributed to our advocacy efforts to increase support for our DSP’s.

It takes a collaborative effort to make a difference for individuals with disabilities. As the legislature has been working to pass the budget we called out for help and many organizations and individuals answered that call.

You emailed your policy makers, you made calls to their offices and you helped make our efforts a success. Organizations like ours rely on collaboration and power in numbers to create a more equitable and inclusive policy system for individuals living with disabilities and we are grateful for the support we received from the community. Read the statement below from our partners at The Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities. (www.iarf.org)

Below is more detailed information about what these advocacy efforts were able to achieve for individuals with disabilities:

Disability Services:

• $2.50/hr DSP wage rate increase
  • Effective January 1, 2024
  • Maintains current guidance on implementation of wage rate, including regionality
• $10 million to expand regionality factor to Community Day Services
  • Effective January 1, 2024
  • 15% rate factor for Cook and collar counties
• $56.7 million for FY23 Guidehouse annualizations from FY23
• $26 million for annualization of FY23 and FY24 Ligas placements
• $27.6 million for required rate adjustment for home-based services
• $12.5 million re-appropriation of one-time revenues for staffing supports from FY23 budget

Behavioral Health Services:

• $30 million increase for Medicaid Mental Health – see below for full breakout of rates
  • $6.8 million for Mobile Crisis Response rates
  • $4 million for Crisis Intervention rates
  • $10.5 million for IATP rates
  • $1.2 million for Group Therapy rates
  • $500,000 for Family Therapy rates
  • $4 million for Community Support Group rates and
  • $3 million for Medication Monitoring rates
• $170 million for Mental Health Grants
  • An increase of almost $5 million over FY23
• $58 million for Community Transitions/Rebalancing
  • An increase of almost $5 million over FY23
• $10 million for the Behavioral Health Workforce Center
• $5 million for the BH Student Loan Repayment Program
  • This represents continued funding of the program, which will now also be expanded to include additional practitioner levels and higher grant amounts
• $5 million for 988 Call Centers
• $75 million in Mental Health Block Grants
  • $50 million in continued MH Block Grant funding
  • $25 million in ARPA MH Block Grant funding

On May 30, 1999, Congress designated National Military Appreciation Month as a month-long observance. Congress chose May because of the many military related observances such as Memorial Day and Loyalty Day are celebrated and observed on that date.

National Military Appreciation Month, also known as Military Appreciation Month, is a month-long observance  recognized in the United States, dedicated to people who are currently in the military or have resigned from duty. Each year, the observance runs from May 1 to May 31. Not only do we pause on Memorial Day to remember the sacrifice and service of those who gave all, but the month also holds several other military anniversaries and events, including Military Spouse Appreciation Day and Armed Forces day. (Military.com, 2023)

We asked our Vice President of Operations, Army Colonel James Porter what Military Appreciation Month means to him. James has served in the United States Army for 31 years, here’s what he had to say about his service, and one particular Major who made an impact on his career and his life.

“May is a dynamic month for many reasons. First and foremost, it is Military Appreciation Month. Every day, I get to read and delight in stories of Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who have served honorably and faithfully. The stories are inspiring and uplifting and make me extremely proud to have served in my nations Army for 31 years.

Secondly, we celebrate Memorial Day in May. This year I wanted to share my memories of Major James Chinelo. James was on my Mobility team in 2015, 4^th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), as we prepared for deployment. He was a high-speed officer whom many admired and emulated.

He was with us  for a brief period after we deployed to Kuwait. The command needed great officers to serve as liaisons in Iraq and James was immediately selected for such a distinct and highly important role. A few months later, James was rushed out of theater and back to the states. At the time it happened, I was not given details as to why he was suddenly returned home.

I was later informed that a few months after returning home, Major Chinelo died from a very aggressive form of cancer. To this day, I think of him often. At the time of his death, he left behind a wife and a newborn child. His absence still impacts me today as much as it impacted me when he was left my team. He was a great Husband, Father, Soldier, Leader and Friend.

Rest well James Chinelo. Well done thy good and faithful Soldier.”

Col. James Porter currently serves as the Chief of Staff, 311TH Expeditionary Sustainment Command for the United States Army Reserves out of Los Angeles, California.

We thank you James for your service, for sharing your story and for the reminder that as we celebrate this Memorial Day, we must remember the bravery and honor of all servicemen and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Specifically, the many fallen soldiers who are gone but they are certainly not forgotten.

SourceAmerica® offers a range of grants to help the AbilityOne® authorized providers in our national network to turn their ideas into reality. As an authorized provider Challenge Unlimited is so grateful for the opportunities that these funds help us to provide for our clients.

Challenge Unlimited: Boosting Client Health and Fitness
At Challenge Unlimited, Inc. we encourage our clients with disabilities to lead healthy lifestyles in and out of the workplace. We participate in the Health Matters Program™, which provides a nutrition and exercise curriculum for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to support this Program we established gyms at three of our skill training centers. The gyms are anticipated to benefit 200 initial users, and this number is expected to grow over time.

At Challenge Unlimited we offset the cost of purchasing stationary bikes, treadmills, and free weights for these gyms through SourceAmerica’s Quality Work Environment Grant. Our organization’s staff members believe that onsite access and not charging gym membership fees have raised interest among those clients who would otherwise be discouraged from joining a traditional gym or fitness center due to cost or lack of convenience.

Read more this amazing Grant Opportunity and other organizations that were able to utilize funds through these grants on the SourceAmerica Website.

Thanks SourceAmerica! These funds help our organization boost available resources for our clients and provide healthy lifestyle education at our Skills Training Centers in Alton, Swansea, and Quincy, Illinois.

Our Marketing Manager, Stephanie Schrage, chatted with Mark Ellebracht, on 107.1FM – The Big Z Radio last week.

Topics included services that we have to offer, our community engagement expansion initiatives and how we can help businesses fulfill their staffing needs while creating a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Check out the interview below! ⬇️⬇️

Click here to complete the contact form on or website💻 or give us a call 📞 (618)465-0044 to see how we can partner with you business or organization.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn for updates and success stories!

Mascoutah, IL – “If you are ever feeling as if life is beating you down, I want you think of Shawn Kehrer. He has experienced more than his fair share of setbacks. Yet he keeps on coming back. This morning with the help of Jimmy Kruckow, Priscilla Carden Visintine, and Lisa M Burns-Wojick of Challenge Unlimited, Inc. – An AbilityOne Provider, I told Shawn’s story of resilience in my ‘My Lou’ segment.”

Thank you Rene Knott and KSDK for sharing Shawn’s Story!

Shawn you are an inspiration!