Opportunity docks: Center receives $5K donation
The Opportunity Center accepted a check for $5,000 on December 12. Holding the check are Allen Roofing Construction owner Nathan Trappe (far left) and sales manager Ryan Johnson (near left) along with Opportunity Center CEO Pam Ritchie (near right) and Opportunity Center Board Member Tarah Marx. Other staff, consumers and board members, including Stacey Hannah, director of people and communication; Nancy Dowling, president of the Opportunity Center Board; Michael Douglass, vice president of the board; and Jesse Aspenson, member of the Opportunity Enterprises Board, are featured in the photo in front of the building’s new loading dock door. (Steve Van Kooten/Courier Press)
By Steve Van Kooten
On December 12, amid single-digit temperatures, Pam Ritchie and workers at the Opportunity Center stood next to a new loading dock door as Allen Roofing Construction presented them with a $5,000 check.
The check will go toward a $300,000 loan the Center needed to repair their loading dock after water damage this past year. Before borrowing any money, the OC paid $82,000 upfront toward the construction costs.
“The dock literally cracked and dropped two inches,” Ritchie said. “As we got into the project, we learned there were even more structural issues, and we ended up having to replace all three.”
According to Ryan Johnson, sales manager for ARC, water displaced the sand- and dirt-based compaction under the dock, causing the collapse.
The Opportunity Center building on North State Street was built in the 1970’s, and is one of three locations in Prairie du Chien. The others are the Unity Adult Day Center and Cafe Hope, both on North Beaumont Road.
“We were not anticipating this kind of expense, but we knew that we had to fix it immediately, so we went and got a loan,” Ritchie said. “This was not in anybody’s vision.”
The dock and the production warehouse are an important piece of the agency’s infrastructure. It’s an interconnected web that supports people in the community. Through sub-contract work with manufacturing businesses, approximately 25 individuals with disabilities are gainfully employed and the manufacturing side of their business helps support 60 people’s disability services.
“This is not our primary business. Our primary business is our clients, but this is a huge piece of the puzzle that supports that,” said Opportunity Center Board Member Michael Douglass. “It’s a loading dock, but it’s really supporting our program and our clients. At the end of the day, it’s not just a loading ramp. It’s a means for us to provide integrated employment and a quality workplace for individuals who would otherwise not have quality work and a place contributing.”
People stand on that dock every day; they ear their livelihood, they contribute to the economy and they find purpose and self-efficacy walking on that warehouse’s floor.
“While this a project about cement, it’s not about cement. It’s about what that cement does to support people with disabilities in our community everyday,” Ritchie said.
After ARC completed the loading dock project, Johnson saw an opportunity — no pun intended — to contribute to the community.
“Once we were nearing completion, Pam and I talked about payment and how that was going to happen. Her plans were to do some fundraising,” Johnson said. “So, I went to my boss, Nathan, who owns the company.”
The donation from ARC is a good start; it’s a solid foundation for Ritchie and the Opportunity Center to start paying the loan and ask the community to support for the people who turn to the Center for support.
“We are, for first time in many decades, coming to our community to ask for financial support for the Opportunity Center,” Ritchie said. “In order for us to stay financially healthy, we are turning to the community and saying, ‘Help us help our clients.”
