For the second year in a row, Goodwill Industries of Erie, Huron, Ottawa, & Sandusky Counties’ Bellevue Plant is delighted to be a host site for the Huron County Board of Developmental Disabilities’ Project LIFE participants.
Project LIFE is a two-year work readiness program available to post-graduates ages 18-25 who are HCBDD eligible. The program exposes participants to three job sites per year, for a total of six sites across a wide variety of industries, with Goodwill’s Bellevue Plant being the second location for the Year 2 participants.
Project LIFE participants from L-R, Austin, Haley, and Conner pose at the Goodwill Plant in Bellevue with Project LIFE instructor Marcia Smith.
“Project LIFE started for the Huron County Board of DD in 2023,” said instructor Marcia Smith. “It is filling a void. They closed the workshops for most of the county boards, so that people could be out in the community working, but we had a lot of people that needed that little extra help.
“They stayed home,” she added. “So, we take them to work.”
The Year 2 participants for this year’s cycle — Austin, Conner, and Haley — started their year at Tractor Supply Company (TSC) in Willard for their first rotation before moving on to the Bellevue Plant for their second 13-week rotation. They work at the site location in the morning, take lunch, and then finish the day with classroom instruction that covers topics such as managing finances, applying for jobs, safe technology use, etc. On Fridays, the participants go out in the community for different experiences.
“We go out into (the) community, out to eat, learn to order, learn to buy lunch… We went to Cleveland (recently), and going out of town like that — they think we’re going out of state because they just don’t get out,” Marcia said. “It really hits almost every aspect of a young 20-some-year-old’s life to be able to catch up with their peers.”
At Goodwill’s Bellevue Plant, the Project LIFE participants do the
Project LIFE participant Conner selects a bucket from a stack to assemble at Goodwill’s Bellevue Plant.
light manufacturing assembly work the plant is known for, specifically in this case, assembling plastic buckets by installing handles.
“It started out they weren’t sure,” Marcia said of the participants taking on the light assembly work, “But the competition I think now — they’re ready to go. It was metal handles (at first) which was hard to do, but we’ve turned over to plastic, and they can kind of fly through those, and I think they like it.”
“By about Week 4, we hope to see that they don’t need us,” she added of the participants and their on-site instructors. “And they’re hitting rate — they got a lot of motivation. I tell them, ‘You did 13 (stacks) yesterday. I’m going to need you to nail 14’ — it’s very good.”
The Project LIFE program, which is run by Marcia, as well as skills trainers Amy Rakosky and Jen Swicker — who have a combined 75+ years of experience with the HCBDD — is vital for Huron County adults with disabilities who need a little extra assistance with the next steps between school and sustained community employment.
“The main thing is, it’s taking adults out of their homes and showing them that they can live in society the way everyone else can,” Marcia said. “It’s giving them a dream of living the way everybody else does, and I love that.”
Project LIFE participant Haley adds a handle to a bucket at Goodwill’s Bellevue Plant.
The 2026 Year 2 trio will finish their rotation at the Goodwill Plant on March 27 before moving on to their next stop at Fisher Titus Medical Center, where they’ll close out their two years of job experience with Project LIFE.
Of their work at the Bellevue Plant, the consensus between Austin, Conner, and Haley was that they enjoy the light assembly work on the buckets.
“I got a bunch of buckets done!” Haley said. “I got rate!” she exclaimed, “Two times!!”
“I got 19 (stacks) done yesterday (in an hour)!” Conner said.
As they move into their final two weeks with Goodwill, Bellevue Plant HR Manager Donna Cook said the Project LIFE participants will be missed at the plant when their time there is finished.
“Everyone at the Bellevue Plant would like to extend our sincere thanks to Project LIFE for the time, effort, and enthusiasm they shared with us,” Donna said. “We truly appreciate the opportunity to work together and hope they enjoyed their time here as much as we enjoyed having them. Their contributions and partnership are valued, and we look forward to future opportunities to collaborate!”