Congratulations, Mark Milligan, 2016-2017 Spirito! Service Award Winner!
Mark Milligan is co-founder of Bridge Communities and is currently serving as President of the organization.
Prior to coming to the social services arena, Mark had a long career in business. His degree in Business Administration (Marketing) is from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Mark had a twenty three year career with Hallmark Cards as a sales rep and as a sales trainer before taking an early retirement in 1995 to begin working full time with Bridge Communities.
The founding of Bridge Communities was in 1988 as a result of Mark’s involvement with an agency that provided overnight shelter for homeless people in DuPage County, IL. This experience brought a new understanding of some of the needs of homeless children in the county that were not being met. Based upon that new understanding, Bridge Communities was born as a place where homeless families in the area could find stable housing and related homeless services to move them back into permanent affordable housing.
After beginning his work with the homeless population of DuPage, Mark attended the College of DuPage and received a Certification Degree (60 Hours) in Issues related to Domestic Violence.
Mark has been awarded the Humanitarian Award of the Year by Catholic Charities, Diocese of Joliet, IL (1996), the DuPage Homeownership Center’s Robert Christ Award (1997), and the West Suburban Philanthropic Network Humanitarian of the Year Award (2014). In 1998, Mark was awarded the Alumni of the Year Award by his high school, Urbandale High School in Urbandale, Iowa. In addition to his responsibilities with Bridge Communities, he has served as board member and Vice President of Family Shelter Service, the domestic violence sheltering agency in the DuPage Area and he has also served as President and board member of The DuPage Homeownership Center, an agency dedicated to providing assistance to first time home buyers. Mark has also been instrumental in mentoring five other agencies from their inception as their transitional housing programs have developed, emulating the Bridge Communities model. He is also involved in the DuPage County Continuum of Care of Housing.
Mark has lived in Wheaton, IL for the past 33 years. He has two adult children living in that area, along with his granddaughter Iris.
Mark Milligan is co-founder of Bridge Communities and is currently serving as President of the organization.
Welcome to the Spirito! family, Mark!