About Me

559 isn’t just a name—it’s where I started: 559 East 37th Street in the Ida B. Wells Homes on Chicago’s South Side. My dad worked at Zenith and put tools in my hands early; curiosity did the rest.

Two women shaped how I move through the world. My grandmother, Momma Lena, taught me calm strength—never let emotions drive the bus. My mom pushed me to think critically and genuinely celebrate other people’s wins, even when they outplay you.

I grew up riding the #4 Cottage Grove bus downtown, hanging out at Radio Shack, and learning to code on a TRS-80. By high school I was writing real programs, landing gigs at Amoco and IBM, and eventually building a career in tech: credit reporting, programming, writing, training, and now years of work across industries in low-code, architecture, and design.

Chicago has always been home—mainly the South and West Sides, a little Oak Park, and a bit of Maywood. Sports taught me grit; faith and ministry keep me grounded: be content, be thankful, do good even when no one sees it.

559 Solutions is that story applied to your work: Chicago grit, plain language, and steady delivery for small businesses and nonprofits.

Instead of handing you a report and walking away, I focus on building working solutions:

  • Clean, low-code systems instead of tangled spreadsheets.

  • Simple dashboards instead of hunting through email.

  • Automations that quietly remove busywork so your team can focus on people, not paperwork.

I work with owners, nonprofit leaders, and small teams who don’t have a full-time IT department—but do have real problems worth solving. Together, we turn “this kind of works” into “this is actually helping us every day.”

No jargon. No drama. Just solutions that serve the mission.

— J. R. Wells

Why 559 Solutions exists

Let’s talk about your next solution

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