Elevate, Inc.: Tackling Substance Use and Mental Health w/Laura Roenitz

Episode Transcript
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Fuzz Martin (00:08):
Welcome to another exciting edition of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
My name is Fuzz Martin and this is ashow about positive things happening in
and around Washington County, Wisconsin.
I hope all of you arehaving a wonderful December.
It's always kind of hard whenThanksgiving's super late in the month and
then you're thrust right into December.

(00:29):
Makes it hard to want to put upthe Christmas decorations, knowing
that you're going to have totake them down in three weeks.
Or for some of you, three months.
I'm not judging.
This week I'm pleased to be joined byLaura Roenitz, the CEO of Elevate Inc.
Elevate is an organization that helpspeople and families address substance
use and mental health challengesright here in Washington County.

(00:51):
Also in Waukesha, Sheboygan,and Dodge counties.
It's a wonderful resource and Ithink everyone should know about it.
15 Minutes on Elevate.
With Laura Roenitz onFifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

(01:14):
Alright, Laura, thank you for cominginto Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz today.
So, to start, can you give us alittle bit of background on Elevate?
What are some of the key programs thatElevate provides for Washington County and
for the surrounding communities, becauseit's not just Washington County, right?

Laura Roenitz (01:29):
Oh, right, sure.
So, Elevate provides comprehensiveprevention, education, counseling,
and crisis stabilization services.
In addition to supportof independent living for
Washington, Sheboygan, Waukesha.
and Dodge Counties.
So these services addresssubstance use and mental health
needs in our communities.

So you recently joined Elevate, you took over as the role
of CEO, Mary had been in for anumber of years, and um, what was
it about Elevate's mission thatinspired you to join the organization?

So I've been in the non profit sector the last 16 years
and under, it's given me a really goodunderstanding of the critical need for
services in these two areas, mentalhealth and substance use disorder.
Each of the communities that Elevateserves really, has a need, the mission
to strengthen individuals and familiesthrough a trauma informed, supportive,

(02:27):
care model really resonated with meand my passion for building communities
and really connecting people inthose communities to create a safe
and healthy community for everybody.

Great.
You're joining now witha fresh perspective.
And can you tell us a bit aboutyour professional background?
How, how has that preparedyou to CEO of Elevate?

Sure.
So my last two non profit leadershippositions, my focus really was on
strategic growth, community collaboration,really bringing systems together to,
present a coordinated care model, really.
So I think those two things plus, Mycommunications and marketing background
has really positioned me to really get outin the community, talk about what we're

(03:15):
doing, and really just move forward, andthen really, that has really equipped
me to connect the organizations and thecommunities we're in, not only within a
community, but connect those communities.
Border communities together.

Sure, certainly, certainly.
What do you see as some of thosebig strengths that Elevate brings
to Washington County and thesecommunities that you serve?

Yeah, I think two things jumped out right, right away for me
in the process of evaluating this.
Opportunity was the strongcommunity partnerships,
specifically in Washington County.
It's a longstanding relationshipbetween Elevate, which was really a
merger in 2015 between the Councilfor Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse of
Washington County and NOVA Services.

(03:57):
We merged in 2015, and then theevidence based programs that we run,
are two reasons that I think really,it was really Interesting for me.
And then the third was really thededicated team at Elevate, the way they
live their values and have a strongculture and just a desire to continue to,

(04:17):
provide these services really made it,I, I just think really intriguing to me.

Yeah, we, we here at Epic Creative, where we're recording
this, uh, this podcast, we workclosely with, Washington County,
and we're now working with WaukeshaCounty on the task force for heroin.
And, we.
Come across Elevate all the time becauseyou guys are so intertwined with helping
people find resources for, substanceuse and mental health resources as well,

(04:46):
and those are so often interconnected.
How does Elevate approach these issuesand help support the well being of
individuals and families and kind of takethat holistic approach to helping them?

I think the best way to describe it is, is, well, both of
these things are, they're different.
To present different challenges, Ithink when we approach it with families
and individuals, it's really aboutharm prevention as talking about how
do we prevent harm from anyone dealingwith these, in a way to lower stigma
so that in lowering stigma, Everybodycan feel really confident and safe

(05:23):
about talking about these things.
So I think those, that's the connectorbetween the two issues, that families
and individuals are dealing with.

Certainly.
I think when you're able to talk aboutit, you're more likely to get help, right?
Absolutely.
And go find help becauseyou're not hiding from it.

And I think the lowering stigma, it lowers the shame
associated with it for everyone.
And harm prevention is a to talk about it.
That is just, it's a really open,easy way to talk about how do we
How do we prevent harm no matterwhere we are in the, in the process?

Yeah, absolutely.
And that's how we grow and heal asa community and get through some
of these, some of these issues.
Speaking of growing, how do you envisionElevate growing and evolving in the
coming years with your new leadership?
Are there any new initiativesor programming that you're
planning to explore?

You know, that's a great question.
Nine weeks into my tenure, I thinkfor me, the evaluation of growth
is really about Looking for gaps.
If, if there's a gap, someone's,a community that doesn't have a
service that we can provide, wecertainly want to talk about that.
We had a large, growth into SheboyganCounty, in the last 12 to 15 months.

(06:33):
So, I think we all are taking a breath.
Deepening our commitment to thoseservices we're currently providing,
but we're always open for conversationsabout where there might be a gap
and where we can fill that gap.

I know you've only been on the job for nine weeks, so, you may not
have all of the anecdotes that, youmight have a year from now, but, you work
with a diverse group of individuals whohave various challenges that they face.
Can you share a story or example?
Maybe that you've learned or haveseen so far of how Elevate has made a

(07:05):
positive difference in someone's life.

Yeah, I think so.
It's a big important part of I thinkthis idea of lowering stigma and
normalizing a conversation of challengesthat people go through on every day.
I think, one of my, I think one of themost impactful stories we have is a client
who is facing addiction and homelessnessthrough our services, through Calm

(07:28):
Harbor in support of independent living.
Now serves as a peer supportspecialist to clients.
So they understand thechallenges firsthand.
They can relate and really close thatgap between service provision, I'll say,
and really understanding the challengesthat you go through on the every day.

So, mental health and substance use challenges have a broad
impact on families and then on, you know,that impacts the community as a whole.
How does Elevate work tosupport those family members
or loved ones who are affected?

Yeah, I think we offer several support groups for families,
who are trying to, Be supportive.
Again, it's a lot of conversation aboutharm reduction and lowering stigma.
The more we talk about it, the morewe, and normalize is a word we use, the
conversation and then helping educate onwhat the services are and how to access
those services, whether they're elevateservices or extended community services.

So, what are some of the ways that you plan to engage with the
local community to raise awareness, toreduce that stigma surrounding mental
health and substance use issues?

Yeah, that's a great question.
So we use them multiple, multiple ways.
Public events.
There's awareness campaigns that wewill do in the media, um, partnerships
with local leaders, partnerships withthe county, really encouraging people
to just talk about what's going on.
How Elevate serves this community and, howwe are ready to expand program if we can.

Are there any particular partnerships within Washington County?
or the surrounding areas thatare especially valuable to your
work and to Elevate as a whole.

Oh, for sure.
So we have a lot of differentpartnerships in all the communities.
I think our partnership with theWashington County Administration
in Health and Human Services iscritical to being able to serve.
Our relationship with the schools anddoing prevention work, our healthcare
providers really partner with usin helping, increase awareness and

(09:31):
through referral and law enforcement.
Specifically I'll say in SheboyganCounty, we have a co responder
program where we ride along with lawenforcement to mental health crisis.
It's been really a great partnership.
It's one that I think has, perhaps onewe can expand to other communities, right?

Sure, sure.
I've heard it talked about here andwe'll see if that maybe takes hold
someday in our community locally.

Yeah, I think what those partnerships do is they
allow the community as a wholeto have a comprehensive support,
model for, people struggling.

Volunteers obviously play a big role in any non profit.
Are there any specific ways thatcommunity members can get involved with
Elevate and help your organization?

Yeah, you know, volunteers, they bring invaluable perspective and
energy to our mission and our effort.
They help with community supportby talking about it, by attending,
our events, certainly help us infundraising, so we do two appeals
a year, to help raise money for thethings that, we need to do, we need.

(10:35):
on the day to day to provide theseservices, and then community outreach.
If you're part of an organization,you can bring our message and mission
and our staff to your organization.
It just helps everyone understandwhat, our mission is and
how we serve the community.

And then you mentioned fundraising.
Fundraising is the otherhalf of that, right?
So there's always the, the people tohelp and the funds to, to get it done.
How does Elevate secure theresources that it needs?
Are there opportunities for the communityto support your work financially?

Oh, sure.
So we secure fundingthrough various methods.
So we write independent grants.
We have contracts with, some ofthe community partners that we work
with in all of our communities.
We take contributions fromindividuals who may feel they have a
specific connection to our mission.
We love corporate sponsorships.
So we have a big fundraiser in July 19th.

(11:29):
This year is the Adrenaline Run.
We've been doing thatfor a number of years.
So we're looking forcorporate sponsorships.
We're looking for volunteersto help with that.
It's a big fundraiser for us.
It's the largest one we do.
So yeah, I think it's really excitingto, really look at how to engage
the community, with our mission.

So you had mentioned the Adrenaline Run, which comes up in July.
Where does that take place?

That's right in West Bend.

Okay.

It's an, I believe it's an in and out route.

Okay.

But you can find more details for all of our events and
fundraisers on our website elevateyou.
org.

All right, very good.
And then in your view, what's oneof the most meaningful impacts that
Elevate has had on the community so far?
As the new CEO.
How do you hope to build upon that?

Yeah, I think the most impactful, and we say this, every
day and when we come to work is weoffer life changing programming.
So crisis stabilization and the preventionmessaging is the most important thing
we can talk about, I think, for thenext phase of, you know, prevention.
Elevate and what we're doing it's reallyto really reinforce that messaging,

(12:40):
really help the communities understandwhat that programming means to youth,
to adults, to families, and reallyjust dig in and, and get it done.

You obviously now, you know, you, you know what you want to get done
and how you want to lead as a leader.
How will you define success forElevate looking into the future?

You know, when you're talking about life changing,
life saving, services is successis a, is a scale of things.
I think for an organization,it means fostering resilient,
healthier communities.
And then expanding the care to the widestreach we have, reducing stigma and then
improving the outcomes for those we serve.

Yeah, there's always going to be, people who need help with
mental health and with substance use.
And I think having the resourcesthat are there at a time like this.
The fastest route possible and theleast amount of stigma, I think, is
the, the best outcome in, in my opinion.
What's one message that you'd likelisteners to take away about Elevate
and the importance of supportingmental health and substance

(13:46):
use resources here in our area?

I think if I could leave everybody with one thing, no matter
how you do it, supporting the pursuitof mental health and substance use.
resources and recoverystrengthens the community.
And by doing this, we can createhope, healing, and opportunity
for each community that we serve.

Where can people learn more about Elevate or find
resources if they need them?

You can go to our website, elevateu.
org.
Or call us at 262 677 2216, and ourstaff can give you access to resources
and learn how to get more involved.

Wonderful.
Laura, welcome to Elevateand welcome to the community.
And Thank you so much for coming inand speaking with us today and I wish
you the best of luck in your roleand look forward to working with you.

Thanks so much, Fuzz.
I appreciate it.

Thank you again to Laura Reinitz, CEO of Elevate, Inc.
for joining me on this week'sepisode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
I'm always looking fornew guests for the show.
If you know of a person ororganization, let us know.
With whom I should speak?
Give me a shout.
You can email me fuzz at fuzzmartin.
com.
That is fuzz at fuzzmartin.
com.
Or you can use the form at fuzzmartin.

(15:01):
com slash guest.
That is fuzzmartin.
com slash guest.
New episodes drop on Tuesdays.
They're available on Apple Podcasts,Spotify, YouTube, or wherever
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You can also find everysingle episode on iTunes.
Online at fuzzmartin.
com.
And thank you for listening.
I'll talk to you again next time, righthere on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

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