[00:00:00] Fuzz Martin: Welcome to another exciting edition of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz. My name is Fuzz Martin and this is a show about positive things happening in and around Washington County, Wisconsin. I hope all of you are having a wonderful December. It’s always kind of hard when Thanksgiving’s super late in the month and then you’re thrust right into December.
Makes it hard to want to put up the Christmas decorations, knowing that you’re going to have to take them down in three weeks. Or for some of you, three months. I’m not judging. This week I’m pleased to be joined by Laura Roenitz, the CEO of Elevate Inc. Elevate is an organization that helps people and families address substance use and mental health challenges right here in Washington County.
Also in Waukesha, Sheboygan, and Dodge counties. It’s a wonderful resource and I think everyone should know about it. 15 Minutes on Elevate. With Laura Roenitz on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
Alright, Laura, thank you for coming into Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz today. So, to start, can you give us a little bit of background on Elevate? What are some of the key programs that Elevate provides for Washington County and for the surrounding communities, because it’s not just Washington County, right?
[00:01:29] Laura Roenitz: Oh, right, sure. So, Elevate provides comprehensive prevention, education, counseling, and crisis stabilization services. In addition to support of independent living for Washington, Sheboygan, Waukesha. and Dodge Counties. So these services address substance use and mental health needs in our communities.
[00:01:49] Fuzz Martin: So you recently joined Elevate, you took over as the role of CEO, Mary had been in for a number of years, and um, what was it about Elevate’s mission that inspired you to join the organization?
[00:02:05] Laura Roenitz: So I’ve been in the non profit sector the last 16 years and under, it’s given me a really good understanding of the critical need for services in these two areas, mental health and substance use disorder.
Each of the communities that Elevate serves really, has a need, the mission to strengthen individuals and families through a trauma informed, supportive, care model really resonated with me and my passion for building communities and really connecting people in those communities to create a safe and healthy community for everybody.
[00:02:39] Fuzz Martin: Great. You’re joining now with a fresh perspective. And can you tell us a bit about your professional background? How, how has that prepared you to CEO of Elevate?
[00:02:52] Laura Roenitz: Sure. So my last two non profit leadership positions, 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, My communications and marketing background has really positioned me to really get out in the community, talk about what we’re doing, and really just move forward, and then really, that has really equipped me to connect the organizations and the communities we’re in, not only within a community, but connect those communities.
Border communities together.
[00:03:27] Fuzz Martin: Sure, certainly, certainly. What do you see as some of those big strengths that Elevate brings to Washington County and these communities that you serve?
[00:03:35] Laura Roenitz: Yeah, I think two things jumped out right, right away for me in the process of evaluating this. Opportunity was the strong community partnerships, specifically in Washington County.
It’s a longstanding relationship between Elevate, which was really a merger in 2015 between the Council for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse of Washington County and NOVA Services. We merged in 2015, and then the evidence based programs that we run, are two reasons that I think really, it was really Interesting for me.
And then the third was really the dedicated team at Elevate, the way they live their values and have a strong culture and just a desire to continue to, provide these services really made it, I, I just think really intriguing to me.
[00:04:22] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, we, we here at Epic Creative, where we’re recording this, uh, this podcast, we work closely with, Washington County, and we’re now working with Waukesha County on the task force for heroin.
And, we. Come across Elevate all the time because you guys are so intertwined with helping people find resources for, substance use and mental health resources as well, and those are so often interconnected. How does Elevate approach these issues and help support the well being of individuals and families and kind of take that holistic approach to helping them?
[00:05:00] Laura Roenitz: I think the best way to describe it is, is, well, both of these things are, they’re different. To present different challenges, I think when we approach it with families and individuals, it’s really about harm prevention as talking about how do we prevent harm from anyone dealing with these, in a way to lower stigma so that in lowering stigma, Everybody can feel really confident and safe about talking about these things.
So I think those, that’s the connector between the two issues, that families and individuals are dealing with.
[00:05:31] Fuzz Martin: Certainly. I think when you’re able to talk about it, you’re more likely to get help, right? Absolutely. And go find help because you’re not hiding from it.
[00:05:39] Laura Roenitz: 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 matter where we are in the, in the process?
[00:05:54] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, absolutely. And that’s how we grow and heal as a community and get through some of these, some of these issues. Speaking of growing, how do you envision Elevate growing and evolving in the coming years with your new leadership?
Are there any new initiatives or programming that you’re planning to explore?
[00:06:11] Laura Roenitz: You know, that’s a great question. Nine weeks into my tenure, I think for 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, we certainly want to talk about that.
We had a large, growth into Sheboygan County, in the last 12 to 15 months. So, I think we all are taking a breath. Deepening our commitment to those services we’re currently providing, but we’re always open for conversations about where there might be a gap and where we can fill that gap.
[00:06:44] Fuzz Martin: I know you’ve only been on the job for nine weeks, so, you may not have all of the anecdotes that, you might have a year from now, but, you work with a diverse group of individuals who have various challenges that they face.
Can you share a story or example? Maybe that you’ve learned or have seen so far of how Elevate has made a positive difference in someone’s life.
[00:07:07] Laura Roenitz: Yeah, I think so. It’s a big important part of I think this idea of lowering stigma and normalizing a conversation of challenges that people go through on every day.
I think, one of my, I think one of the most impactful stories we have is a client who is facing addiction and homelessness through our services, through Calm Harbor in support of independent living. Now serves as a peer support specialist to clients. So they understand the challenges firsthand.
They can relate and really close that gap between service provision, I’ll say, and really understanding the challenges that you go through on the every day.
[00:07:47] Fuzz Martin: 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 to support those family members or loved ones who are affected?
[00:08:03] Laura Roenitz: Yeah, I think we offer several support groups for families, who are trying to, Be supportive. Again, it’s a lot of conversation about harm reduction and lowering stigma. The more we talk about it, the more we, and normalize is a word we use, the conversation and then helping educate on what the services are and how to access those services, whether they’re elevate services or extended community services.
[00:08:29] Fuzz Martin: So, what are some of the ways that you plan to engage with the local community to raise awareness, to reduce that stigma surrounding mental health and substance use issues?
[00:08:38] Laura Roenitz: Yeah, that’s a great question. So we use them multiple, multiple ways.
Public events. There’s awareness campaigns that we will do in the media, um, partnerships with local leaders, partnerships with the county, really encouraging people to just talk about what’s going on.
How Elevate serves this community and, how we are ready to expand program if we can.
[00:09:00] Fuzz Martin: Are there any particular partnerships within Washington County? or the surrounding areas that are especially valuable to your work and to Elevate as a whole.
[00:09:09] Laura Roenitz: Oh, for sure. So we have a lot of different partnerships in all the communities.
I think our partnership with the Washington County Administration in Health and Human Services is critical to being able to serve. Our relationship with the schools and doing prevention work, our healthcare providers really partner with us in helping, increase awareness and through referral and law enforcement.
Specifically I’ll say in Sheboygan County, we have a co responder program where we ride along with law enforcement to mental health crisis. It’s been really a great partnership. It’s one that I think has, perhaps one we can expand to other communities, right?
[00:09:49] Fuzz Martin: Sure, sure. I’ve heard it talked about here and we’ll see if that maybe takes hold someday in our community locally.
[00:09:55] Laura Roenitz: Yeah, I think what those partnerships do is they allow the community as a whole to have a comprehensive support, model for, people struggling.
[00:10:06] Fuzz Martin: Volunteers obviously play a big role in any non profit. Are there any specific ways that community members can get involved with Elevate and help your organization?
[00:10:15] Laura Roenitz: Yeah, you know, volunteers, they bring invaluable perspective and energy to our mission and our effort. They help with community support by talking about it, by attending, our events, certainly help us in fundraising, so we do two appeals a year, to help raise money for the things that, we need to do, we need.
on the day to day to provide these services, 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 understand what, our mission is and how we serve the community.
[00:10:51] Fuzz Martin: And then you mentioned fundraising.
Fundraising is the other half of that, right? So there’s always the, the people to help and the funds to, to get it done. How does Elevate secure the resources that it needs? Are there opportunities for the community to support your work financially?
[00:11:06] Laura Roenitz: Oh, sure. So we secure funding through various methods.
So we write independent grants. We have contracts with, some of the community partners that we work with in all of our communities. We take contributions from individuals who may feel they have a specific connection to our mission. We love corporate sponsorships. So we have a big fundraiser in July 19th.
This year is the Adrenaline Run. We’ve been doing that for a number of years. So we’re looking for corporate sponsorships. We’re looking for volunteers to help with that. It’s a big fundraiser for us. It’s the largest one we do. So yeah, I think it’s really exciting to, really look at how to engage the community, with our mission.
[00:11:46] Fuzz Martin: So you had mentioned the Adrenaline Run, which comes up in July. Where does that take place?
[00:11:50] Laura Roenitz: That’s right in West Bend.
[00:11:51] Fuzz Martin: Okay.
[00:11:52] Laura Roenitz: It’s an, I believe it’s an in and out route.
[00:11:54] Fuzz Martin: Okay.
[00:11:54] Laura Roenitz: But you can find more details for all of our events and fundraisers on our website elevateyou. org.
[00:12:01] Fuzz Martin: All right, very good. And then in your view, what’s one of 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?
[00:12:16] Laura Roenitz: Yeah, I think the most impactful, and we say this, every day and when we come to work is we offer life changing programming. So crisis stabilization and the prevention messaging is the most important thing we can talk about, I think, for the next phase of, you know, prevention.
Elevate and what we’re doing it’s really to really reinforce that messaging, really help the communities understand what that programming means to youth, to adults, to families, and really just dig in and, and get it done.
[00:12:51] Fuzz Martin: 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 for Elevate looking into the future?
[00:13:03] Laura Roenitz: You know, when you’re talking about life changing, life saving, services is success is a, is a scale of things. I think for an organization, it means fostering resilient, healthier communities. And then expanding the care to the widest reach we have, reducing stigma and then improving the outcomes for those we serve.
[00:13:24] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, there’s always going to be, people who need help with mental health and with substance use. And I think having the resources that are there at a time like this. The fastest route possible and the least amount of stigma, I think, is the, the best outcome in, in my opinion. What’s one message that you’d like listeners to take away about Elevate and the importance of supporting mental health and substance use resources here in our area?
[00:13:49] Laura Roenitz: I think if I could leave everybody with one thing, no matter how you do it, supporting the pursuit of mental health and substance use. resources and recovery strengthens the community. And by doing this, we can create hope, healing, and opportunity for each community that we serve.
[00:14:06] Fuzz Martin: Where can people learn more about Elevate or find resources if they need them?
[00:14:10] Laura Roenitz: You can go to our website, elevateu. org. Or call us at 262 677 2216, and our staff can give you access to resources and learn how to get more involved.
[00:14:24] Fuzz Martin: Wonderful. Laura, welcome to Elevate and welcome to the community. And Thank you so much for coming in and speaking with us today and I wish you the best of luck in your role and look forward to working with you.
[00:14:36] Laura Roenitz: Thanks so much, Fuzz. I appreciate it.
[00:14:40] Fuzz Martin: Thank you again to Laura Reinitz, CEO of Elevate, Inc. for joining me on this week’s episode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz. I’m always looking for new guests for the show. If you know of a person or organization, 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. com slash guest. That is fuzzmartin. com slash guest. New episodes drop on Tuesdays. They’re available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you enjoy listening to podcasts. You can also find every single episode. Online at fuzzmartin. com. And thank you for listening. I’ll talk to you again next time, right here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
