Welcome, everybody, to Midday Magazine for this Tuesday, September 24th, 2024.
Have your host, James here with you.
We're joined right now by our great friends from the Family Center.
We have Executive Director, Trisha Faulkner with us.
Trisha, good to have you with us.
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
Always appreciate the time, and I do like to journalistically mention to the audience
I am on the board of the Wisconsin Rapids Family Center, and just as important, I am also
on the right side of history when it comes to our subjects we're going to be talking about
today.
I make no bones about that, and I know I'm not alone, and I bring this up actually as
a way to kind of get into the conversation a little bit with you, but also because when
I brought this up over the years, when I've interviewed members from the Family Center,
I have heard more times than not, I would say, 9 out of 10 interviews from the audience
and hearing from people that I don't normally hear from, that want to just add to the sentiment
I'm with you, and we're with you, and we're with the Family Center.
This is more and more important as we go along, Trisha, be in part because this subject
in this fight is not ending, but also important because of the lack of funds that have been
happening in recent time to the Family Center.
We'll touch on that today and get into some other things as well, but I'm wondering if
you don't mind if we can discuss this 40th anniversary first.
Yeah, yeah.
So, we are celebrating this year is our 40th anniversary.
The Family Center, well, started 40 years ago in 84, and actually as the Family Center
got started in the St. Lawrence Catholic Church, Convent is where it got started and there
had been a couple women who attended that church, and the church was realizing that domestic
abuse and sexual assault were a problem within our community, and when that Convent had
been sitting empty for quite some time, there was a group of women that came to the current
priest and said, what if we use that Convent to help victims of domestic or sexual violence?
And that's really where the Family Center was birthed from, and we've just grown from
there.
I go back to my first conversation with Sue and Deb, you know, I used to on-air, off-air
joke with them.
I wish you didn't have a job.
I would love to see you.
I'd love to be interviewing you still, but just in a whole different business or something
like that.
Same goes for you certainly.
It's an interesting situation to, and I use the word celebrate in a different light maybe
with this, because while we're very proud and very thankful, very, very thankful, very
appreciative of 40 years of, we're having a Wisconsin-Rabbit's Family Center, of those
early trailblazers of that.
I'm so appreciative.
I love history just in general, but local history all the more, and giving us an opportunity
to be thankful to those individuals that got this going.
At the same time, we do wish that we didn't even need this center, but we do, and then
God that we have it, thankful, we are thankful that we have it, and the people in the individuals
that we do have doing this, and 40 years, like this is, I'm a big believer in silver
linings, and always find that you can always find this silver lining in any situation in
life.
And when I look at something like this, it's, you don't have to dig, you know, they're
right there for you.
And one of the positives is the idea of not just the person that has been in this situation
like this, and statistically, we know that it doesn't take many degrees of separation,
that somebody has experienced domestic violence, whether personally or no of an individual
that has.
But to the individuals out there in the community that have not, that small percentage, but
that percentage of people, when they hear something like this, the pride that they take
in the Family Center is just as wonderful as some of the individuals and some of the
other stories that I've heard over the years, and some of that.
And I think it's noteworthy, too, that our Wisconsin's Rabbids Family Center stands
out.
And it's one of those ones that, not every center, not every area has one that has been
around for 40 years, that's some pride in our roots, some pride in this area that we
can take as well.
So I think that there's a lot to celebrate in this regard while also doing this with a
heavy heart and understanding that there is not only work that has to be done, but people
that need us.
Absolutely.
And you know, it's interesting because when we started, we had one full-time employee
and one part-time employee back in 84 when the Family Center started.
And unfortunately, the need has continued to grow.
And it is right that you're absolutely correct.
There's so much to celebrate that our community is so thankful and blessed to have this organization
and to be able to provide services to victims in our area.
But at the same time, all of the community members that have made this happen.
And that's really, you know, really what we want to celebrate is our community has done
this for 40 years and have assisted us to have these services.
And we have grown from one full-time employee and one part-time employee to 15 full-time
employees and seven part-time employees.
And we've grown from, you know, in the beginning when the Family Center opened in 84, they
had the shelter and there was five bedrooms within the shelter.
And they also had our visitation safe exchange program.
But the number of programs that we have grown for not only people seeking shelter, but
people seeking outreach services.
And now we have support groups and we have legal advocacy and we have housing advocacy
children programming and all of the different things that as we became experts in the field,
we were able to notice, hey, here's a gap that our community really needs us to fill.
And because of community support, whether it be volunteering, donating, we were able
to step into those gaps and have been able to continue doing so for 40 years.
And with that longevity and being around long enough, you're able to collect data, you're
able to get more and more information and figure out ways to help this issue, help people
in this issue and learn more about why this happens in some of those and how we can prevent
it from happening in the future.
So many layers to this topic that I don't think were things that we saw early on.
And I think it's important to note, too, that year you mentioned 84 and when this was,
that wasn't that long ago, you know, and so there was a lot of decades, a lot of years
before that where we didn't have a family center around, it didn't have something for
this. So while it is a heavy heart that we do this and we celebrate 40 years, it's
really important, I think, to keep in mind, too, that the work that was done to get to
this point and how it could be otherwise.
You know, it doesn't take a huge imagination to imagine, you know, what our community would
be like if we didn't have a family center.
And that's that immediately hopefully shook some people up and like, oh yeah, yeah,
we are very thankful for what we have and we don't do the trailblazers, the people in
the past that went through everything they did, we do them no service if we don't appreciate
what we have now. So it's great. It really is 40 years, something very much that we can
hang our hat on, be proud of in this community. And especially as we're getting into this upcoming
annual appeal, it's a great time of year to remind people of the work that's being done
and has done and needs to be done by the family center.
Yeah, absolutely. We'll have our annual kind of newsletter going out and updating the
community and it's going to be a fun one, celebrating our 40 years, right? And talking about
the history and some of the details how we've grown over the years and really how you can
how our community can continue to support and how vital it is for our community to continue
to support. Because like you said, as you said, you know, if we didn't have a family center
and that's that's terrifying to me and it should be to our community because we're sheltering,
you know, 65 plus individuals a year and that's just in shelter. That doesn't include the outreach
services, which are thousands of outreach services a year. And so where would our community members
who are facing violence? Where would they go if the family center wasn't here? And that's
that's a scary thought. Yeah. With with this annual appeal, I do want to come back to a point
that I and Melissa K.R. had news. Her and I have been really making sure that it is not forgotten
on the audience. The lack of funds and the the the cuts that have been made to domestic violent
shelters around the country and especially ours here in Wisconsin Rapids. And how we've always
needed to help our family center and have your back. You guys have ours. It's our opportunity
to have yours. But it is maybe never been more vital to be a part of this any way you can.
Sometimes it involves dollars and cents. Sometimes it involves volunteering, but it involves all of us.
Yeah. And all of us coming together on this one. I also think that there is an opportunity here too
where in a in a divisive year and in divisive things is how they can be and we're seeing more and
more of the country going the opposite direction and wanting to come together and everything. And
here's another opportunity for us to come together on a topic where we most life is gray.
Most of life is pretty darn gray. And here's a black and white topic for you everybody.
And here's one that we can all be on the right side of history with. And we see so much of
society going that direction and being that way. And this community is certainly a part of that.
So when we talk about this annual appeal and talk about the lack of funds and all these things
and all comes together to any way you can helping the family center continue to do the work that
they are doing over there. And also reminding the family center and the people that work over there,
you are not alone in this battle. We may not be have a family center sure to or may not be an
employee, but we are a part of the team with you. We are a part of the right side of history with
you on this topic. So that's another part of this appeal that I think stands out too is being
able to let you know the family center, the community know where you stand. And I specifically
talk to businesses and reach out to businesses out there about this. I do this on the air,
but I do it when I have a chance in person as well. When we talk about different ways to promote
your business or support your business, one of the first things any marketing executive will tell
you, attach yourself to a nonprofit, be a part of a nonprofit or something. We got nothing but
great nonprofits in our community. And one of the greatest ones is our family center doing some
of the most vital work in our community. So if I can't reach your heart, maybe I can reach
your business side of things. This is an amazing opportunity for you to not only be a part of
the right side of history, but also to be helping your local nonprofit doing the work that they're
doing. This time, this is the time right now, everybody, to be a part of things and to help
out our family center. Yeah, absolutely. And not, you know, our team members, all of the staff that
work at the family center and pour their heart and soul into the services that they give because
we see and through others every day, the need for these services and the heartbreaking stories
that come through. And, you know, all of the different people that we serve from 75 years old
to infants, you know, who unfortunately have experienced these things in our lives. And
for the community to stand up and not only say they stand behind the family center and our staff
what they stand with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. And the impact that that
can have for the clients that we serve when we have donations coming in, whether it's monetary or
if you, you know, see that we need paper towel or something like that. Clients see and experience
a community that cares for them too. And so it's impacting staff, it's impacting the organization
and it's impacting our clients and we can't do it alone. We can't do it without our community
standing standing behind us. Speaking with Trisha Faulkner, executive director of Wisconsin Rapids
Family Center. And to really bring this home, I think a lot of us statistics often do that.
Information often do that. Do you have any that you want to touch on as far as the conversation
we're having here and kind of add to that? Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, looking at 2023
and recapping kind of what 2023 looked like, we we sheltered over 65 individuals, 35 of those
individuals were children. We now have seven rooms. So we have seven rooms available to
house and each of those rooms has their own bathroom, can house multiple, you know, individual with
children or multiple children. And then one of the biggest things that stands out to me for 2023
is our crisis line. So we have a 24 seven crisis line. And in 2023, we served over 359, we had
over 359 calls come into the crisis line, which was significantly increased from the year before.
And looking at our current numbers year to date, we are on track to double that on the crisis line
this year. So those needs in our community continue to grow. And people are in a place
of crisis. People are in a state of need right now through many different ways. You know, all the
pressures that people have on them and things like that. And so that is ending in crisis calls. And
we're looking at, yeah, serving over 600 in crisis calls for this year. And those are numbers
that just stick out to me and are impacting all of our staff who are taking these crisis calls. And
coming out of time, so so busier in those senses, but coming out of time with less funding, coming
out of time with, you know, less support from the from state and federal grants and things like
that. And that's again why our community standing with us is one of the most important things that
we can ask for. I know I've heard some of them. You've done a great job. You're really good at this
when it comes to being interviewed about the cuts that have been made in recent months. I've
seen you interviewed about them. And I know other domestic violence shelters have been. Have you
had a lot of people reach out when it comes to some of the stats that you've just told us?
And ask about those individual stats because I feel like that stuff that should be
common knowledge that it isn't. And not enough people are talking about some of these things.
We, I feel like during the pandemic and right after the pandemic, there was a heightened notice
on this one. And then it kind of faded. As this happens to it, this subject matter often times
in our pop culture and our society and everything. But it feels like those numbers should be common
knowledge. And the idea of it rising even a tiny bit, let alone as much as it has, is gotta be
noteworthy to our community. And something that a reminder to people out there that for one,
you are not alone in this. And two, this is the subject that we cannot take our foot off the gas
on. We need all hands on deck when it comes to this.
Yeah. And coming into October, domestic violence awareness month is one of the perfect times
that we are pretty vocal about stats, whether that be on our website, our Facebook page,
or we do have an event coming up in October for domestic violence awareness. And so
any of those ways to really see the impact that this is having on our community and the needs
of our community, those are great ways to stay up to date on those things and to encourage
you to have conversations with those you know. One in four people have been affected by domestic
violence in their lives. And so, you know, if you're sitting in your office today and there's
five people in your office, one of them has been affected by domestic violence. And so having a
coworker or whoever is friend family member who is up to date and involved in this fight against
domestic violence can be so meaningful and impactful for that person. All of us really know
somebody, whether we know we know or not, we do know somebody and we come in contact in brush
shoulders with somebody who has experienced this. So, you know, some of the ways to educate yourself
would be our website, our Facebook page. And getting involved in our events, we talk about
statistics, we talk about numbers and things like that in our events as well. And then the volunteering,
we have a great need for volunteers. We actually have direct service volunteer needs right now,
where we have volunteers who are coming in during certain times of the weekend answering the crisis
line and being that kind of triage point and then getting them to a staff member. Volunteers who
work in donations, lots of different opportunities to become involved. And I think the community
knowing the numbers and the community seeing that impact, you know, we're not, I feel like we're
a small community. We're a large community, but we're a small community. And, you know, when you
look at those numbers for the number of residents in this community, that's significant.
And it's even more significant when we think of how these individuals are, this is something we
can do something about. This is something that we, there are oftentimes in life we're hearing this
problem, this problem, this issue, this issue, and it tends to be things, it seems so big that we
can't do. Oh, how could I ever solve that? How can I fix the debt? How can I fix the climate?
Some of these things. Here's something where if every zip code works on this, every neighborhood
works on this, we can, we can put a dent in this topic. We can bring these numbers down. We can
show these individuals out there that they are not alone. We, just in this 20-some-minute conversation,
we've already touched on a number of things. We haven't even scratched the surface of the amount
of layers to this topic and ways that we are, we need your help in assistance in getting to this
and really doing some good work on this topic in this front. And we're so proud of the Family
Center and the work that you guys do over there and the many different ways that you cover this
and help on this topic in this front. And there are ways that we can help as a community as
individuals, whether it is through the appeals and dollars and cents or volunteering and helping
daily needs. There are certainly things over there that are always, that could be used.
Are there anything atop of mind as long as we have you with us here today that the community
can help out with as far as needs around the, around the house, if you will? Yeah, absolutely.
You know, I tell people all the time when they ask that question, like, well, what do you need the
most? Think of having your home having 20 plus people in it at a time. What would you go through
the most? And some of those are paper towel, toilet paper, cleaning products, laundry detergent,
food, you know, we do have a pantry. So we feed all of the clients up in shelter. We have a
pantry available for outreach clients as well. So non-perishable food items. We do have a freezer,
a couple of freezers in fridge. So even some of like meats and things like that are always
greatly, greatly appreciated. But trash bags, you know, how much, how much garbage does a family
have for make? And then you add, you know, there's 20 some people living in, in this area. That's
a lot, you know, a lot of garbage bags, a lot of toilet paper in a day. Go through a lot. So anytime,
there is, every action is a big action. Well, whether it, again, dollars and cents or being able to,
you know, drop off items and donated items, those are all greatly appreciated. And even with all
of that, there is always your time. Your time is invaluable to us. And so appreciated. So
volunteering with the family center is another great way of impacting your community and helping out.
I encourage you to reach out to our, the staff over there and find out ways you can do that. And
if people do have follow-up questions, one and no more about some what we talked about today,
how can they reach you? Yeah, absolutely. So they can reach out. They can message us on our
Facebook page on our website. There, you have the ability to message there or you can give us a
call. Give us a call. You can, you can ask for me. You can ask for Amy, who handles some of our
communications. And we would, we would be happy to chat with you and answer any questions that you
may have or get you involved in whatever might work best for you. That website is familyctr.org,
familyctr.org. Be sure to bookmark that it has all the information you could want and need. And
certainly in case you need it. And be sure to follow the family center on Facebook. It's not only
a great thing to have pop up in your timeline and everything, but it's a great way for you to be
able to share events and different things going on over there. You just never know who might see
them that wouldn't otherwise. So another way you can help support the family center and the work
that they're doing over there. And that phone number business line is 715-421-1559-421-1559.
Otherwise, their 24 hour crisis line is 715-421-1511. That's 421-1511. Again, Trisha, thank you so
much for the time and everything you and team over there do for the community. We appreciate you.
We'll talk again real soon. Thank you. Well, a more midday magazine for you coming up on 97-5 FM
13-20 AM WFHR. We are locally grown radio.
