Welcome everybody to Mint Day Magazine for this Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024.
Have your host, James J. Mailov here.
In part two today, we are joined by our good friend, Lisa Rouse, PR and fund development
manager with our ODC of Wisconsin Rapids.
Lisa, always good to have you in studio.
Thanks for being here.
Thank you very much.
Looking forward to diving into some fun stuff coming up with the ODC.
But if you don't mind, I'd like to rewind for a second because you guys just had your
second big haunted house event.
Last year's was gigantic, it was huge.
You really took the ball and ran with it and added some things this year, did some fun
stuff.
I know it was successful because I talked to so many people that went to it and enjoyed
it.
How was it from your guys' perspective?
It was awesome.
If you would have asked us a week and a half ago, we would have said, we're never doing
this again because we were exhausted.
We did expand it this year and we made it much bigger.
So not only did we run the kids' portion through the main part of ODC, but we ran
everybody else through our production and warehouse this year.
So it was a very big undertaking.
But about halfway through the event, we're like, we can't wait till next year.
So it was very successful, had almost 3,000 people through the door and scared a lot of
people.
There's a lot of screaming going on.
So when you're looking at a haunted event, that means success.
Yeah, absolutely.
3,000 is nothing to take lightly.
That is noteworthy.
That is amazing.
Wonderful.
And while I heard from a lot of community members and a lot of the people in the area that
loved the event, I'm curious, how did the clients enjoy it?
Did they have a good time?
They were there.
I had to tell you, the clients were so helpful.
There was so much to set up and so many little tasks that needed to be done, like getting
candy ready for the kids and we actually used VHS tapes to create kind of this creepy
feeling in different areas and they took them all apart for me.
And unwound them and put them in boxes for me.
They were just, they were so excited to be a part of something really big and then so
many of them came the night of the event and helped in the kids' carnival and, you know,
tickets and giving kids candy and they were just phenomenal.
I'm, my heart is singing right now.
It's so good to hear that.
Certainly for the community, that's always great and it's very good to hear for the ODC.
This is a great way to invest in your community, to help your community, these kind of events
at the ODC hosts and have, but the clients, it always comes back to them and that is, that's
just heartwarming to hear.
That's really cool.
They did great.
And a tip of the hat to you and the staff and everybody that works so hard on this event.
I can only imagine what next year's will be like and everything and you guys aren't alone.
We're looking forward to it too.
Yeah, we have ideas.
I can only imagine.
And I do want to spend a real special shout out to the community, the donated items and
gave items and everything.
There was so much of that and I'm going to give a shout out to Crockett Sceptic that last
year one of the things we ran into was long lines and not enough bathrooms.
So they provided their porta-potties for us for free and I so appreciate everything that
Crockett does for our community and especially for ODC.
Yeah, we're big fans around here.
They work with us a lot and we love our friends over there Crockett Sceptic and their
jingles get in your head.
I know.
They get right in your head.
They stay there.
Great people over there.
We appreciate them and that's really cool to hear.
We wouldn't have known that otherwise because that's also noteworthy about Crockett Sceptic
and businesses like that that do things like this all the time but don't do it into
a lot of fanfare.
Right.
It's nice to be able to shout them out.
That's very community minded and we appreciate them.
You have the self-determination conference that wanted to talk with you about diving into
that.
So that's going on right now.
A number of our people and some of our clients are actually down there right now in Wisconsin
Dells and they're working on how we can serve people better and so the self-determination
conference is going on right now they're they're talking about all of the things that
help us do the things for other people and those that use our services every day.
The people that we serve and this year they're really highlighting how to tell your story
as a person with disabilities how you tell your story and how you're heard by others
and then the ways that we serve those people.
So really neat conference.
Lots of they're going to come back with really great information and be able to serve people
better because of it.
With the industry that you and your team work in I think one of the things that stands
out to me about this conference or any conference like this is the ability certainly to share
information.
Hey we're doing this here and it's working really well.
This might help you there or even problem solving.
Hey we've got this issue we're not sure how to fix it we've tried this this and this
and this and it's not working being able to bounce off ideas off of anybody is helpful
but certainly people that are in industry and some of the only people that can kind of
understand what it is to do that job or people that do that job.
That's really cool to hear in everything.
Having that support and having that we as a community try to show that you guys we have
your back and we support the work that you're doing so much but it really means something
so much on another level to have co you know peers having that support and being there
for each other.
That is a great part of this conference as well a big part of it and there's a highlight
to this conference and it's local for us here.
We do have a highlight to this conference that hit local.
So last night our very own president and CEO Julie Strun actually received one of the
four diehard rewards.
It's so awesome and if you know Julie at all she just does the work every day she does
the stuff every day she is not a big one for accolades she just she's just in the trenches
you ask her to do something and she does it and I watched her help us clean up from
our haunted house she's sweeping and doing all the things and that's just her mentality
is to jump in and so this diehard award is presented to people that have made a significant
contribution to advocating for people in Wisconsin and she does she does that every single
day and we as her employees at what do you see get to watch that every single day.
So a diehard is someone with a strong commitment to self-determination and goes above and beyond
what's expected and Julie Strun does that every single day.
Well said and so true getting to meet Julie and talk to her a bit just I've always marveled
at work ethic I like that and people that have that kind of work ethic and I think it's
always noteworthy even especially in a time like this as we get you know close to an
election and some of those things to me just from what I've experienced in life and I've
focused a lot on leadership in my life and wanting to be a good leader.
The greatest leaders I've I've seen and I've known on any level don't come out and I'm
a good leader like nope they just lead they just do it they just go up there yeah and
Julie's a great example of that of really going out there and doing that that extra work
that that stuff that goes above and beyond and stuff that isn't necessarily written into
the job description but they're out there doing it it couldn't go to a better person that's
so nice to hear if that's great that among all the great things to come out of this conference
that's one of the really cool one of the top things to come out of it that's that's fantastic
and and and really do look forward to what might develop from this conference to help
our our community and benefit our community a little bit so and I think that when it comes
to something like this again just knowing that you guys are able to get together and have
these organic conversations that you wouldn't be able to have otherwise or share who knows
what kind of information might get shared that wouldn't happen otherwise that's that's very
cool and I wish everybody safe travels and up the conference is going well yeah we're
speaking with Lisa PR and fund development manager with our ODC and Lisa coming up is the
social connection awareness week in November 10th through the 16th yeah so ODC is part of
a social isolation coalition for the state of Wisconsin and so we're really looking into social
isolation and what that does to people how it affects their health and when you are separated
we are wired to be people people whether we think we are or not we're really wired to connect to
others and so the social connection awareness week summit has a number of things starts on
November 11th and it goes through the 15th and it's a lunch and learn webinar and you have to
register in order to participate but they have amazing workshops the power of connection accessible
recreation which is so important coalition and community building and intergenerational programs
those older people teaching the younger people and those younger people that can teach the
older people some things as well and then technology for connection you have to register for this
but if you reach out to me at ODC I can get you all the information really good opportunity to
learn about all these things that affect us every day that sometimes we might not even realize
with something like this to this is an opportunity for you to be able to talk to a real person
and ask questions yeah some of these questions might be you know pride can get in the way sometimes
and keep us from you're reaching out or something when you have a real person in front of you
and a fellow you know community member or something like that you tend to be a little bit more
feel a little more comfortable sharing some of this stuff so this is giving an opportunity for
some of that it's giving us an opportunity as well to focus on while I think we do do a decent
job we could do better but do a decent job of focusing on isolation when it comes to our senior
population we understand we have a heavy a healthy senior population here in central Wisconsin
and this is an important you know storyline when we talk about this when whether it's our seniors
or that we also every one of us have three at least three years of data on this from the pandemic
and understanding individually whether no matter what age you are or what your life situation is
you are isolated like some more than others certainly and so many of us are still dealing with
the aftermath of that and some of the effects of that so that part of this can be helpful as well
but when it comes to isolation for the clientele of the ODC and individuals like that I don't think
that we get a chance like a lot of things in this area get a chance to focus on that very much
bring attention that for one is nice to be able to do it's healthy to be able to do but then
putting in the work and actually doing something about this that's where that's where not only
you know you and your staff come in but us as a community do I think where we can do something
about this this is something where we can make an impact on yeah I'm really finding out and in
working on the social isolation coalition how many parts of our community are isolated that I
didn't think were I look at my kids that are in that late 20 early 30 age and they're in the
rooms playing games and talking to people on discord servers or whatever and I'm like they're not
isolated they talk to people every day but there is an aspect of that that I don't know if we're
quite reaching and so it's not just the older generation it's not just the people with disabilities
and certainly those people have been affected with isolation and we all know that but there's
another part with some of these younger I want to call them kids they're not kids but younger
kids that I think we need to reach out to because maybe they don't realize that they're isolated
it's a great point and another one of those things that doesn't get brought up nearly enough
or talked about nearly enough one of the ways we can impact something like that is being a good
example and as adults the way we handle these things and and putting ourselves out there a little
bit more breaking away from some of that isolation it's not always easy and I know what I'm talking
about I am one of those individuals I work in an industry with people I work in a medium that's
with people my career is I'm an actor for God's sake but I can be very isolated and I notice
sometimes like oh I'm getting a little bit too comfortable being alone maybe I need to get out
there a little bit more need to do some stuff I understand it's not as easy for some as others
and this is one of those things whereas a community we can give some grace to that and be some
have some understanding for that for every introvert there's an extrovert and an understanding that
we're all a little bit different in that way that's part of what makes this all fun and different
and interesting when it comes to something like this you mentioned to have to register is there
a limit in the amount of people that can register do we need to get people on this quick um actually
I don't know um I'm assuming because it's a webinar webinar based um uh type of learning activity
I'm assuming that there's probably not um a limit to that um but you do they do have to know
who's going to be there and out there and this uh community friends uh or this uh this uh project
really uh this is something that uh anybody can be a part of absolutely yeah one of the one of the
things that we're working on and if you watch our Facebook page and jump on our website at odc high
nc.com um we've been writing things that we'll hit home with people um our blog has been featuring
some of the things in media that we see all the time um there are a lot of movies and there are a
lot of books that actually um address social isolation and in very different ways and so um I've
had an opportunity to write about that and it has been very interesting um so maybe check that out
and it might give you a different perspective when you look at how the media addresses social isolation
I look forward to reading that I look forward to looking at that it's a topic that is very
interesting to me it's close to home for me so I look forward to reading that and I I appreciate
even just getting into this topic to be honest I it's again another one of those great areas in
our society that um oftentimes we have people out there that are hurting or people that could use
some assistance with this that are are suffering in silence that aren't able to whether it's um
in realizing they're dealing with this not even knowing they are or or knowing they are and not
okay well what do I do now you know where to go I go next yeah giving more and more opportunities
for people to be able to do the reach out and do some of these things uh to to to get the help
that they want you know and live the lives that they deserve to live and everything um it's a great
one again the social connection awareness week is November 10th through the 16th uh this is uh
an opportunity for you to be a part of this if you want to register go to odciinc.com find more
information we'll get that information out there again before we wrap up with our friend Lisa
today Lisa was there anything else on that you wanted to touch on no okay uh we got some new
services uh happening over at the odc one of the touch on some of those yeah so odc is always growing
and always adding things we really look at um the needs in the community and then address those
needs so community connections um we we started that in order for people to connect in the community
we help people that are in the community explore things in their community so that they can get
connected so we start the process and then community members tend to take over so for instance
getting somebody connected to a church and then having the members of that church um take those
individuals under their wing and get them involved in their programs um maybe finding um what
their niche is if it's um theater and they enjoy theater getting them hooked up with um the grand
in wasa and then having them volunteer and then the people in that community take over and help
that person um connect more so it's communities connecting um people in their community to other
people in their community um and of course we have talked about this often on here with
better together friendships as a program designed to create true authentic one-on-one friendships
by matching adults with disabilities to mentors in their community um this is really important um our
program director Sammy has talked on this program before and we can have a program that people take
a part of at odc but this is a little different because it's a true friendship and it can be as
much time as you want to spend um and working it into your life it doesn't have to be these
grandiose adventures that you go on you can bring your friend over and make cookies one evening
in your home or doesn't it's those little things that make the difference in people's lives so
better together friendships is another one um we are going to be providing a number of these
things and starting in 25 we're going to be expanding so um we'll be community friends we'll
expand to Wisconsin Rapids right here in Wisconsin Rapids we've done some stuff in Marshfield and
wasa but we're coming to Wisconsin Rapids in 2025 um and these social events will
um increase inclusion and community connectedness for people with disabilities
if you are interested if we have so many businesses in the Stevens Point area delta dental is one
of them that has been a great partner that has really reached out and created activities that are
inclusion and provided a space for us so if you're interested as a business in doing some of those
things um we would love to hear from you i mentioned this all the time with a number of different
things when it comes to our nonprofits um you've got marketing people out there you've got a
marketing budget you're not going to find much of a better use and more bang for your buck if you
will than uh working with the nonprofit and in particular the odc um you can't buy the kind of
PR you get from working with our nonprofits so i i reach out to your wallet in that regard
but uh it doesn't take a lot to to hit your heart when it comes to this i agree um the the work uh
and in being involved with the odc in any any way whatsoever you are going to be you are going to
feel that you were going to have an impact from that it's going to hit your heart in a way that
you have an experience before and i feel i got to put my name on that uh and and that includes also
volunteering at the odc we're always looking for extra hands and uh people that uh maybe
have an hour or so to kill and can come over and help out yeah absolutely when you look at volunteering
what better way to to combat social isolation than to be involved with other people and and i
agree with you um just spending that time with somebody it gives you a really different perspective
on life you may think that you've got hard things in your life and then you spend some time with
somebody with disabilities and they are so happy and they have so much joy and they bring so
much to your life and like you said it hits you in all the fields in the heart and um we had
44 friends in the Stevens Point area connected and to hear their comments and stories on what it's
done for their families what it's done for their relationships it's huge. You can only imagine uh
and and appreciate so much the great work that you guys are doing over there and what you do for
our communities we say shout out to the team over there at the odc and of course all the clients
that we uh we love hearing from all the time look afford to have them in studio again sometime
yeah absolutely Lisa uh with the topics we've covered today if people have followed questions
want to know more want to register for that uh a social connection awareness uh any of these
things how can they reach you um send me an email at l rosl r o us e at odc icnc.com and of course
you can always reach out to us on our website and i will get those emails this one odc icnc.com
odc icnc.com is the website be sure to bookmark that page and follow the odc on social media
it's a great way to keep up to date and all the cool things that they are doing over there
and for you to share those things on your social media page you just never know who might see it
they wouldn't otherwise so encourage you to do that everybody Lisa say hi to everybody over
there for us okay i will thank you so much for the time we will have more midday magazine coming
up for you right here at ninety seven five fm thirteen twenty a.m. wfhr we are locally grown radio
