Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report.
For this August 26th, 2025, show is proudly brought to my Crockett Septick, a big thank
you to them, and a thank you to our Wisconsin Rapids Family Center.
We have dual abuse service coordinator Elizabeth with us right now, Elizabeth, how you doing?
I'm good.
How are you?
Doing good.
Thank you very much for being here.
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Always appreciate the time and appreciate the effort and work from our family center and
everything that you guys are doing over there, some of the most vital work in this community.
We really appreciate the time with you to join us.
And I thought today we could get into kind of some of these services provided by the Wisconsin
Rapids Family Center if you don't mind.
Yeah, of course.
So, with that, where would you like to start?
There's a lot of services you all have for no more.
Yeah, yeah.
So just like a super quick overview, so the listeners kind of know what we do there.
So we are an organization serving victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
These are individuals of any age ranging from kids, teens to adults to late adults, any
gender, any race.
We have a vast variety of services, so we have non-residential services, but we also have
shelter services, which I think a lot of people don't understand or know that we have
those outreach services, so I think those are really important to talk about.
And that is a big role that I do.
Some of those services entail legal advocacy, food pantry, emotional support, support groups.
We are really survivor led, so we really follow their lead and try to accommodate what their
needs are at that time.
Everybody reacts to things differently or handles things differently or learns differently.
I think we kind of learn that in school.
Everything and surviving and all these things are no different.
And so when it comes to that, I imagine that there's a number of different things that
different people need different help in, but one of the more consistent things along
with other stuff involved with this, the legal advocacy.
I think that's another one of those things that some people might assume and others may
not even think about that is something that is offered from the family center.
It's integral to the process of this where we know that when it comes to anything from
divorce or residency or some of those things can be sometimes what keeps people from either
seeking help or just looking at things from a different angle.
Being able to provide that is integral to all this, but also, again, one of those things
I don't know that we get to hit on very often, so I appreciate that you bringing that
up.
And being here today for this.
Yeah, of course.
When it comes to the work that I don't, I'm trying to think of broad questions.
I don't want to be too detailed or too specific or anything, but when it comes to things
that the community may not be as aware of or could really use some insight on when you
touched on before.
These are things that legal advocacy that maybe not everybody knows that is offered at the
family center.
Are there things more things like that that you would like to touch on and put a spotlight
on as far as even the things that you just mentioned?
Yeah.
So kind of diving into a legal advocacy because I think that is really a huge piece of the
outreach services we provide.
I always like to tell people we are not lawyers.
We are not qualified for legal advice, but yes, very good note.
I had questions.
So they're like, you told me.
Yes.
But we can explain maybe what's going to happen if there's criminal charges pending and
really walk alongside someone in a time court and report back to them like, hey, this is
what's going on and really explain it to them in terms that might otherwise be difficult
to understand.
We can assist in filing restraining orders and then attending those hearings with them
because that can be really scary to go back and face that person that caused you that
harm.
And so just knowing that there's someone to sit there with you and hold their hand through
it is a huge piece of it.
We also do a little bit with like divorce, you know, we can assist with filing the paperwork,
going to court, you know, maybe if they don't understand something, we can explain it.
Again, we can't give that legal advice, but we can inform them like, this is what this
means, stuff like that.
But we also do like other things like safety planning, like maybe someone isn't ready
to leave a relationship yet.
So we can safety plan within that abusive relationship.
Yeah.
Really curious about this part of things and even for me as a board member, it's something
that I don't know nearly enough about.
Yes.
So, you know, they're not ready to leave and that's okay.
It does take about seven times for someone to like really leave a abusive relationship.
But with the safety planning, you know, we can talk about things that are going to keep
them safe while they're in that relationship.
Is it going to be, you know, planning out maybe an escape route if things start to escalate?
Is it going to be who are the trusted people in your circle that if they get a secret
text code word or something like, they're going to know to call 911.
Maybe they need to let their neighbors know like, hey, if you ever see this or that like
call the police, staying out of the kitchen, maybe where there's sharp objects, it's really
a survivor knows their safety best.
So it's talking to them and working through that like what is going to keep you safe and
make you feel safe within that relationship.
And then of course, we work on safety planning even after.
Is that going to be doing something called safe at home where, you know, they might
not know their address?
Is it going to be taking different routes to get to and from home?
Just different things to really make that person feel safe.
Are we going to provide them cameras to keep up and have as extra security to make them
feel that just that little extra sense of security?
So all those different things can go into safety planning.
And I think that's really important that maybe a lot of people don't understand is that
whole piece.
Well, you know, to me, at least a big part of talking to the family center, talking about
the work being done there, even domestic violence as a whole is creating empathy in those
that may not have it for this subject matter.
And I think that everybody can relate to and identify with the idea of what it's like
to not feel safe.
You've had a moment in your life when you felt that way.
What we're talking about here is every second of that.
You're 24 hours a day that you're feeling that and the idea of countering that or helping
that or anything, it's such a, there is no set blueprint for it because everybody is
going to be different.
So I think understanding more and more of this.
And here's hoping that anybody out there listening, you don't need the services at the family
center.
That's what we hope for and everything.
But it's all the more important for individuals like that to know what these things are.
So you have some, not only empathy, but some understanding of what's going on with
our family center and hopefully, you know, helping be on the right side of history with
some of these things.
I appreciate the breakdown of that, a lot of Elizabeth.
And when it comes to that safety planning, that is certainly, you know, appreciated,
but case management is that a different scenario than this and how you handle these things?
Yeah.
So case management, again, is really tailored to the needs of that survivor.
So a lot of times when people leave shelter, I as the dual abuse services coordinator will
follow up with them.
And if they need continuous case management, I will support them through that.
Maybe it's legal, maybe it's just financial assistance, food pantry.
It really just depends on where they're at in their process.
But yes, case management can look different for everyone.
Maybe it's a follow up every week.
Maybe it's home visit once a month, really tailoring it to what they need and just reminding
them that just because you leave here doesn't mean we don't still support you.
Like we're still there for you and we still want to support you in your journey.
So yeah, that's case management is really just a big piece.
They follow up the what's next, what's our next step kind of in helping them, empowering
them to get to that next step.
Nice work.
Really nice.
That's exactly what we were looking for.
Appreciate that, Elizabeth.
Thank you.
And again, along with the, it's great to get this information out there and for the community
to know, especially those that might not.
I also want to take some moments here where, wow, that is really thoughtful, wow, that
is really insightful.
I'm so thankful that our domestic violence shelter does this or thinks of this.
Each one of these safety planning case management is appreciated, especially that idea of the
follow up.
You know, that goes so much farther.
I know our sales team does that with businesses sometimes.
It only makes sense, but it's also new news to some people out there that that is the
case that this happens.
And with everything you do and everything we've talked about with the family center for
many years, it's interesting you bring in this up because I'm reminded of one of the
first conversations I had with Sue back when she was there and everything.
And when she was telling me that I would be a good board member and I didn't believe
her because I couldn't imagine why anybody would want me on a board.
But in talking about that and sharing that information, one of the things she shared
was a former family center person, person that needed the services over there, how they
came back from time to time and how once they were on their feet a little bit more started
donating money every Christmas to the family center and they still did to that day.
That kind of thing that follow up that goes so that that leads to so many other things
along with certainly first and foremost, the person getting the help and they need along
with the fact that it also creates these relationships, these friendships even sometimes,
which is a beautiful thing in itself too.
Right.
And I think follow up is just so important because a phone calls from someone saying, how
are you doing right now?
Like for me, that would just make me think that this person really cares about me.
And it's really there to support me.
So I just think like that is a huge piece for them to know like they are not alone.
So before we let you go, I would like to hint on that a little bit more talk about
that a little bit more because I've said this for many, many years, support and encouragement
cost nothing can mean everything.
It may not ever mean more than in this scenario.
That support and it's certainly from the family center where we appreciate it and we don't
take it lightly.
We thank you every day for it.
But the support I also want to focus on is the local support, your community support,
the way this community supports the family center.
And by doing that shows where we stand on domestic violence as a community.
I would never speak for others, but I feel very confident in this community is on the right
side of history when it comes to these things.
You don't have to take my word or even Elizabeth's word for it.
Go to a family center event and you will see business leaders from all kind of different
walks of life there representing being a part of this.
They want to be a part of these things.
They invest in the family center and some of that.
And then there's the support that we give as friends and as family members and some of
that.
You mentioned, I think, a really important stat earlier that it can take domestic violence
victim up to seven times to leave.
Oftentimes, and I think we've all heard of or been around these scenarios, you're all
supportive to somebody that first or second time that they're willing to do something.
But at the third or fourth time, you start flipping the script and you start blaming them
or some of those things.
That's not support.
That doesn't help anything.
Whatever you think in your head, that's your business.
That's between you and you.
But when you're sharing that kind of stuff and spreading that kind of stuff, all that
does is kind of set a person back a little bit.
That support from whether a friend or a family member is just as vital as from the family
center or our local leaders.
It goes a long way and a lot farther than I think we realize and we oftentimes, especially
with friends that we're really close to, we kind of let our guard down a bit and we share
more.
And that's vital for this conversation.
It's just as vital for the person listening to be supportive.
And oftentimes, as I've learned the hard way, oftentimes, somebody just wants you to listen.
You don't need to solve all their problems or anything like that.
Just hearing them out, maybe recommending where they could seek help like the family center
can go farther than we could ever put in the words.
Yeah.
I agree.
Was there anything else you wanted to touch on Elizabeth before we let you go?
I know.
Busy you guys are.
I don't want to keep you two alone.
As always, just check out our website, our Facebook page, always updating with the different
fundraisers, different services we have, grants, all that good stuff.
So there are so many different bits of information over there.
One of the most important parts is the crisis line.
They have a 24 hour crisis line over at the family center.
Encourage it.
Use it if needed.
Spread the word about it.
1, 5, 4, 2, 1, 15, 11, that's 7, 1, 5, 4, 2, 1, 1, 5, 1, 1.
You can find out more in plenty of things.
They've got a whole new season of events that are going to be around the corner.
And before we know it, everything they'll be planning.
So we'll be looking forward to talking about those and everything.
You can find out about those and more at familyctr.org, familyctr.org.
And be sure to follow the family center on Facebook and social media, share their posts
on your page.
You just never know who might see them otherwise.
Elizabeth, save I to the team over there for us.
Okay.
Thanks for having me.
Thank you for the time.
I appreciate the services and everything.
And a big thank you to our friends at Crockett Sceptics for sponsoring this show.
We appreciate them.
Appreciate you listening out there.
We'll have more rapid support coming up for you right here at WFHR.
