 Hello and welcome to this edition of quality of life the show where we look at different aspects of quality of life Today we're going to talk about family reunification and joining us today as Heidi Goodman sin from the Sheboygan County Interfaith Organization Welcome Heidi. Thank you Start out with family reunification Breaking it down a little bit more. There's like, you know, the family unit itself troubles that goes through hunger and And what's the other component we were going to discuss homelessness. Thank you. I won't kind of slip my mind So there we have it You're now with you're the executive director of the Sheboygan County Interfaith Organization or SCIO is a short How long have you been in that role just since the middle of June here? Okay, and Prior to that I was as a case manager through Lutheran social services here in Sheboygan And I worked with the 18 to 21 year old population of homeless young people And so I spent five years working with a grant there In Sheboygan Sheboygan County with the homeless homelessness Audience situation we have has it grown since our economic, you know boomer that we had and now as things are starting Recovered you see that going down. Oh, I definitely think that you know 2008 had played a major role in in homelessness Just the vastness of the issues. You know, we we've always had generational poverty. There will always be generational poverty But situational poverty Definitely has increased since 2008. I think we still continue to see that Families who have been able to sustain up until now But are still sustaining at a lower income level than what they were Are continuing to to struggle kind of making it, you know in the day-to-day and a lot of Families are one paycheck away from being homeless and so just that stress of That economics definitely plays a role in in homelessness and our issues around surrounding homelessness I think most of the families in Sheboygan County live paycheck-to-paycheck these days You know when you think about it. Yeah, well that we have fifty percent over fifty percent of the population of students are eligible for free and reduced lunches and that's You can be a family of four and make about fifty thousand dollars you know that gets you into that bracket and You know, that's a large percentage of our population here. Okay, let's talk about SCIO How long has it been in existence, you know, who what's it made of who? Contributes to it and what's its mission? Yeah, Sheboygan County Interfaith Organization has was established in 1989 It was a collaboration between faith communities and really their goal was to put aside their differences and to work towards what their values are and and they initially really were about the the farmers market allowing farmers to be able to to share their produce with with local people and They grew into being a seed program where faith communities would come to the table and share an idea and And then we would be what bridge the gap between those community needs and partner resources And that's how many of our programs came about So actually the farmers market here in Sheboygan we coordinate that and it's our 25th year was established in 1989 So that's a huge accomplishment for this community and definitely has taken off in the since I've been here the last You know, 10 years has just grown completely. So that's a testament to the people of Sheboygan for sure What are the programs, you know, right now the active programs that SCIO has in place Yeah, we have on the farmers market and we coordinate the farmers market at Fountain the Fountain Park in the summer and at first Congressional Church on Bluff in the winter in Sheboygan and then we also coordinate a farmers market in Plymouth at the generations building on Thursdays and We have a supervised visitation program and that program. We are third-party documenters and so if families and for whatever reason one of the the non-custodal parent or sibling or whoever it may be can come and Take some time one and a half to two hours with their family members And we provide a safe environment and make sure that there's documentation of what is happening So, you know, that happens for various reasons, but that's a free program And a really important for family reunification And then we have Bridgeway Bridgeway is a transitional living program for homeless women with children and that is We have a building on 13th and Gile that we have other capability to have up to six families And we have is a 13 bed program So depending on how many children we have at each particular time depends on how many moms we have But we have the capabilities of having six families But max of 13 beds occupied and then we have a sister program to that called Trisha's house and that's a single family home that Residents who graduate from the bridgeway program can move into Trisha's house So those are our programs that we currently have. Okay. They sound exciting and like to do a lot of good Yeah in the community as far as that goes Let's focus on the bridgeway. Sure program first. So their moms are in trouble or they need to Put their lives back together for however their lives got derailed You know, we won't go into those issues as well But basically they need help and they come to you. How do they get introduced to the bridgeway program? Yeah, we get referrals from a lot of different areas a lot of social workers referred to the bridgeway program safe harbor Salvation Army and word of mouth just goes a long way People who live in in that community, you know, definitely know the resources of what what may help and and or people who have Stayed at bridgeway house before and are like heard of story of someone's like maybe you should try the bridgeway house And and what's unique about bridgeway is that it's a long-term program So mothers and their children can stay with us for up to two years, which is a really long time You know just to be able to be come established for example, one of the moms at our At our program right now has shared that she has not lived somewhere more than a year in her entire adult life And so being able to have a little bit of time to get established and set some goals and have some accountability can be really important With the program what are the skills that the moms learn or I guess what's their orientation or what's the progression plan? Yeah, each mom who comes into our program. We do an individualized case plan with them Which is really just goal-setting we sit down and talk about what are some of your goals? What are some of the barriers in order to be become self-sufficient? So some of those barriers might be debt past debt from child support and municipal tickets You know evictions all of that so a lot of the moms that come have some past debt also potential for AODA issues mental health concerns and Not being able to find sustainable work Not maybe not having the job skills or the experience behind that so learning how to write a resume how to Communicate to people and in a meaningful way so that you can represent yourself well So we start at those core basics and and every mom who comes into our program also takes groups in parenting meal planning communication and and I'm blanking now, but oh and budget financial literacy, so those are Every week we have those programming so that any mom who comes into our program is Is utilizing those skills and and we're modeling that all the time? We also encourage all the moms to go attend counseling and at outside resource So that they can have some other Supports in their life, so we refer to safe harbor groups and to individual counselors, you know would be depending on their needs With the moms in the bridgeway Facility or the house that you had mentioned is that their responsibility to work together to take care of the house and actually Put the practices that they are learning, you know into into use at the house itself on a smaller scale to prepare them for the next step Yeah, definitely. We have a communal environment and a communal environment is definitely challenging but our moms do a communal meal at 5 30 every day and they trade off depending on how many moms are in the house They're responsible for making that meal for the entire house So we sit down and share a meal together and practice talking about our days and modeling that and They are also completely responsible for cleaning the entire building So they manage the yard care. They manage all of the cooking cleaning bathrooms keeping their rooms clean and That's a part of part of our programming is Learning those skills and and really having some structure on these things have to be done You know some things have to be done daily Some things have to be done weekly and so that that's definitely part of their participation in our program And in the facility the kids are there as well with the moms living together and interacting with each other Yeah, building their social skills Yeah, and and moms don't necessarily have to have custody of their kids coming into our program Which is part of how we build family reunification So maybe a mom hasn't had the stability in order to her kids are in foster care And she really needs a stable housing unit in order to get those kids back and maybe maybe a job Maybe there's some other things that she needs. She can come into our program and Work on the things that she needs to do in order to get her kids out of foster care as well so There's a lot of different dynamics of depending on each individual mom's needs and how many beds we have available That's wonderful With working with the moms is it SCIO staff that works with them or is it coordinated with other? Outside resources or counselors or whatever. How does that work? Yeah, it's a coordinated effort We do a lot of work with our bridgeway staff And myself I case manage currently the moms in the program But we coordinate with social workers PO's we coordinate, you know with safe harbor and salvation army just depending on on their needs, but It's a coordinated effort teachers We're working really strongly with one of the The child's schools right now and and working on a plan to really help a child So just depending on the needs of the families we coordinate and want to work together as a community What's been the success ratio of the moms coming in, you know from they come in and actually going on to the next level You know, what is this right sex or success ratio, excuse me, Ben? I think you know, that's a really hard question What we come from a world of really number oriented but I'm not I'm gonna skip your question That's why I'm gonna share with you that every mom who comes to our shelter experiences structure for even a short amount of time What rules look like what accountability looks like they are she's forced to To set goals and work towards goals and and that's really important So if you're in our program for three months or two years you you have are exposed to those that structure and that accountability and You know, some moms aren't ready for that and other moms are extremely successful And you know, we have tons of success stories of moms who have come into our program Who have gotten a job who paid off some debt who've Learned how to budget and gone out have gotten recently like referrals to counselors and they they really, you know, we want to work on the scope your whole Your whole wellness and and not just you know, the budgeting not just meal planning not just structure and parenting But we want to help you to really learn how to love yourself learn how to be a good mom And what does that mean learn how to create structure? So each mom who comes to our program does learn tools in our in order to move on and Sure, so Basically, the moms will benefit based on the skills there you're learning through your program So they're learning on their social skills and the kids are learning, you know to interact with other kids other children You know different ages. Yeah different beliefs backgrounds, which will help them prepare to you know insert back into the community And participate and give me a year. I'll be able to better give you some numbers Yeah, yeah, I was basically looking, you know, the you know, how they benefit and you know, the good things that you see Yes, is where I was kind of going with it. So With that I would imagine resources are quite thin, you know in this day and age, so I'm sure you have to go through some Creative accounting to get the tools and the resources you need to support the program. Yes, definitely We are supported by United Way one kind of united way We are supported by foundations grants and individual donors and our faith communities We're an association of 32 faith communities From all different backgrounds and and they support us through membership And our part of our board structure And then we have tons of really amazing people like you who do our it for us pro bono and and you know, just the Blessings that we have from this community and the many people who you know come together to help with our maintenance to You know cooking meals There's just so many ways that you know, we're blessed by this community But definitely money is always something that a small nonprofit Grassroots, we're not we have very small state funding through city block grants, but we don't have any federal funding So we really are you know hitting the pavement and and we're supported by you know a lot of small efforts sure With that along, you know, you mentioned volunteering where I do volunteer for the it work Can anybody? Volunteer with any of the programs that SCIO offers or how does that work if somebody would want to volunteer? Yeah, we do have some stipulations depending on what you want to volunteer for Just based on if you're interacting with our moms and and children you need to be able to pass a background check and And we would run through sex sex registry just for the safety of our family But definitely we would you know consider anyone to volunteer and we're really seeking We have 32 faith communities not every faith community has a delegate which is what we consider our ambassadors Sure, and they are communication line between Schwann County Interfaith and and their faith community And so we're seeking delegates from our community churches. We definitely welcome any other faith communities to To get involved with us. We're seeking out board members specifically a lawyer and a Colour of anyone who's really passionate about fundraising and we would definitely you know take or or just is really good at Relationship building we're seeking out some people for our board in that way We also have a meal sharing program where you can come in and bring a recipe and The food to cook a meal for 20 people which includes all of the people In our program some staff and then the group of people you're bringing in and share a meal with the moms and our families and There's plenty of other maintenance. Like I said, we always have small projects There's lots of ways to get involved. We're always seeking donations You know what we're seeking at any divot any individual time, you know changes But our wish list is on our website and we always are in need of cleaning supplies Toiletry items feminine hygiene items dish soap. I can't even tell you how many dish how much dish soap you go through with 13 people in the house. So those are always pantry items. We have a really large freezer. So you know, we can take donations of meats and Frozen vegetables and frozen fruits Really to increase the nutrition of the moms Those are all really awesome ways to get involved as well neat neat. Let's jump to the Program of supervised visitations. Could you give us some background what that's all about? Yeah, that's it We contract or it came as a contract to us through health and human services and it's really a way for you know Breakups are pretty messy and and so sometimes it's about two adults who just don't get along together and and their interaction is just unhealthy and so we can provide a way for you know that that Transportation or that supervision of that Transition from one parent to another so we can do that or we can actually be like stay with with the non-custodal parent for however long and That we do really to help to help bring families together and so Everyone deserves a second chance. So whatever happened in the past We want to be able to give families the ability to have a second chance to be reunified But in the safest way possible and then we can the we were in contact with Guardian men light arms lawyers social workers to make sure that you know if we see anything That we're communicating, you know, maybe this person needs counseling Maybe they need some parenting classes. Maybe they just don't know how to be a parent and so we can be a third-party documenter and then Communicate to the parties at large on on how we can better help these families to move forward I can see safety as well as having the interactions being healthy, you know in the spirit of the family, you know We're that takes a special Need or care to do that part of it and I suppose there not anybody can just volunteer you have to have a certain background with that Yeah, that's staff. We those are staff just because we do deal with a lot of confidentiality issues and coordination And so that program we don't really take volunteers for but our farmers market. We're seeking an advisory We're always seeking people to sit on our advisory board for the shabuigan market and we're working at a task force really for our Plymouth market to grow that and in there's you know, lots of ways you can get involved with the farmers market or you know, Bridgeway and and We're welcome to ideas of how else people want to get involved with that with your supervised visits. How many Families can you have participating at one time? Yeah, we can serve up to 20 families In an hour or two hour hour and a half two hour time slots So depending on you know, how how long those visits are and our availability at that time And and that's completely a free service. That's a partnership through United Way a city block grant or a county block grant Sorry, and and then some foundations chip in to help make that possible Sure, do you see families being receptive to it of participating in that type of a program? Yeah. Yeah, definitely I think that it's a Most you know, if someone's ready to get their kids back or really are ready to you know, take that on They they'll do anything in order to have that opportunity to be with their kids So if if the lawyer is saying for safety reasons you need to have supervision And you really want to see your kids and be a part of their life You're gonna do whatever it takes and so I think you know, there's sometimes some There's a lot of history that has to if you are are attending a supervised visitation There's a lot of history and sometimes that's really hard for you know The two parents really to be on the same page with what why we're there and you know for a lot of reasons You know the custodial parent might be you know scared for the safety of their kids because of past issues And and we respect that and and we want you know We just want to be there so that we make sure that it is safe and that we can communicate With the powers that be as if it's not Well, that's wonderful Do you see overlap between the bridgeway and the supervised visiting? Let's say you have a mom with a few kids in the bridgeway program and yet The dad is still around and still wants to visit and say do you see any overlap in those programs? Oh, definitely if we have a mom at our program and dad wants to be involved some you know People don't need super supervision and that's perfectly fine But if our mom's want to utilize it or we see it the other way Maybe it's a noncustodal mom who whose kids are in foster care Our kids are with a family member and she wants to you know get her kids back so she starts at the supervised visitation program and then if there's an opening in bridgeway and she can get on our waiting list and She can move into bridgeway in order to have some more structure to get her kids back Through that too. So it works both ways through the supervised visitation to bridgeway and then for you know Our dad's because we work with single mom So it would be a noncustodal dad utilizing or supervised visit if our mom is in our program wonderful Lastly we switched the farmers market. I know we've already mentioned something about it already but in volunteering with SCIO this past year or so I've lived in Sheboygan County all my life and this is the first year I went to the farmers market So I feel kind of guilty that way as far as that goes But in working with you know just with the staff at SCIO and Judy, you know who heads up the farmers market I mean, it's a kind of a neat thing where it's more than just you know vegetables or foods I mean there's flowers. There's crafts. There's all kinds of things. So, you know if You want to really need experience. It's a place to really go on Wednesday or Saturdays It's really a destination. I think you know, we see a lot of people Who go and have their their breakfast there on Saturdays or meet friends there on After work or at their lunches on Wednesdays. So it's really more about community Yep, and and Sheboygan's really in a mentality of we want to eat healthier We want to eat local. We want to support people We want to really build community and and strengthen our community and you know supporting local businesses Supporting local farmers eating healthier. I'm sitting down at the table if you you know Buy food from the farmers market. You're probably more likely to Prepare a nice meal which has gives you more incentive to sit and eat that meal with their family Which that's an incredibly important time. There's so much research about you know the importance of food and family And and food goes across cultures. It goes across economic Statuses food is important in every single You know from low income to high income food is food is definitely paramount in all of our cultures So the people Participating in the farmers market the sellers or whatever you want to call it with the stands Do you see them more a little like hobby farms and you know people doing this for fun That they bring their produce then or do you see you know larger farms or organizations coming there? What's the mix? Um, I don't know those statistics quite as specifically as Judy would but we do have a lot of family farms and a lot of people who are renting actually Their their plots and that this is this is their livelihood And they go and they not only sell maybe at ours But also at Appleton or Green Bay and so this is part of their summer and part of their livelihood and You know tying all three together into you know what we call our family reunification Think about it. We grew up five o'clock. We had separate everybody was at the supper table You know so there was family communication right there. Yeah now You're off to McDonald's or you put in the TV dinner if you're lucky anymore or something like that And everybody's coming and going or they're going on their little gadgets and stuff And they're going back at your little gadgets again where you know the bridgeway there you're bringing a sense of family community together you know the Visitation similar thing and even the farmers market with the comments you made earlier You know you buy your vegetables your fruit whatever there, you know and you prepare it at home Which can kind of then you know you want to make the meal and then have it there Which may bring the family back together as well so I can see we're all all the programs You know actually support the family reunification. Yeah, definitely and one of our coolest things about our farmers market is we actually accept food share and So, you know, that's a really cool thing. I don't think many people know if you go to our Judy who's our farmers market coordinator She has a stand on 8th Street and we're still the farmers market is still there and through the end of October and then we have a winters market that kicks up in October the 1st and 3rd Saturday and And you can actually utilize your food share At the farmers market many of our vegetable vendors They all have a sign up that says we accept food share So it's another way of you know, even like low-income families to be able to unite around food Okay If somebody wanted to get a hold of SCIO learn more about it the programs maybe want to contribute volunteer How what's the best way? Yeah, you can call us at 920-457-7272 And ask for Heidi or Jody is our administrative assistant Judy our farmers market coordinator or you can visit our website at www.cheboygancountyinterfaith.org And we'd be happy to we do tours and people are welcome to come and learn more about the bridgeway program And and we would be happy to do a tour and You can leave a comment or email me at SCIO.heidey at gmail.com. Okay. You also have a Facebook page. We have a Facebook page Yep, you can connect to us on Facebook like us and share and we have we post a lot of pictures about about Facebook and or about the farmers market and we would love it if you Hashtag SCIO farmers market if you are posting pictures about the farmers market so we can you know build community and share You know how we're supporting our local vendors. Okay, I Feel kind of guilty, you know, you see hashtag and I'm still trying to figure that out and I work in IT You know they come up with hashtag this and all these other things so Heidi I'd like to thank you for being on our show and talking about family reunification It sounds like there's a lot of neat things going on at SCIO. Yeah, thank you so much for having me definitely If you have any questions about this episode, you can contact us on our web page at W. S. C. S Sheboygan.com For your host for quality of life, I'm Dave Augustine and be on behalf of Heidi and SCIO. Thank you for watching