Light Up the Longest Night

[Jaunty Guitar Music]

Mike: Welcome, everybody. This is Avoiding the Addiction Affliction, brought to you by Westwords Consulting and the Kenosha County Substance Use Disorder Coalition. I'm Mike McGowan.

Mike: My guest today is Michelle Sandberg, the Executive Director of the HOPE Council in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In case you didn't know, December 21st is the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight.

Mike: That also means, of course, it is the longest night, and in that spirit. The Hope Council of Kenosha is sponsoring the second annual Light Up the Longest Night on December 21st, remembering those in recovery, as well as those who have passed from their substance use disorder or are currently suffering from it.

Mike: Terrific event. Welcome, Michelle.

Michelle: Thanks for having me.

Mike: Well, I'm so glad we could do this. I love that you're doing it on December. I just think it's great. This is the second annual Light Up the Longest Night. What do you have planned for it? What's going on?

Michelle: So last year's event, the inaugural event, was such a success that we're doing it again.

Michelle: And I have to give credit where credit is due. This was an idea of the one and only Guida Brown. She and I had discussed it, we loved it, and we ran with it. So like you said, the longest night, the shortest day of winter solstice is December 21st and this year with the holiday and the timing and where it lands in the week, unfortunately it is the Saturday before Christmas.

Michelle: So this year we're going to host the event from 5 to 7 p. m. here at our office. We place luminaries outside honoring those we've lost to addiction, people in recovery, and we have hot cocoa, a fire, and hopefully this year we have the same supportive response from folks that we did last year. The holidays can be a really difficult time, especially for people who have loved ones that are still suffering, but it's also a time to celebrate people who are in recovery.

Michelle: And this is just one of those little opportunities for people to come together, and I can tell you that there is no force more powerful than connecting somebody who's living in recovery, somebody who's beating addiction, with somebody who's still grieving, with somebody who's still dealing with the devastating part.

Michelle: And when they come together, it's really a powerful, unique dynamic, and it's filled with hope. So, just like the night, the longest night, there's hope. Tomorrow is going to be better. The light's going to be there a little bit longer. And I just feel like that hope is what fuels our soul. So we're really looking forward to it this year.

Mike: Well, for those of you listening, we're, we're going to put a link to the registration and how you can support it, even if you can't go. But for those people who just listen in their car or whatever, how can they get involved?

Michelle: A few ways. The easiest, you just show up. You don't need a reservation.

Michelle: You don't need to complete the registration, though we do appreciate it so we can plan our supplies accordingly. But really, we just want you to be part of this event. And if that means that you decided at the last minute to stop by, you will be welcomed. You can register online, like you said, if you want to participate, but you already have plans.

Michelle: It is the Saturday before Christmas. If you can't attend, if you don't love the cold. We can take care of placing a luminary for you. In the registration, there is an option for that. It's free. We do ask for a small donation. We suggest $10, but anybody is welcome to attend. No registration is necessary.

Michelle: We'll have all of the supplies here and you can just show up.

Mike: Well, for those of you in southeastern Wisconsin, we should do this. I almost would have forgotten to do this. You moved a while back. Where's your new location, so people know where to show up.

Michelle: So we are almost smack dab in the middle of the city now.

Michelle: 61st and 39th Avenue, 6103 39th Avenue. We're right near everybody knows where Paielli's Bakery is. So we're right across the street from Paielli's Bakery. Great location. We have a front yard that we can place all of those luminaries down the street. And it's just a really nice way to kind of honor and reflect and see that little bit of hope again during the holidays.

Mike: What did you learn from last year's event?

Michelle: That's a great question, and I do have kind of a funny story. We had a fantastic event last year. We had about 50-ish people attend, and about a dozen or so more folks asked us to place the luminary online. We had a couple of bonfires, we had hot coffee, and we had planned to have hot cocoa, and those plans were derailed, and I did have a valuable lesson.

Michelle: Since you asked, I will happily pass along this sage nugget of advice to everybody listening. Do not, do not put milk in a percolator. Do not buy the chocolate milk in the, in the gallon, you know, the pre made real chocolate milk. It does not belong in a percolator under any circumstance. Your office will smell like a disaster for weeks.

Michelle: You will have to throw away the percolators down the street in a dumpster because they smell so bad. So don't, don't do that, but all joking aside, it was a great event. It was cold but being part of community, experiencing the tears and the smiles is something that you just don't forget. And we were able to capture some great photos.

Michelle: We had all of the decorated luminaries along 39th Avenue. And I just really hope that we can all kind of experience that magic again. Less the, the scorched hot cocoa.

Mike: We'll be doing Swiss Miss with, Swiss Miss with water this year.

Michelle: Yes, yes we do have new percolators so we're good to go.

Michelle: We, we don't make that mistake again, so.

Mike: Well, you know, it's not like people don't know people, right? I mean, we have just in the last decade in this country, we've lost about a million people to substance use disorders. Many of them, most of them from opiates, right? And think about that, Michelle, that's a hundred grand a year in our country.

Mike: And how many more of us are currently living with it, and what we tend to do is to avoid talking about it, which doesn't make it go away.

Michelle: No, we could talk, like, I wish this podcast was two hours long. I feel like we could just go down so many paths here. It touches on all of that, right? We don't want to talk about it, it's stigma.

Michelle: Nobody shows up at Christmas like, hey, how's Uncle Jack's, you know, drinking going? So this is a way that you can honor everybody. You can light a luminary for somebody who's still struggling. Maybe it's not you. Maybe it's not your spouse. Maybe it's your cousin, your brother, somebody in your life, you know, everybody knows somebody who's been impacted.

Michelle: So this event really does touch on that. Touch everybody in some way. And really, the important part, those people in recovery, those people that are doing it, those people that are working their programs, those people that are living in recovery, they're there too. So, it's really that great mix of the sorrow, the shame, the stigma, and the hope.

Mike: And the hope.

Michelle: It works, you know, recovery happens. It's just a really, it was a great idea and I loved it. I, I really hope that everybody can come out, even for a minute. And if you can't come out, send it through online and we will place a luminary with your loved one, your whomever's name on it.

Michelle: And it, it's just a great way to honor all those folks.

Mike: You know, there's organizations and like yours all across the country, and for that matter, all across the world. You know, to address all those needs, because there's so many people, you do more than just this event. Talk about your other programs.

Michelle: Oh boy, where do we start? Okay. The mission of the Hope Council, it's to reduce the impact of substance use disorders in our community by providing education, prevention, intervention, and referral services. Our agency was established in 1969 as the Kenosha Council on Alcoholism.

Michelle: And over the last 55-ish years, we have been an unrelenting force battling addiction and supporting our community. We're unique in that we don't do traditional treatment, which is what most people think we do. We don't. And that's by design. Because one of our largest programs is the Intoxicated Driver Program.

Michelle: Every county in Wisconsin has a designated agency that assesses and creates driver safety plans for folks who have alcohol or other substance related driving violations. And one of those steps required to maintain or regain your driving privileges is we assess about 500 to 550 folks a year, and if we're assessing them and we're sending them to treatment, but we're also the treatment provider ethically speaking, that's a conflict.

Michelle: And we want to avoid any implication of lining our own pockets, so to say. So the only thing we don't do is traditional treatment. We do have some really unique programs though like the comprehensive support or wraparound care loved ones group. It's a free support group for the family and friends of loved ones that have substance use disorder.

Michelle: Who's looking out for them? We are, they meet every Thursday 5:30 to 6:45 here in our office. It's a great group. I've had the privilege of facilitating that group several times and those are the folks you want in your corner. They are the most supportive, understanding, caring, and accepting people because they all have somebody in their lives.

Michelle: There's actually a really unique set, a couple of ladies in that group. Again, probably for another episode, but our agency offers direct biomarker testing, which is a fantastic tool in the toolbox when you're identifying and understanding addiction. We are the home of the KRW Tobacco Free Coalition.

Michelle: I am the co chair of the Kenosha County Substance Abuse Coalition. And in that role, I do my best to find some funding for this podcast. Our agency offers parenting time, supervised visitation for folks who don't have access to their kids. It creates a safe and supportive environment for families to work through that reunification process.

Michelle: And I'm very, very excited to share that we are the home of the brand new Navigator program which launches in 2025. Wisconsin DHS recently had a competitive four year grant for treatment navigators and they act as recovery coaches or peer support mentors to guide people to and through the treatment process, and there's no cost.

Michelle: So, this program is desperately needed. Ironically, our community is really lucky. We do have plenty of treatment options available, but there's nobody to guide you through which option is the best fit for your needs. And I think that's where people get all tangled up and confused. Not everybody needs inpatient treatment and not every modality is a good fit for every person. And unless you are intimately aware of the ins and outs, the nuances of the services that each provider offers, which providers offer medication, which providers provide support for coexisting conditions, mental health support, you're just randomly choosing a name off of a list.

Michelle: And that's a recipe for failure. Of course, it's going to feel like the right services aren't available because you don't know which ones you need. So our navigators are going to be that missing link. They're going to improve outcomes. They're going to knock down the barriers as they come up. Because they do, right?

Michelle: Everybody encounters something. They're going to be there for you. They're going to ensure that you have successful outcomes. They're going to ensure you have connections to those other comprehensive, how do you get to treatment? How do you get that ride arranged? Do you have child care so that you can support your access to that treatment?

Michelle: So all of those parts and pieces are something that this program can address. And if you can't tell, I'm just, I'm super excited about that. This program is a service that folks in this community have not had access to previously. And in just a few short months that we've been meeting with other agencies and providers and our government partners to discuss the program, we've learned a lot.

Michelle: You know, not everybody knows everything. And until you start getting all of the people in the room talking about what their ideas are. What would be your perfect, you know plan if you could make one? Tell me all of those things. Tell me anything that you wish was here. And let's see if we can make it happen.

Michelle: And with that, we've gathered little bits and pieces of ideas from our community. And then we've shared them with our contract administrator at the state level, who shared them with the CDC at the national level. And it's just really satisfying to see everybody working together for a common goal.

Michelle: And it creates that camaraderie, that spirit of hope and that, that collaboration that no one person, no one agency, no one organization can do all of this on their own. So, I feel like this Navigator program is really key to making that, that happen.

Mike: Especially in 2024-2025, in the old days, old days, you had standalone facilities like you were saying, and you would just walk up to the intake for that.

Mike: But now, we don't have that. So, I do a lot of talking and people go, well why don't they just get treatment? Like that's a thing that you can just go get. And I think you're right. There's so many different ways to do this now that knowing how to, it's a labyrinth, right? And to try to navigate the labyrinth is really important.

Michelle: How do you have a community? How do you have a successful, healthy community without that little agency that kind of fills all of those gaps and puts all of those pieces together? You can have great parts and pieces independently, and we need all of them. We need all of the types of treatment, we need all of the existing services that are there.

Michelle: But we need the person that helps determine which one of those is right for you. Because if I showed up at a group that wasn't one on one, I would be incredibly uncomfortable. And I would feel like the right thing's just not there because I don't know that it is. You know, what I saw was not what I wanted.

Michelle: And then I assume that that's just what's out there. So these navigators are just, they're key. They're going to be the key. And I'm so grateful that the state was able to see that, you know, a one year grant is great. I mean, that's, that's fantastic, but we need to sustain it for a bit. We need to modify and really get into the depths of the program.

Michelle: And the four year opportunity is just so, it's key to really, really making this work.

Mike: Well, I was going to ask you that actually next, because it seems to me when I talk to folks like you, that a lot of your job is chasing money. And trying to keep places like yours, which are so valuable, viable and securing the funds.

Mike: So you have to convince the community that there's a need, first of all, right? And then procure the funds. How does that, I mean, where are we at with that? Are the funds in Wisconsin? I think we've had more funds available in the last five years, right? But it's, it's, it's difficult across the country and especially in rural areas.

Michelle: It is, Mike. There is a lot of siloed dollars available, right? So, if you're performing treatment you can get funding for additional beds or to increase your capacity. It's really, really difficult for an agency like ours, I think, especially to find those dollars. We don't receive any funds from our city or county.

Michelle: We are pretty unique in that we don't have those contracts. We don't have those dollars. So there's a need in our community and our community is filled with a lot of really great organizations with different missions, but we're all chasing that same dollar, right? We don't have a professional fundraiser.

Michelle: We don't have marketing dollars. So it's tough for small agencies like us. We're scrappy, we're nimble. We can pivot fast, we can do the work and that makes us able to thrive and survive even without some of those, you know more structured or larger dollar contracts coming through. But we really, really depend on things that are free. Social media. Word of mouth. We need every person that we encounter to share our information or pass it along with their friends. We really lean into that social media aspect. It's the best place and it's the fastest way for us to deliver press releases when we see patterns of heightened overdose activity or to put out a plea for an immediate need that we have, but we rely on a lot of those really small donations.

Michelle: You know, $10 or $20 doesn't sound like a lot to to somebody, but if 10 or 20 people come together and all happen to donate $10 or $20. Now we have $200 or $400 and I promise you, I promise you will not see a dollar go further than it does in a non profit agency. We can take that $200 or $400 and we can turn that into an entire curriculum, an entire set of books for a group.

Michelle: We can buy another VR headset and then we can deliver another prevention or education message to a group of kiddos. The long and short of it is we need our community support. We depend on it and no donation is too small. Every dollar goes far here and and we just really rely on that word of mouth, those free access to media, the Kenosha News too.

Michelle: I mean, they're great partners. They're great friends. They allow us to submit those community articles every month. So it keeps our name out there and it keeps our mission. But really those individual small donors that are able to support us with $10 or $20, that's what keeps our doors open.

Michelle: That's what keeps our lights on and that's what keeps us going.

Mike: You need to add scrappy and nimble to your professional biography.

Michelle: You know, there's no way else to do it. We can pivot. We can pivot. We can move. We can change, you know, things like xylosine, you know, when that, that popped onto the, the, without any, I have no idea.

Michelle: But, you know, we can instantly go out, we can get those test strips, we can add them to, or I didn't get to share about our public health vending machine, Big Red. That is near and dear to my heart. Our public health vending machine launched last November. We were the first. place in Kenosha County to have one.

Michelle: It's outside of our office. It's available 24/7 and it's free access to public health supplies. No barriers, no limits. You simply walk up to that vending machine, punch in the button, out your supplies comes and off you go. Right now it's stocked with COVID tests, Narcan, fentanyl and xylosine test strips, drug deactivation kits, emergency contraception, gun locks. Shortly there will be supplies for people who are unhoused over the winter that need fresh dry socks, hygiene kits, body wipes, all of those supplies are in the vending machine and they don't have to come inside to get them.

Michelle: You know, there's that anonymity that some people enjoy. Some people want to stop in and chat and that's fine too. But if you don't want to, if 2 a. m. is the best time for you to roll up and grab your supplies, have at it. They're there. We want you to use them. They're not there for decoration.

Michelle: And we've done a good job, right? We had some great news recently with the decrease in overdose deaths. So what we're doing is working and we need to keep doing those things. Now's not the time to take our foot off the gas. Now's not the time to coast. We need to keep doing them. And that vending machine, I think, is critical.

Michelle: It's key. We have distributed thousands and thousands of pieces of supplies and it's working. What we're doing is working. So we're going to keep doing it for as long as we can. We're going to keep being nimble. We're going to keep making sure that whatever the next thing is that's popping up, whatever's waiting around the corner.

Michelle: I don't know what that is. My crystal ball broke. I wish it was It's still there, but it doesn't work and we just have to be ready. And we're ready. We're, we're ready. We're prepared. We know what works. We're going to keep doing what we're doing and, and we're going to hopefully see this decline in overdose deaths continue.

Mike: I was going to ask you about the challenges moving forward, but you just already answered that. You did a great job of answering that ahead of time. You must live, and the office, and yourself. You must live off success stories. And this could probably be a nine hour podcast. It's what gets you to go home and go, yeah, we're making a difference.

Michelle: You know, I get asked that question a lot and I typically will counter with, How do you define success? I work in a world that is not black and white. Addiction is a disease, right? It's chronic, progressive, and lethal if left untreated. And it has ripples. And those ripples spread through eternity. And what you might say is a complete and utter failure, somebody else is praying for that opportunity.

Michelle: Somebody else is praying for that one day of sobriety. And success cannot be measured in any standard formats. And my joy comes from seeing someone understand and truly accept that every path looks completely different. There is no right or wrong way to find recovery. Nobody decides to wake up with a heroin addiction.

Michelle: Nobody wants to throw away their job or their family or their home. And if I play a tiny role in that journey in any way, that's a success. We see a lot of ugly. Sadly, we experience death and we see failed attempts every day. But if we took failure at face value, if we took failure and said it was just that we failed. Then I couldn't keep getting up and I couldn't keep going back to work every morning and I couldn't do this job.

Michelle: You have to figure out how to turn failure into another chance, another shot. And that to me would be the pinnacle of success. You get back up, you dust yourself off, and you say, I'm going to try this again. So what you might define as failure, you have to find a way to turn that into success. And that next attempt, that next shot, hearing somebody say that they're willing to try it again, or they want to try it again, that's success.

Michelle: So that's really what keeps me going.

Mike: Well, and that happens every single day with everyone who calls, communicates, or walks into your offices. I mean, they're basically saying...

Michelle: Not everyone walks in here happy and willing, you know? Sadly, those 550 people are here because of something that already happened. But, it's a shot.

Michelle: It's a chance. And those support groups, those folks who really are looking for help. You really do kind of develop that you're rooting for them. You're just hoping that this is the time, but like I said, you just can't take failure at face value. What somebody sees as failure, somebody else is praying for it. That hope that they can get up and have one day sober, one day. Because they maybe fell off and and went off the rails that night, you know, they had 12 hours. They had 18 hours. They had 24 hours. Maybe next time it's going to be 30 hours. Maybe next time it's going to be 48. I just pray and I hope that every person that comes in here, is not the next case that we're reviewing at the Overdose Fatality Review Meetings.

Michelle: You know, that's my hope. That we can keep you going for one more day. There's no wrong way to get to recovery. There's no wrong path. And every chance, every opportunity, every day is another shot at that one that sticks, right? That one that makes it, the one that is living in long term recovery, but addiction also is, it's a lifelong disease.

Michelle: You're not cured of it. You're never cured officially of cancer. You know, you're in remission. Diabetes is not maybe cured, it's controlled, but it's a diagnosis that you have for life and addiction is the exact same way. We don't go, Oh, you're cured! You're good! You can go! Nope. You need to work at this... forever.

Michelle: But that path too might look different to everybody. So accepting and understanding that everybody's path looks different, feels different, and helping them figure that out. That's what I feel like is a job well done. That's what makes me feel like I can get back up the next day, we can rally the troops, and we can do it again.

Mike: Well, and one more time, if you want to rally with the Hope Council either digitally via online or in person. Remind us again about the event.

Michelle: Saturday, December 21st, The Longest Night here at the Hope Council. 6103 39th Avenue. You can sign up online. Visit our website, www.hopecouncil.org.

Michelle: Follow us on Facebook. Be part of the event. Sign up. If you can't attend, we'll place a luminary for you. Just fill out that registration and send it in and follow us on social media. Share our posts. That's what keeps our agency going.

Mike: That's great. Thank you so much for being with us today and thanks for the work, Michelle.

Mike: It's great.

Michelle: Thanks, Mike. I appreciate it.

Mike: Yeah, and for all of you listening, listen anytime you're able. Until then, stay safe, get involved, and make a difference.