Lake Country Weekend Post

2 • LAKE COUNTRY POST • APRIL 25, 2015 GMTODAY.COM HEALTH Don't miss what Don't miss what your neighbors know... your neighbors know... Order 52 Weeks of the Oconomowoc Enterprise for Name ___________________________________________________________________________ Mailing Address __________________________________________________________________ City___________________________________State _________Zip _________________________ Phone_______________________ E-mail ______________________________________________ MY PAYMENT IS ENCLOSED. Send me 52 weeks of the Oconomowoc Enterprise for $35.00. Postal delivery every Thursday, $35 Oconomowoc addresses only, $43 outside of 53066. Check enclosed Bill my: Credit Card Number _______________________________________________________________ Exp. Date____________ Signature ___________________________________________________ SC: HOUSEAD RC: FULL OR call (262) 542-2500 or subscribe online at www.gmtoday.com/subscribe and add Post to the comments area. Mail form to: The ENTERPRISE, PO Box 7, Waukesha, WI 53187-0007 $ 35 JUST 67¢ a WEEK! By Katherine Michalets Enterprise Staff WAUKESHA — The level of poverty in Wisconsin grew statewide in 2013 despite a growth in jobs, which is in line with what Waukesha nonprofits were reporting Tuesday. Ralph Zick, executive director of the Hope Center in Waukesha, said the num- ber of people coming through his nonprofit's doors are unchanged from the height of the recent Recession. Daily, the Hope Center serves about 40 to 50 break- fasts and 50 to 70 lunches. It also helps 1,000 individuals each year, Zick said. The center's goal is to prevent homelessness and it has often served those who are homeless, live in rooming houses or don't have the facilities in which to cook. "It is improving from a financial standpoint. Last year was not great at all," Zick said of fundraising, adding there was an uptick in contributions from the end of 2014 until now. "The sad part about this is there is not a decrease in the num- ber of needs." Karen Tredwell, executive director of the Food Pantry of Waukesha County, said the number of people the organization sees has decreased from the extreme numbers it was serving in 2008 or 2009 when the Reces- sion first hit, but the num- ber of individuals still need- ing help remains high. On average, the Food Pantry of Waukesha County works with 6,000 people per month. Neither Tredwell nor Zick know for certain why the need remains so high. Tredwell said a lot of the pantry's long-term clients have a history of working, but not in jobs that provide life-supporting wages. Even as the economy has improved and the job market has rebounded, those clients find themselves still needing their wages for health care, child care and rent and must turn to the pantry for their food. According to the Wiscon- sin Poverty Report released Tuesday by the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, the rate of poverty increased from 10.2 percent in 2012 to 10.9 percent in 2013. In Waukesha County in 2013, the rate was signifi- cantly lower at 5 percent, according to the report. In the combined areas of Wash- ington and Ozaukee coun- ties the rate was slightly higher at 5.7 percent, but still lower than the state rate. In Milwaukee County, the Wisconsin Poverty Mea- sure was 18.2 percent in 2013. "Although the social safe- ty net provided a buffer against poverty during the recession — and still makes a very big difference in countering poverty — the effects are beginning to level off or even shrink, both because of the weak recov- ery and because of changes in payroll taxes, medical expenses, and work-related expenses," reads the report. "This has left the longer- term WPM poverty measure more or less unchanged from 2009 to 2013. Hence progress against poverty is flattening out as the recov- ery remains fragile for low- income families." Zick said Hope Center staff members strive to help people with an immediate need for food, clothing and basic furnishings, which they are willing to collect from donors' homes. "Maybe we're seeing more of a separation of the haves and have-nots," Zick specu- lated about the steady need. People have stepped up to help, he said, especially with contributing food, making meals and serving them. "I see this great compas- sion and the thank-you and the reward coming back to the people," Zick said. "We're doing fine and we intend to continue to do fine." During the cold months, the Hope Center stepped up to fill the gap left by the lack of an emergency overflow shelter in the city this win- ter by offering weekend hours. At the end of April, the Hope Center will no longer be open on weekends because it doesn't have enough funding to continue that practice, Zick said. Overall, food donations to the food pantry remain strong and Tredwell said she's cautiously optimistic about monetary donations in 2015. After 18 years at the Food Pantry of Waukesha County, Tredwell said, the trend has been that dona- tions increase when the economy is bad for every- one. "They want to make sure others in the community have their needs taken care of," she said, adding that even though the economy has improved for some peo- ple, there is still a lower income group that is strug- gling. "They are finding that the people who are lowest income have not enjoyed the benefits of a recovering economy," Tredwell said of national trends. As she goes forward, Tred- well is confident that the food pantry will continue to meet the needs of Waukesha County. Email: kmichalets@conleynet.com Charles Auer/Enterprise Staff Kathy Hoeppner of the Town of Brookfield puts size labels on pairs of donated blue jeans on Tuesday at the Hope Center. Demand remains strong for nonprofit services Wisconsin's poverty level increased in 2013; Waukesha County's lower than average By Matt Masterson Enterprise Staff WAUKESHA — Nearly eight months after it first convened, Waukesha County's Heroin & Other Illicit Drug Task Force is beginning to zero in on a multistage plan of attack on the heroin and opioid crisis that has plagued the area, region and state. The task force — encompassing dozens of representatives from local and county gov- ernment, health care, law enforcement and other community resources — uses a five- pillar approach to try and break down the drug epidemic into more manageable seg- ments. The group met April 14 to hear from each pillar — prevention, harm reduction, law enforcement, treatment and workplace — and learn what goals have been identified, how they can be accomplished and what chal- lenges lie ahead. "Everyone is very excited about where we are going, even though we know we have a ways to go," Waukesha County Health & Human Services Director Antwayne Robert- son said. "We still have the community and all the various systems very invested and continuing this effort." The task force is also adding a sixth pillar, focusing on drug-affected infants and giving pregnant mothers the resources and help they need to keep babies from entering the world as addicts. 'We are in the deep end of the pool' Each of the pillar groups have conducted preliminary background analysis to identify the next steps to take. For the prevention pil- lar, this includes universal education on drugs — the group's tagline is "It doesn't start with heroin" — and marketing toward parents and children about how addicts typi- cally build toward heroin through marijua- na, alcohol or prescription pills. The law enforcement pillar plans to increase drug and alcohol impairment train- ing as well as giving officers naloxone, an opi- oid antagonist used to reverse heroin over- doses, and making sure they know how to use it. "In some cases (law enforcement) are going to be the first responder," said Dorothy Chaney, president of the Wisconsin Commu- nity Health Alliance, "and they want to make sure that their staff is equipped with the drugs but also the knowledge of how to administer them." Chaney's group is based in Marshfield, but she conducts work across the state and has been brought in by the Waukesha task force to ensure its work will have a tangible impact on the community. To do this, she has challenged each of the pillar groups to identify baseline data — such as the number of times naloxone is adminis- tered across the county — that can be used to track success. Chaney said once each pillar group has the appropriate data, she will compile it all to "tell the story of Waukesha County" in the form of a preliminary analysis that can be used to look back on and gauge success. She said the most impressive aspect of the April 14 meeting was the attendees' dedica- tion to cooperation. "That is a really strong statement that they are all working together and we are all sort of working together in our own areas of exper- tise," Chaney said. "The groups have really identified some very important strategies that are going to have some pretty immediate impact in Waukesha County on this issue." Those strategies include increases in nee- dle exchanges and educating users about the state's Good Samaritan 911 law, which allows them to avoid arrest if they call 911 to report an overdose. For the population-level addiction prob- lems, Chaney said it may be five or more years before major changes are seen, but with the steps currently being taken, smaller victories can be found. "We are in the deep end of the pool," Chaney said. "These problems do not go away overnight and it is critically important that we have baseline data, so that we are not just working hard, but that we are actually working to do things that are going to have an impact." Email: mmasterson@conleynet.com OCONOMOWOC — Rogers Memorial Hos- pital–Brown Deer opened its doors to its new 56-bed inpatient facility recently. The hospital will provide inpatient care and stabilization for children, adolescents and adults dealing with anxiety, depression, addiction and other mental health disorders. The new hospital and specialty outpatient treatment services already in place form the third comprehensive behavioral health cam- pus for Rogers Behavioral Health System, which is headquartered in Oconomowoc. A dedication reception is planned today. The public is invited to attend a community open house on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. to celebrate the grand opening. In addition to tours and information, sto- ries of recovery and entertainment from school and community groups will fill the afternoon. For more information, go to roger- shospital.org/hope. Rogers also has hospital campuses in Oconomowoc and West Allis, as well as spe- cialty outpatient treatment in Madison, Kenosha and Tampa, Florida. — Enterprise Staff MILWAUKEE — University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone described Tuesday's $1 million donation from James and Yvonne Ziemer to the Uni- versity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Nursing as "transformational." The financial gift will strengthen UWM's ability to fill the growing shortage of nurs- es in the state, according to the announce- ment. In particular, the donation will fund a clinical simulation center on the universi- ty's Kenwood Campus. The James and Yvonne Ziemer Clinical Simulation Center will enable the college to increase its in-demand training programs by up to 30 percent, providing UWM nursing students with state-of-the-art experiential learning in simulated clinical settings, according to the announcement. "The new James and Yvonne Ziemer Clin- ical Simulation Center will be a place for innovative clinical learning, not only for our nursing students, but for students from our College of Health Sciences, and from many other UWM Schools and Colleges," Mone said. "Integrated professional devel- opment at the cutting edge of interdisci- plinary learning will be made possible here." James Ziemer is a three-time UWM alum- nus, as well as the former CEO and presi- dent of Harley-Davidson, Inc. James and Yvonne raised two daughters in Waukesha, Caryn and Lisa, and and have five grand- children. www5.uwm.edu Rogers Memorial Hospital–Brown Deer opens doors Fighting heroin addiction Drug task force prepares multistage attack on opioid crisis Former Harley-Davidson CEO and wife donate $1 million to nursing college Pictured from left to right are: Sally Lun- deen, dean of UWM's College of Nursing; UWM Chancellor Mark Mone; Yvonne Ziemer; Jim Ziemer; and Patri- cia Borger, UWM's vice chancellor for development and alumni relations. Photo courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

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