Jeff Williams:
Welcome to Community Voices, a production of NPR Illinois. I'm your co-host, Jeff Williams. In the studio with me today, Erin Helmholz. Was that good? That was perfect. Was it? Was it? Are you sure? Okay.
Erin Helmholz:
No, I think you got it.
Jeff Williams:
Okay. Oh, man. Okay, the pressure. Erin, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and what brings you in today?
Erin Helmholz:
Absolutely. So, I am thrilled to raise some awareness regarding mental health resources in our area. I am a licensed clinical social worker, and I have worked in the field for about 10 years. I got my graduate master's degree from UIUC. And I've strictly worked in that field in central Illinois, surrounding counties. I currently work for Molina Healthcare, which is a managed care organization, working with our members in long-term care centers. But the bulk of my experience is really in child welfare. I do serve on the board for the Mini O'Beirne Crisis Nursery (MOCN).
Jeff Williams:
Oh, nice.
Erin Helmholz:
Yeah, which is kind of my passion. And, you know, kids have always been my favorite population to work with. I do love the people I work with now, but I think kids are kind of where it all starts with mental health.
Jeff Williams:
So, they need it sometimes, I mean, for sure.
Erin Helmholz:
Yeah. And if we want to, prevent systemic societal issues, a lot of the people I see, the adults I work with now… they have severe mental health and physical health comorbidities. And we do have science and statistics that state that all of those are exacerbated by childhood trauma. and the stress that comes with living in an underserved population, minority populations.
Jeff Williams:
Right, so you are you from the area then?
Erin Helmholz:
I am from Springfield.
Jeff Williams:
From Springfield, right on. And so, but then you were over in Champaign-Urbana.
Erin Helmholz:
Yeah, I actually went to the University of Georgia for my undergrad.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, did you? Oh, wow. That's cool. Yeah, I played the 40 Watt Club. Oh wow, 40 watt. I played the 40 watt club back when I was a band that toured and stuff like that. So that was way back a long, time ago.
Erin Helmholz:
REM got their start.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, exactly. B-52s too! That was … still is… a hot spot, way back then for sure! So right on, so then you were in Georgia and then came back to Champaign?
Erin Helmholz:
I had a bit of a roundabout where I tried a couple other things, thought I might want to go to law school, and then really felt the calling toward law school… toward advocacy. And especially in child welfare. I spent a lot of time in court, worked closely with many attorneys. And I don't have to do quite the amount of paperwork, legal filing. I do a lot of reading and writing, but really advocacy was the part that was the most important to me. And so really found my stride with social work and being able to do that.
Jeff Williams:
So when you started to find this as a calling, was it when you were in Georgia? How did your path lead you?
Erin Helmholz:
Actually… I grew up competitively riding horses.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, really?
Erin Helmholz:
Yes. Came to become involved with equine therapy. I am a certified equine therapist and did a lot of volunteer work with that.
Jeff Williams:
Okay. And what is that? Could you explain for people what that?
Erin Helmholz:
Sure. So there's a lot of science behind the brain of humans being predators and then the brain of horses being prey… and prey animals being able to sense the trauma response. So, you don't even have to ride the horse. We find that children, especially children that are deeply traumatized, are not in touch with their inner emotions. (So, they may say) ‘Everything is fine”, but when you get around a horse, they can sense that that's not the case. So, seeing kind of that physical manifestation of, your fear and anxiety. And in order to calm the animal down, you must calm yourself down.
Jeff Williams:
Right. Yeah.
Erin Helmholz:
So, you have to use a lot of those same coping skills and really learning how to see in front of your face, okay, I'm not calm right now. And, you know, the bond can be pretty incredible.
Jeff Williams:
When did the connection or the research on that start?
Erin Helmholz:
So that's kind of been around a while. There’s a lot of people…. there's that Robert Redford movie that of course I'm blanking on right now, (The Horse Whisperer), it's a young girl who's very difficult. She gets in a car wreck and just kind of her coming back from that and the trauma from that. And I think it was always known amongst horse people.
Jeff Williams:
Okay, yeah.
Erin Helmholz:
But a lot of people then started to realize that it could be a beneficial activity for people. I'm not sure about when it became actually known, but it's been around forever. Okay, gotcha, and it's super popular in substance abuse treatment as well. Obviously, a lot of people with substance abuse disorders have trauma backgrounds. But yeah, Kemmerer Village is a big residential treatment center in Assumption, Illinois, and they have a big- Oh, in Assumption.
Jeff Williams:
Wow.
Erin Helmholz:
Yeah, outside Taylorville. And they have a big, echoing therapy program there. Yeah, it's pretty incredible to see that.
Jeff Williams:
Cool to know right on. So as far as like if people wanted to get a hold of you. What's the best way for you?
Erin Helmholz:
The best way, really, I mean, I'm on LinkedIn and then my name, E-R-I-N dot Helmholtz, H-E-L-M-H-O-L-Z, one at gmail.com is my e-mail. Okay. Don't spam me, but yeah.
Jeff Williams:
No, don't spam. Don't start spamming! (laughter)
Erin Helmholz:
I'm always thrilled to connect with people. I think that's a really strong thing about our area is the social work community and the mental health community, we're all pretty tight. And I have really built quite a little black book. If I don't know the answer, I don't know the best way to handle a situation. I have incredible co-workers. Classmates that I can recommend people to. So I'm always happy to provide resources.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. That's very cool. So, with that, do you attend seminars where you are learning about new things?
Erin Helmholz:
So, with my licensed clinical social work I have to maintain a certain number of continuing education hours each year. And then honestly, I got into this work because it's what I love. So, it's not unheard of for me to find something and attend it just to learn more.
Jeff Williams:
To learn more… there's nothing wrong with hat. That's a good approach versus feeling like some people it's like, “ugh, I have go to another one of these. But if you're excited about that… that means you've got the passion, you've got the love for it.
Erin Helmholz:
That's good. I'm always excited to talk about mental health, to talk about resources. I think, you know, it impacts everyone so deeply. People that think that it doesn't, it doesn't take me long to make one connection where I can say, this does impact your life and you should care about it. And with that too, I did want to talk a little bit about the crisis nursery. Yeah, definitely. So Mini O'Beirne Crisis Nursery has been in Springfield since 1985. We are a 24-hour, seven days a week crisis nursery, for children aged 7 and under. We have no income verification requirements. The reason MOCN is so important to me is because it is one of the largest resources we have in the area that prevents child abuse and neglect, right? So, working in child welfare was working with the after-effects, and that can get really developed. depressing and really dark. I don't get burnout on many open because we're stopping those things from happening. Parents that are overwhelmed, parents that are in domestic violence situations, parents that need substance abuse treatment, no questions asked. Drop your cut off, you know, and you can have some time. You go to a job interview. Everyone gets overwhelmed. That's not a socioeconomic issue. It's just whether or not you have a village, right? So many kids that I saw come into care … it wasn't because their parent neglected or abused them. They had to leave them with unsafe people because they didn't have other choices or options. And there can be nothing worse than knowing that as a parent, but what are you supposed to do? You know, if you've got to go to work, you've got whatever the case may be. So, we create a really safe and loving environment, stable for these kids to be. And we feed them, we have toys, everything. We do also offer a formula and diaper pantry. You can come once a month. Again, no income verification required. Just need an IV. We're open when the sun comes up, and then it stops when it's dark. So you can come once a month at any time. We do offer parenting classes as well, and we have tons of opportunities for people to get involved. So if you go to mocn.org, there's on our We have so many, it's hard for me to even say. One of our big ones, we have a golf outing on May 22nd. It's just a way to get people involved, raise money for the nursery. We are nonprofit, obviously. And so, it's a great way to give back. But we do lots of family activities. We have family nights where people can come, you know, play board games and things like that. And I can't say enough about the people that run it. I mean, these are on the front lines 24-7. They're never doing the work. And it's just, it's such an amazing resource that we have here.
Jeff Williams:
And what was that? The website again for them to.
Erin Helmholz:
Yeah, MOCN.org.
Jeff Williams:
MOCN.org.
Erin Helmholz:
Mini O'Beirne Crisis Nursery (MOCN).
Jeff Williams:
Gotcha. People need to, and I know it's changing, but you know, a lot of times people that are in a position where they want to reach out, but sometimes like stigma or something, you know, sometimes people just feel like they're embarrassed to ask or something. So then, like you say, sometimes in that case, because they are, they will maybe not being, bad or anything like that, but they just think, I'm going to, I'm just going to go ahead and rely on this person when it's not maybe necessarily the best person because they're not either sure of other resources, they haven't heard about them yet. or I kind of mentioned, which like I said, it's changing and I could correct me if I'm wrong, but kind of sometimes the stigma where people need to kind of get over that.
Erin Helmholz:
Shame and stigma are… things that people deal with every single day. And I think we can all relate to that… shame.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, we all can, we need to be better at that at times. I know I do too, everybody where, and a lot of times when people do, they suddenly realize, oh my gosh, I could have done this. You’re almost afraid of like a rejection thing when really it's like all of a sudden it's like everybody was so loving or they were so caring once you do reach out.
Erin Helmholz:
Absolutely. I mean, I think shame is the enemy of healing and progress, right? As long as you're feeling shame, you are not able to heal yourself, forgive yourself, and progress. And, you know, it's Everybody needs help. People say that to me all the time, this person doesn't have any problems. Everybody has help.
Jeff Williams:
We all do. We all do.
Erin Helmholz:
And I know, and I can't talk about it often because I'm bound by HIPAA and it's not people's business. But I can say, listen, I've seen it all. Every, there, obviously it is more prevalent and among people that struggle with poverty and people that are not, they don't have as many resources, right? But there for the grace of God go I, it just so happens that nobody, it's very rare that it's because somebody worked harder or, it's the benefit of what we've been handed in life. And then, you know, you've got to rely on those around you. Nobody's an island, So I'm just super grateful to be involved with the mini over in crisis nursery. And even if you're wondering, can they help me with this or you just want to know more, anything. And that's something I tell people all the time is I'm a social worker. I love to investigate. I love to problem solve. And I tell people, call me. Because if I don't know, I probably know somebody that does.
Jeff Williams:
Even if they feel like, well, I'm not sure if this is the right, just call. You know, call and find out. They'll at least get some information if nothing else, you know. So Wow.
Erin Helmholz:
Yeah, nobody's there at Mini O'Beirne because they don't want to be, right? So, nobody's going to get mad at you. I wish I could say that for every social service agency. Unfortunately, I can't. But I can say for, Mini O'Beirne Crisis Nursery, nobody's going to be mad that you called. Nobody's going to be annoyed. It might be busy and it might be loud in the background. There might be kids crying. But they are going to do what they can.
Jeff Williams:
And no judgment, no nothing like that. So right on, love it. Well, once again, we're in the studio with Aaron Helmholtz. And She's a social worker. But anyhow, well, thanks a lot for coming in. Is there any other things you'd like to give anybody a shout out or anything that you?
Erin Helmholz:
Yeah, absolutely. I would love to give a shout out to the Massey Commission and Black Lives Matter SPI. They did just do incredible work to get the 708 County Mental Health Board passed, which is a 5 cents tax on goods and services. And it's going to raise tons of money obviously came about due to the tragic murder of Sonia Massie. And they're out there, they're doing the work 100%, and just try to be an ally, show up for them, and do everything you can. They're really, incredible. So, recommend following Mini O'Beirne Crisis Nursery on Facebook as well. We are very active on Facebook. So, we post all our events, all the things going on. Lots of pictures … really cute kids! And then the Massie Commission and Black Lives Matter SPI are We're grateful.
Jeff Williams:
Love it. Love it. Well, Erin, thank you so much for coming in.
Erin Helmholz:
Absolutely. Thanks for having me, Jeff.
Jeff Williams:
Right on.
Erin Helmholz:
Okay. Cool. That's all right. Yeah, I think so.
Jeff Williams:
Community Voices is events that you might have missed and conversations with neighbors, artists, and area businesspeople. Suggest a guest or comment at communityvoices@nprillinois.org. Get to know your neighbors with Community Voices at noon and 10 p.m. and on-demand at nprillinois.org. NPR Illinois 91.9 And thank you for your support. Community Voices is a production of NPR Illinois.
