CINspirational People: Lisa Cousineau
Lisa Cousineau is a clinical service provider for Talbert House, a Cincinnati nonprofit that provides social services focusing on mental health, community corrections, substance use and welfare-to-work programs. Lisa is integrally involved in the organization’s LEAP, which cares for adults who have serious mental health issues.
“It is reassuring to know that I have an outlet for teaching and helping to shape others lives. To watch previously socially isolated clients blossom because they are now interacting with others is a blessing I get to experience every day,” she told me.
Please read more about what inspires Lisa.
Lisa Desatnik: What is your greatest fulfillment from this job?
Lisa Cousineau: There is never a day I go home where I think that “nothing I do makes a difference”. Every minute here someone is changing for the better. Most of our clients are completely socially isolated – LEAP is their only chance to interact with others, or feel a part of a family. Staff facilitate the client’s bonding with each other, which leads to increased self esteem and a purpose for each of them.
Lisa Desatnik: What message would you like to share to others about mental illness?
Lisa Cousineau: Mental illness is so diverse with such a varied range of diagnoses. I have learned that medication and therapy are important, but many issues can dissipate by being able to be a friend and have a friend in other group members. We use the term “mental health” in our program much more than illness and address the basic need for companionship, which does wonders for their mental health. We are fortunate to live in Hamilton County, where the Board and voters realize the importance of programs like ours.
Lisa Desatnik: Please tell us about someone who taught you life lessons.
Lisa Cousineau: Growing up, I had a fascination with Anne Frank. I must have read that diary at least ten times throughout grade school. I kept journals and diaries, and rewrote stories myself constantly. I loved writing, and thought that would be my career, so I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. After finally getting to Amsterdam this fall, and being in her secret home, I now realize my fascination with Anne Frank had less to do with writing and more about her incredible mental strength. How was she able to endure those two years in secret? It is something we see every day at LEAP- the simple routine things most take for granted mean the world to a client who is feeling no purpose. One of my favorite quotes from her is “Whoever is happy will make others happy too”. I guess that is why LEAP works – it definitely is a happy place.
The Power Of Encouragement
Remind Yourself That Every Day Matters
CINspirational People: Rachel Brown
There are people who we run into who stand out from the crowd. Rachel Brown is one of those people. I exercise at the TriHealth Fitness Pavilion, and from the day Rachel was hired, I could tell she was someone with very special qualities. Rachel always greets me with a genuine, warm smile and I see her going out of her way to help others.
I was the recipient of her kindness numerous times, but one time stands out. I had injured my ankle (not at the gym, but at home before I arrived). It was not anything serious but was swollen and painful. I just used the upper body ergonometer (a machine that I compare to a recumbent bicycle except that you are sitting in a seat and use your arms to pedal instead of your feet). I remember Rachel getting me a seat to prop that foot onto, and then getting me a bag of ice. And I remember how she kept coming ba
ck to check on me, not just because it was her job but because she cared. I also remember how she walked with me all the way to the locker room when I left to make sure I was ok, and came up to me on my next visit to see how my ankle was doing.
Rachel definitely stands out to me every time I see her interact with people. I thought I’d really like to share some of who she is on my blog. With a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and a master’s degree in exercise promotion, she is currently a fitness coach at TriHealth.
Lisa: Was there a life event that influenced your decision to pursue this career track?
Rachel: There has been. I come from an active family. For a short time, I gained a lot of weight from poor living choices, and I realized how fast that can happen. Excess weight can cause so many other chronic issues. I lost the weight, but I remember how I felt during and afterwards. It was a real eye opener.
Lisa: Tell us about some of your inspiration.
Rachel: I just met with someone who is 90 years old, who wants to keep getting better. I thought, ‘that is the type of person I want to be.’ I also have active grandparents and I think, ‘this is what I want to do.’
But, I also want to help everyone be the best that they can be. They may not know what their full potential is, or they think there are things they cannot do when they really can – or can do better.
I want everyone I meet to see that in themselves. If you are happy with whom you are, then you probably are going to be happier and nicer to everybody around you. It will make a better connection for everybody.
Lisa: What is some wise advice that you have received?
Rachel: My grandparents have always said, ‘take time to rest’ and that has stuck with me. We feel like we have to keep up with everything going on around us, and we need to take time for ourselves.
Another thing is to get to know and be accepting of people. Someone may look unhappy, have trouble walking, or be overweight, but you don’t know why. There is always a reason.
Lisa: What advice do you give others?
Rachel: To live positively and take it day by day. We all have long term goals for ourselves. Take control of what you can control. You can’t control how someone else looks at you but you can control how you look at someone else. You can’t control if someone else is friendly to you but you can control your own perspective.
#GoodThingsCincy #CINspiration
CINspirational People: Mike Moroski
We have many reasons to be proud of living in Greater Cincinnati. Among us we have so many neighbors who care, destinations to visit, workplaces achieving great significance, educational institutions helping to raise future leaders, and organizations whose efforts are making a positive impact on lives and neighborhoods.
Yet, did you know, on average, there are an estimated 7,000 children in our region each year who know what it is like to be called ‘homeless’?
That is a really tough statistic to grasp.
Not only are these young, impressionable minds working through whatever intense circumstance they are facing with or without their family, necessities such as food, adequate clothing, supplies, transportation, mental preparedness to focus, and even positive adult role models are more often than not lacking too.
Good for them, and for our community, that a unique (and wonderful) nonprofit organization charged with helping these young people to grow. UpSpring (formerly Faces Without Places) is our region’s only nonprofit that exclusively serves homeless youth and children, providing them with 
consistency to achieve educational success in and out of the classroom. Each year UpSpring empowers about 3,000 children who are experiencing homelessness in Greater Cincinnati.
And, at its helm is a leader so driven by a passion to change the world – or at least the region – that his drive to stand up for what he believes in got him fired and landed him in national news. (Mike Moroski was terminated from his role as dean of student life at Purcell Marian high School for writing a post on his personal blog in support of same-sex marriage.) His deep rooted capacity to be an activist for those needing a voice found him embedded in the community of Over-the-Rhine as a rehabber, volunteer, friend and investor; and took him on a journey of running for Cincinnati City Council. Ultimately his path led him to UpSpring.
To meet Mike is to meet an immediate connection. On his website, he wrote, “Without relationships, nothing worthwhile or long-lasting can be accomplished.”
Mike also shared, “I’ve learned that picking yourself up off the ground when you’re down is the only way to succeed in this life. I have the relationships to be able to do this. Too many in our City do not. I have received numerous accolades for taking a stand in February and losing my job. My ability to take that stand is a blessing and one for which I am truly grateful. My ability to fight for those without a voice is a gift; a gift that I take very seriously. You see, those in poverty could not take the same stand that I took in February. They could not afford to lose their job & their health insurance. Thanks to my family (my safety net), I was able to take that stand – a stand I would have wanted to take even if I had not been in a position to do so, but one that, ultimately, I would not have been able to take. I’ve re-learned why I am running for Council this year – I am running so that those who have long felt their power stripped away from them can begin making moves to regain some of that power. When one is blessed with the ability to fight for what’s right, one should. I feel an overwhelming calling to do just that – and I have for many, many years.”
I have so much admiration and respect for Mike. He is a role model to me in so many ways. Please spend a few minutes to learn a little bit more about him.
Lisa: From where do you get your passion?
Mike: I think my passion definitely comes from a place of empathy. I grew up with every kind of opportunity I could ever want but by the time I was in high school, I realized how fortunate I was. My parents did not grow up with those same resources. Their families were poor, but they often didn’t realize it.
As I grew, what was instilled in me was a serious distaste for bullies. I’ll never forget fighting the kids who made fun of a friend who was different.
The way I see it, the systems in place today that promote the statistics are structural bullying or structural child abuse. These kids are not unequal but never given the opportunity to be equal. There is a difference.
Lisa: Tell us about someone who has influenced you and your life.
Mike: Mike Rogers, definitely. Mike had experienced homelessness and is a graduate of the Men’s Recovery Program of the Drop Inn Center. He has been like a brother to me. I was in my 20s when we met and I was not very confident. Mike is the first person to have told me not to apologize for my thoughts, and that they were good and valid. I always had a distaste for poverty and Mike introduced me to his community in Over-the-Rhine that has been pushed down. He worked with me on a rehab project and one day we began talking about the fact there was no place for people in his neighborhood to just hang out. Before I knew it, we were talking about opening this coffee shop. We called it Choices Café.
(Note: Choices Café was more than a coffee shop. It was a gathering place for people of different backgrounds with a shared outlook. Partnering with 3CDC, the Drop Inn Center, Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, and others, it embodied the motto, ‘We are one.’)
Lisa: What is the best advice you have received?
Mike: My father was always a salesman and he used to tell me that in everything I do, I am selling. I think about that in my work as an advocate and activist, and how education is a sales process. Many people have not had my life experiences. Without having had the opportunity to get to know a Mike Rogers or have homeless friends, they will not be able to relate the way I do and they may have already formed inaccurate associations. Every day I am selling the cause of homelessness, the reality of life for those who are impacted by it, and the need for support.
Another piece of advice that has stuck with me came from one of my professors. He told us, ‘your students will likely never remember anything you taught them but they will always remember who you were.’ That applies to most everything and everyone.
Lisa: You also talk about learning the difference between optimism and hope. Can you explain?
Mike: I learned that from someone who I never met, Vaclav Havel, who led the velvet revolution in the Czech Republic from his prison cell. In one of his letters, he wrote about how you need to clearly understand that difference if you are to fight injustice. OPTIMISM, he taught me, means you believe something will work. However, if you do your work filled with HOPE because you know deep down that it is the right thing to do no matter the outcome, only then is your work is sustainable. Reading that really changed how I do what I do.
Lisa: What is your hope when it comes to leading Upspring into the future?
Mike: I want to see the numbers of homelessness of young people go down. Organizationally speaking, I want Upspring to be able to provide more summer programs and serve more kids. This coming summer we will serve 210 students. I would also like to see what our role can be in early education. To expand, we will need more resources and more staff. It is going to take massive efforts and we cannot do this alone.
Lisa: What are some things on your own gratitude list?
Mike: Definitely my wife, Katie, all my friends and family, my pets and my music. All of them are what keep me level. This work is very intense, and it is not always easy turning it off. Hanging out with Katie and playing my guitar keeps me sane. I tell others they need to identify what that is for them because if you have the juice, your whole life can quickly be consumed. It is hard for me to NOT see the world as a mission. I am here to DO something.
Lisa: What other advice do you give people?
Mike: You’ve got to pursue your dreams, and also know that if you don’t change the world, that you have not failed. You have got to be patient. That is something I have to work on every day.
It is something I think a lot of us have to work on every day too. Yet, one more lesson I have come to learn from Mike.
#GoodThingsCincy #CINspiration
