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Kevin Florek-Chief Executive Officer at Tellurian · Ask The Experts

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  Speaker 1: Eight thirteen to ten WIBA and Madison in the morning
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  Speaker 1: or twice seven. Storm track forecast from meteorologists Dana Fulton.
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  Speaker 1: Mostly sunny today a high of eighty two, currently fifty
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  Speaker 1: with sunshine joining us. Swarns ken Flork. He is with
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  Speaker 1: Tullurian Mental Health here in Madison, Kevin, how.
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  Speaker 2: You been man, good man? It's been what I think
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  Speaker 2: a year.
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  Speaker 1: Probably a year, Yes, in studio. It's an important conversation
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  Speaker 1: we get to have each year. I know, obviously Tilurian,
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  Speaker 1: you guys do so much stuff that people oftentimes are
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  Speaker 1: not aware of, not only the need but the work
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  Speaker 1: that goes into Tulurian. I think a lot of people
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  Speaker 1: assume that everything is covered, that through insurance or state
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  Speaker 1: or federal money, it's all covered, and it's simply not.
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  Speaker 2: The no you use the word assume. Yeah, we know
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  Speaker 2: what that spells, right, Yeah. Tilarian Helps serves over eight
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  Speaker 2: thousand people throughout the state of Wisconsin annually, and we
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  Speaker 2: treat people who suffer from mental illness, addiction, and homelessness issues.
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  Speaker 2: And as you can imagine when you're talking mental illness
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  Speaker 2: and addiction, there's not a lot of funding because a
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  Speaker 2: lot of times folks have lost their jobs, which means
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  Speaker 2: they lost insurance and then they have to go on
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  Speaker 2: either government assurance or they have nothing. So are kind
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  Speaker 2: of our motto is that the need is great, but
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  Speaker 2: the funding is lacking, and we do this celebrity Golf tournament.
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  Speaker 2: This will be our twenty eighth year to raise money
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  Speaker 2: and awareness for people in need, because without the support
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  Speaker 2: of people in the community, Tilarian would not be able
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  Speaker 2: to help as many people as we do.
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  Speaker 1: And I'd like to ask you a little bit, Kevin,
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  Speaker 1: in just a moment about all the different programs and
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  Speaker 1: for folks that are looking for that road to recovery
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  Speaker 1: or maybe they've got a family friend or a family member,
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  Speaker 1: about kind of setting them on and working with them
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  Speaker 1: you get on the path. I want to ask you
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  Speaker 1: about that in just a moment. But you mentioned twenty
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  Speaker 1: eight annual Celebrity Golf Tournament, and don't always think of
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  Speaker 1: twenty eight as being you know, it's not a round
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  Speaker 1: number or anything like that, as being like a big thing.
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  Speaker 1: Twenty eight is a big one. You guys pulled in
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  Speaker 1: a number of big celebrities, highlighted by number four. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: Brett farre.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's he has become. He did an event for
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  Speaker 2: us a couple of years ago, and ever since then,
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  Speaker 2: he's whenever he's in town, he tries to stop by
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  Speaker 2: and help us. In fact, less than a year ago,
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  Speaker 2: he stopped by and we surprised a lot of the
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  Speaker 2: our folks that were in our thirty day impatient unit,
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  Speaker 2: and he came in and shared his story and about
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  Speaker 2: his addiction and mental health issues and how he's in
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  Speaker 2: recovery and trying to get his life back in order
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  Speaker 2: with himself and his family. And it was a really
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  Speaker 2: touching and moving day for the folks because let's suffer
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  Speaker 2: from addiction and mental illness. It doesn't matter if you're white, black, male, female,
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  Speaker 2: Richard Poor, if you're the iron Man of football. It's
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  Speaker 2: something that can affect anybody, and it affects all of
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  Speaker 2: us in one way or the other. So, you know,
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  Speaker 2: having someone like him come in and talk to our
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  Speaker 2: clients about his own struggles and his own imperfections, and
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  Speaker 2: that's what really helps with the stigma and gives people hope.
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  Speaker 1: As we talked this morning with Kevin Flurk with Tulurian,
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  Speaker 1: of course, the website if you haven't had a chance
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  Speaker 1: to check out their website if you head on over
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  Speaker 1: to Tulurian dot org. That's t E L L you
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  Speaker 1: r I A n Telurian dot org. Of course you
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  Speaker 1: can google it as well. You've got a big celebrity
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  Speaker 1: golf event coming up, an opportunity to get tickets, also
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  Speaker 1: some sponsorship opportunities with that as well. We'll get into
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  Speaker 1: some of those details, but it's going to be taking
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  Speaker 1: place up at Trappers Turn on the twenty first Wednesday,
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  Speaker 1: twenty first, so just a few days. I was about
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  Speaker 1: a week away from that, and Kevin you mentioned, of
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  Speaker 1: course Brett Farv being kind of you know, he's he's
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  Speaker 1: got a story to share, and we talk about too
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  Speaker 1: how addiction and mental illness can can affect anyone. I
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  Speaker 1: also think sometimes we assume that people with large number
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  Speaker 1: of resources were very supportive families, recovery must be easy
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  Speaker 1: for them, or that that's people like Brett Farv, that
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  Speaker 1: that oh, well, he's got all these resources available. It's
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  Speaker 1: a fight for everybody, and having somebody like Farv speak to.
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  Speaker 2: That, yeah, it's true. You know, it's probably a little
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  Speaker 2: easier for him because he has the money, but he
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  Speaker 2: failed numerous times with in and out of treatment centers,
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  Speaker 2: and in fact, when he was at one of his
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  Speaker 2: lowest points, he was addicted to pain pills, and he
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  Speaker 2: tells the story how he would he was taking like
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  Speaker 2: twenty pain pills a day and he would puke because
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  Speaker 2: it was eating his stomach up. And when he didn't
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  Speaker 2: have more pills in the house, he would pick the
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  Speaker 2: the pills out of the puke and eat them. And
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  Speaker 2: it just shows you how addiction can take over someone's
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  Speaker 2: complete life and well being. And so again having someone
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  Speaker 2: like him is great, But we've got other really awesome
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  Speaker 2: dudes that are coming. Gilbert Brown, who's a great friend
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  Speaker 2: of Tilarian's and helping us out, and Dorsey Levin's, Robert Brooks,
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  Speaker 2: Frankie Winners, Eugene Robinson, on and on and on. It's
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  Speaker 2: going to be a star studded event that it'll be
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  Speaker 2: at Trappers Turned in the Wisconsin Dells, and so if
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  Speaker 2: people come and support Tilarian, you also get to meet
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  Speaker 2: these these guys that we watch playing football. There's other
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  Speaker 2: Badgers that are going to.
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  Speaker 1: Be there and.
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  Speaker 2: Local celebrities, and there's probably over fifty celebrities that will
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  Speaker 2: be there, and you get to meet these folks like
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  Speaker 2: a Don Makowski or yeah, the Magic Man and Chris Jackie,
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  Speaker 2: and I mean, it's just it'll it'll be if you're
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  Speaker 2: a sports fan, it's really cool and it's a great
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  Speaker 2: way to raise funds and then also raise awareness because
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  Speaker 2: there's a big there's still a stigma with mental health
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  Speaker 2: and addiction. And it'll be a fantastic day. And we
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  Speaker 2: still have a couple spots left, so I would encourage
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  Speaker 2: folks to sign up.
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  Speaker 1: Get over to the website, and of course that's going
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  Speaker 1: to be taking place as Kevin mentioned, of course Trapper's
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  Speaker 1: Turn in the Dell is gonna be going on Wednesday,
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  Speaker 1: the twenty first. They'll have breakfast starting at eight am,
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  Speaker 1: introductions nine to thirty, and then at ten o'clock shotgun
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  Speaker 1: start for that. Still have a couple of openings available
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  Speaker 1: for folks who'd like to participate, also sponsorship opportunities as well.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, what a great organization to be associated with,
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  Speaker 1: and then events like this, what a really good place
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  Speaker 1: for folks that may be looking to help out the
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  Speaker 1: community and.
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  Speaker 2: You know, yeah, we need help, We need help to
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  Speaker 2: help the people, and Tilarian is in need as are.
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  Speaker 2: Like I said, our funding is not adequate and our
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  Speaker 2: waiting lists are so long that people just need our help.
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  Speaker 2: And it's so we do everything we can to raise
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  Speaker 2: funds to help people in need. Like I said before,
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  Speaker 2: there's just the government does not pay enough for the folks.
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  Speaker 2: And to learn, we're not satisfied with just blaming folks
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  Speaker 2: or payers. We're going to scratch and claw for more funds.
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  Speaker 1: And you guys, as far as folks that you take
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  Speaker 1: in at Tilaurent, you guys take in people and you
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  Speaker 1: know anybody in need, don't you.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely we have a full continue of care. We run
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  Speaker 2: the County Detox Center. We have inpatient treatment for typically
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  Speaker 2: thirty days. We have case management, outpatient day treatment. We
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  Speaker 2: have a full time medical director who is meets with
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  Speaker 2: our clients, and we have psychiatrists, nurse prescribers. We have
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  Speaker 2: a very highly credentialed staff that really helps with with
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  Speaker 2: our outcomes. And in fact, we have over two hundred
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  Speaker 2: staff members and twenty programs and it's the work we
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  Speaker 2: do is is truly life saving.
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  Speaker 1: And of course folks can get more information to Lurian
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  Speaker 1: dot org. That's t E L L. You r I
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  Speaker 1: a N dot org.
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  Speaker 2: You gotta say that yes and ends and N not M.
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  Speaker 2: That's a big mistake. Turian dot org.
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  Speaker 1: And if you google it of course details as well
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  Speaker 1: about the twenty eighth Annual Celebrity Golf Outing again, it's
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  Speaker 1: going to be a great event. Still got a couple
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  Speaker 1: of openings. There are also some sponsorship opportunities also for folks.
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  Speaker 1: Let's talk then to the to the mission of Ti
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  Speaker 1: Lurian and what you guys are are doing there. We
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  Speaker 1: talk about people at the help how do people typically
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  Speaker 1: come in you mentioned of course with detox and other things.
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  Speaker 1: That's one channel. There's also folks that that may personally
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  Speaker 1: feel a need for for help or maybe a family
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  Speaker 1: member or somebody else to care about, say, how does
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  Speaker 1: that How does that pathway work?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's it's we call it our Access you and
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  Speaker 2: it's if you were a loved one need help anywhere
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  Speaker 2: anywhere along that continuum we've talked about, you can call
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  Speaker 2: it's a six oh eight two two two seven three
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  Speaker 2: one one and they can help you out, give you
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  Speaker 2: some advice on where you need to go, maybe do
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  Speaker 2: an assessment. And our website's a great interactive way to
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  Speaker 2: look at the levels of care that we offer. And
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  Speaker 2: you can even meet some of the counselors and doctors
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  Speaker 2: that you'll be working with on our website. So those
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  Speaker 2: are probably the two best ways to steer people in
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  Speaker 2: the right direction.
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  Speaker 1: Hey, Kevin, let's talk a little bit about the history
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  Speaker 1: of Tlaurian for folks that don't know. Is your father head.
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  Speaker 2: Close uncle, uncle, uncle. He likes to say brother because
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  Speaker 2: it makes him feel younger. But yeah, so my uncle,
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  Speaker 2: it's a great story. Excuse me. My uncle started to
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  Speaker 2: larrying in the seventies. He was up in ash Gosh
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  Speaker 2: and he was working at Winnebagel Mental Health Center, and
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  Speaker 2: he knows that people were coming back from Vietnam needed
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  Speaker 2: something more than just being locked up, and so he
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  Speaker 2: wrote a grant to the state and he started working
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  Speaker 2: with Vietnam that's who were addicted to heroin and also
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  Speaker 2: suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome. And from there it
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  Speaker 2: grew and he moved Tillari into Madison in the mid eighties,
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  Speaker 2: and now we've grown into a company that a nonprofit
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  Speaker 2: company that has, like I said, over twenty programs and
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  Speaker 2: serves over eight thousand people annually. But it started with Vietnam.
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  Speaker 2: That's who were suffering greatly coming back from the war.
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  Speaker 1: It's pretty amazing what Telurian has become. And of course
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  Speaker 1: that that passion and that drive runs throughout. And what
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  Speaker 1: a great opportunity folks, if you are looking, you get
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  Speaker 1: a chance to see Brett Favre meet Bread farv.
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  Speaker 2: And that's pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, and Leroy Butler who
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  Speaker 2: just wanted to the Hall of Fame, will be there.
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  Speaker 1: You've had a chance. You mentioned that that Brett Farvins
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  Speaker 1: has visited a few times. You had a chance to
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  Speaker 1: talk with him. What is I mean, what as he's
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  Speaker 1: like assessing whether it's whether it's the packers these days
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  Speaker 1: where we are here Wisconsin. What has Brett been like
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  Speaker 1: is what is his attitude been kind of things away
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  Speaker 1: from away from some of the other stuff. What's his
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  Speaker 1: mood been like?
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  Speaker 2: Well, he's suffering from Parkinson's and he's I find a
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  Speaker 2: few times that I've met him to be very honest
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  Speaker 2: with his addiction and his issues in life, and he
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  Speaker 2: owns it and he's not proud of it, but he
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  Speaker 2: still wants to give back to people. And that's why
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  Speaker 2: he's coming back to Wisconsin to help Tillarian because he
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  Speaker 2: knows firsthand that the work we do at Tillarian is
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  Speaker 2: vital and he wants to help people and we really
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  Speaker 2: appreciate that. And when someone like him puts his name
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  Speaker 2: on something, it gets some good attention, which is good
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  Speaker 2: for the stigma. But a lot of his buddies are
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  Speaker 2: coming back with him to see him and to golf
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  Speaker 2: and just to have a great day and help people
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  Speaker 2: in need. So it'll be a it should be a
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  Speaker 2: really fun day. And then after we're going to have
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  Speaker 2: an hour or so where he'll take the stage and
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  Speaker 2: he's just going to tell stories about all the fun
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  Speaker 2: times that they had back in the Super Bowl days
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  Speaker 2: with all the fellows being there. So it'll be pretty
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  Speaker 2: special day.
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  Speaker 1: How exciting that's going to be it again. That celebrity
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  Speaker 1: golf tournament, that's a twenty eighth Tillurian Celebrity Golf Tournament
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  Speaker 1: taking place Wednesday, May twenty first. That's coming up real quick.
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  Speaker 1: You can of course get more details online at Tellurian's website.
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  Speaker 1: Also if you head on over to our social media,
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  Speaker 1: we'll share that as well. Also got some sponsorship opportunities
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  Speaker 1: for folks. Also, some four stumps available again, all those
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  Speaker 1: details up on the website Tellurian dot org. That's t
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  Speaker 1: E L L you R I A N. Yes, thank you, Kevin.
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  Speaker 1: It's always great.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we've been doing this a lot of years, my friend.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for always supporting Tellurian and love listening to
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  Speaker 2: your show and it's it's a privileged to be here,
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  Speaker 2: so thank you.
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  Speaker 1: Love having you long, thank you for all the great
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  Speaker 1: work you guys do, and look forward to seeing you
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  Speaker 1: out on the golf course. Thank you, and again that
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  Speaker 1: website Tolurian dot org. Will also put a link up
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  Speaker 1: at WIBA's Facebook and social media so you can follow
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  Speaker 1: it there as well. More of Madison The Morning comes
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  Speaker 1: your way next. It's eight fifty three.