Today we’d like to introduce you to Jode Freyholtz-London
Hi JODE, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have lived in central rural Minnesota all of my 66 years. I grew up on a dairy farm where my parents were great mentors in helping people in the community. My parents brought me up in a Christian home where material items were not highly valued unless it was farm related. My father was a great hunter and fisherman who respected nature. No harvest ever went to waste. He was also a strong advocate for ideals he believed in. My mother was the ideal midwestern farm wife. Helped with dairy chores and was an amazing gardener, canner and cook. She was also very clear about her intentions should any of her children were ever to be found dehumanizing any other people in our community. I think there were comments about how long in our lives we would be pitching manure by hand.
I married very young and had 4 amazing kids. My work in human services began at 18 in long term care. I was the program director for a detoxification unit at a small rural hospital, worked in a group home for individuals with developmental challenges and then moved into the world of vocational rehabilitation for the next fifteen years. I loved seeing the pride when someone has a job that includes their ability to use their natural skills. Unfortunately many of the employment organizations i worked for were closed due to fraudulent management practices. In 2005 i was serving as the program director for a supported employment organization that once again faced ethical issues that were driven by upper management. This along with other personal struggles led to a severe depression and walking away from the job i loved because new management and I did not agree on how to provide supported employment. Most of the people we served were moved into a workshop environment rather than community based work. For a period of time, I worked as a peer support for crisis response, assisted in housing services and worked weekends and evenings at McDonalds. It was a busy time. In 2006 i was able to secure a position providing peer support in central Mn with what was then Minnesota’s consumer organization. In 2009, I was able to attend the first Mn based peer support training and eventually teach that class for several years. My position with that organization allowed me to grow and become the statewide trainer around mental health and wellness as well as the stigma that surrounds it causing people to delay asking for assistance.
In 2013, my position was terminated due to financial concerns. In reality the organization was struggling. I had remarried in 2019 to my dear friend Tom who i also worked with off and on since 1990. I am an A personality and action driven. Tom was a C personality if there was such a thing. Laid back, moving slowly, appreciating time and touch as love languages. We both has to much healing to do together. When my statewide trainer position ended, Tom had already retired and we living near Nimrod Mn on 40 acres of pines near the Crow Wing River. Unfortunately Tom began showing signs of dementia and we had to move to a place closer to services and that didn’t require us to secure wood for winter heat.
Eagle Bend provided us a nice 10 acre farm where he and I worked tirelessly to create a new consumer run organization, Wellness in the Woods in March of 2013. We said many prayers and went back to many people i had grown to work with and care for over the years. Our non-profit status became a reality in 2014 and we received our first federal grant in 2015. The first several years were fiscally challenging, but with Tom’s daily support we moved forward. As his disease progressed, I was blessed to be able to do much of my work from home, with my “consultant” by my side literally. We grew the Peer run organization Wellness in the Woods to a statewide presence with 60 staff statewide and a board of directors who all identify as living with a mental health and/or substance use challenge. We provide overnight warmline services and all day virtual peer services for any adult in Mn at no charge. In 2024, the organization recorded over 54,000 interactions.
On June 16th at 11:16, my dear Tom died in my arms in our home. Of all of the journeys i have been on in my lifetime, the journey of loss has been by far the worst. I am blessed with support from my family, friends and church family and yet had no idea that my ability to care for Tom in our home was such an amazing and exhausting experience. WITW was our dream together and he was the greatest supporter. He even took safety classes so he could prepare meals for our annual conference. He answered the warmline for a time when it was started. A partner truly missed.
Several years ago, the board edited the mission statement to include substance use challenges due to the many people who experience substance use and mental health challenges co-occurring. This has allowed our team to provide peer support in county jails, with the Department of Corrections and work with Seniors who are struggling with depression.
I thank God every day for the opportunities He has given me and our team to serve Him by serving others. My parents did a good job instilling that into my heart. The mission of service runs deep in our family and until I am unable to do so, I plan to continue the good fight
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not even close to smooth. Oldest child so that is always an interesting perspective of being the responsible one or the “bossy” one as my siblings may choose. I married at 18 which i am glad to say my children waited until they were a bit older. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Farming full time and working full time along with raising 4 children was a struggle. Divorce and the years leading up to it, were extremely difficult for our family and led me to some dark places that i have yet to heal from. Alcohol didn’t help that struggle. In 2009 Tom and I both committed to sobriety and to support each other in that experience. If he was here, we would be celebrating 16 years on April 27th. The challenges of starting and growing a non-profit is extensive. We have chose not to bill participants for services. This is because we have found that people need to have a crisis to be eligible for billable services and our goal is to support people so they don’t have a crisis. Peer preventative services can decrease relapse by up to 90% in some areas. We have a staff retention rate of about 80% and most of our staff have either downsized or deleted their social benefits. The team is proud of their work and passionate about the people they serve. We strive to create checks and balances for all services and to be highly transparent in our work. The unknown funding causes the most stress presently because we know the impact of our work. Being constantly aware, flexible and building relationships has been key to success
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have worked in human services for 45 years. My vocational history includes working in long term care, creation and supervision of a small hospital detox unit, vocational rehabilitation for 15 years and after my own personal mental health challenges became involved in advocacy and stigma reduction with the consumer organization in Minnesota in 2006. My own mental health crisis led me to realize the importance of receiving support and well as being the provider. My parents were farmers and so laid a firm foundation for myself and siblings. My father was a strong advocate for farmers wand his Christian faith led him to love the land. My mother was a strong partner in the farming endeavor and was always the person who gave when people needed help, even when we didn’t have much. Her faith was a strong testament to our family and community about service to God through actions. After working for several organizations that closed down due to fraud, i was serving as the statewide director of training through the previous consumer organization when my position was terminated. in March 2013 my advocacy and empathy heart had a long talk with God and my spouse who was retired and we created Wellness in the Woods to educate and support communities in Minnesota regarding mental health and substance abuse challenges. As the CEO, it is my most important job to find resources to support our 60 person team without billing or creating barriers for those who choose to use our services. I am a strong advocate for people who are underserved in rural Minnesota. I have become a consistent grant writer and relationship builder with potential partners. Growth from 2 volunteers in 2013 to a team of 60 peers across the state of Minnesota that had 54000 interactions in 2024 has been a formidable task. In 2017 I received the rural health hero award which was a highlight for me as this honor is usually given to someone in the physical health provision field. What i believe sets me apart is my ability to use both my head and heart is leading an organization. The 80% retention rate of staff shows that our leadership team absolutely believes in the mission of service to our team and adults in Mn
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
To be creative and flexible enough to try new ideas and concepts. With Wellness in the Woods we offer all day, no cost peer support virtually every day. The Virtual peer support network became a reality when WITW immediately created a virtual option during covid. No one else in the US offers this. In addition our Recovery on the Road program creates peer pop up support opportunities across Mn in rural areas where there are minimal supports. This program too is unique in the US. If I try something and it doesn’t work out, I come back to the team. The often difficult part of this is that decisions often must be made quickly and hope for success. It also means being willing to be flexible and to partner with team members who have skills that I don’t have. An 80% staff retention rate is a success for me because i realize how important employment is to those of use who struggle to find employment that accommodates our unique barriers at times
Pricing:
- All peer support services are offered at no cost to adults in MN
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mnwitw.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Wellnessinthewoods
