Great Minds with Lost&Found

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode of Great Minds, Joel chats with L&F Program Manager for Education and Operations, Melissa Renes, about the student programs that we offer on college campuses around the state of South Dakota and in the Minneapolis area. Suicide is the leading cause of death for youth and young adults in South Dakota, which is why our student programs are so critical. We are striving to create safer and more resilient communities through education and advocacy for youth and young adult mental health.

If you or someone you know is facing a mental health crisis, call 988. If you are a veteran facing a mental health crisis, call 988 and then press 1.

To learn more about the work that Lost&Found is doing to prevent suicide among youth and young adults, go to resilienttoday.org.  Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube (@resilienttoday).

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode of Great Minds with Lost&Found, Joel sits down with Dakotah Jordan, the Survivors Joining for Hope Coordinator with L&F.

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode of Great Minds with Lost&Found, Joel talks to former Mental Health Community Resource Officer with the Sioux Falls Police Department, Sarah VanVoorst about social infrastructures in the city and how different entities work together to help improve the mental health ecosystem. They explore law enforcement, nonprofits, and other agencies that work together to decrease co-occurring disorders, and support folks who are struggling with mental illness and other behavioral challenges.

If you or someone you know is facing a mental health crisis, call 988. If you are a veteran facing a mental health crisis, call 988 and then press 1.

To learn more about the work that Lost&Found is doing to prevent suicide among youth and young adults, go to resilienttoday.org.  Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube (@resilienttoday).

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

The Suttons are no stranger to loss. From a rodeo accident that left Billie paralyzed from the waist down to losing a gubernatorial election and finally the death of their daughter, Billie and Kelsea know what loss feels like and the toll it takes mentally. They share their journey with loss (and gain) in this episode of Great Minds with Lost&Found. If someone can be the testament to how much you can gain from losing it all, the Suttons are it.

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

You may know Gabe Dannenbring as "that teacher from TikTok", but Gabe is so much more than just an influencer. Gabe is a local South Dakotan, former college athlete, and human who struggles with mental health challenges just like the rest of us. In this episode of Great Minds, Gabe shares his experiences with mental health, how social media "fame" has impacted his wellbeing, and how he teaches his students to use social media in a healthy way.

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode of Great Minds with Lost&Found, host Joel Kaskinen chats with Cherokee McAlpine about her lived experiences with mental illness, the foster care system, and healthcare. Surviving a turbulent childhood of abuse, trauma, drugs and alcohol, rape, and multiple suicide attempts, Cherokee now shares her story with others in hopes that they will have a greater understanding of the needs children in similar situations have. Cherokee is a soon-to-be mother, working with youth, and striving to provide them with a better life than the one she had growing up.

Lindsey McCarthy, Executive Director of Southern Plains Behavioral Health Services, a South Dakota based agency fulfilling social and emotional health needs in the community.

Taneeza Islam, Executive Director of South Dakota Voices for Peace, a Sioux Falls based nonprofit whose aim is to dismantle bigotry and racism targeting refugee, immigrant, and Muslim communities, is on the show to talk about how SDVFP's services help to support our work of prevention, intervention, and postvention of suicide, among a population at great risk, especially in South Dakota.

Brad Hearst, Founder and President of Survivors Joining for Hope, a newly acquired program of Lost&Found's, is on the show to talk about the economics of prevention, intervention, and postvention of suicide. 

In this conversation, Cody Ingle shares his perspective on suicide prevention from the lens of someone who has working in the LGBTQ+ space and identifies as a gay man. We break down social structures and chat about systems that impact the queer community and how that leads to increased risk of suicide.

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

In episode 4, Joel talks with Michaela Seiber about the incredible work she is doing as the CEO of South Dakota Urban Indian Health. As COVID continues to wreak havoc on the Native nations in our state, Michaela is leading the fight against it, which is why Lost&Found recognized her as the 2021 Spirit of Resilience Award earlier this month. With a lack of access to resources and support structures for Native and Indigenous people, Michaela and the SDUIH are striving to provide care to everyone they can. We talk about how to get involved and ways to support.

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

In episode 3, Joel sits down with Bridget Swier to talk about her work with the Front Porch Coalition. As a self proclaimed expert in shame and stigma, Bridget knows what self-hatred feels and looks like. She explains how she overcomes these feelings after years of abuse, substance use, foster care, inpatient care, and trauma. Carrying the burden of shame and stigma can do damage on the body, and Bridget is alive today, to help others so they don't have to experience that weight.

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

In episode two, Joel sits down with Wendy Mamer to chat about how losing her father helped lead her to her work in higher education and mental health education. Wendy is a mental health advocate, speaker, and an adviser to our Augustana University chapter.

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

In the premier episode of Great Minds with Lost&Found, host, Joel Kaskinen chats with Katrina Yde about her work as a dually licensed counselor specializing in mental health and addictions, what drove her to work in the field of mental healthcare, and the ways in which we as individuals and community members can enact change to systems and positively impact the mental health landscape.