Welcome back to Explore Rogers, MN! In today's episode, we have a special guest, Kelly Friesen from Friesen Holistic Services LLC. Kelly, a registered nurse and resident of Otsego, shares her inspiring journey and the mission behind her business. As a mother with a child on the autism spectrum, Kelly recognized the need for more support for adults in her community. She aims to bring a sense of community back by providing personalized services and advocating for individuals with autism. Join us as we delve into the important work Kelly is doing and the positive impact it has on the lives of those in Rogers and the surrounding area. See the video below
Introduction
Hello, Jacob Derauf here with Explore Rogers MN. Today, my guest is Kelly Friesen with Friesen Holistic Services, LLC. Kelly, thanks for being on with us today. Oh, Jacob, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. You're very welcome.
About Friesen Holistic Services
So tell us a little bit about your business. Yeah. So my business, I'm a registered nurse. And just a little bit about me, I'll share quick if you don't mind. I'm actually an Otsego resident. My husband and I moved our family here back in 2001. So both of my children who are now adults have actually gone through the ISD 728 school system. So they both graduated from Rogers High School. I have really positive things to say about that. I've met a lot of people in the community, and they're wonderful. I really appreciate you with what you're doing because part of my business is really trying to bring back a sense of community. So the fact that you're spotlighting local businesses, I think is huge. I think the pandemic did a lot as far as lockdowns and social distancing, and as a community, we're just not meant to live like that. And so I really feel like part of my business is I really want to work in this area and really, again, focus on a sense of community. But the whole reason behind my business is one of my children, my daughter, is an adult and registered nurse. And then my other child is a boy, a son, and he has high functioning autism, and he's 25. And as a community, I think we do a really good job with early childhood education and actually in the school system in general, there's a fair amount of support.
Back in 2001, actually, when my son was diagnosed, we had about one in 150 kids on the autism spectrum. And you fast forward now to 2020, according to the CDC, we're at one in 36 across the nation, and in Minnesota it's actually one in 34.
And so I have a daytime job at the hospital. Things have been going great there, but my son was on a waiting list for supported living services because I knew in high school that if he was ever going to live out on his own, he was going to need a little bit of help. And we were on a waiting list for three years before we actually got a call that there was an opportunity in our area. I was very excited at the time, but then I was quickly dismayed because what I found was that they weren't able to meet all of his needs. Then in addition to that, they needed to take all of the waiver money that my son uses for support. Right now, he works. With that, we use some of the money to do just supportive working, whatever supporting means for work, including transportation. I just knew that wasn't going to work. Long story short, that is why I started my business because there's a lot of support, not a lot, but more support down in the Southern Twin Cities, but there's just not a lot up in our area and especially not in our little hometown. So that was my big reason for trying to get some support for adults that need a little bit more help with their life skills in our area. I opened in 2022, and it actually took me a little while to get the business established and everything up and running. But I am now working with clients, and I'm able to work with… Because I'm a nurse, I work as an independent nurse contractor. I can work with individuals that either are willing to do private pay or I can also work with individuals that are using a CDCS. Usually, you get through the waiver through the county. And again, there's just such a need out there. Some data that I'll just share with you too, that I saw that was actually very concerning from the National Autism Society is it's estimated that over the next 10 years that anywhere from 70,000 to over 100,000 kids are going to age out of the school-based services. And so we just have this huge need. And from my experience, autism doesn't stop when you become an adult. It's just the changes and the needs are different. And so that's really what I'm looking to do. I'm really just trying to be out there to help support the unmet need that we have.
What makes Friesen Holistic Services Different?
So how would you say what your service and what you're advocating for is a little different than some of the other options that are available at the moment? What's different is my big thing is I'm a nurse advocate. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to go in, I'm going to look at the individual, I'm going to work with the family because individuals don't live in a bubble. Everything around them, including their family, all really affects on how things are going for them. So we look at the big picture and we will address whatever needs they have because nobody on the spectrum looks the same. I mean, just because you have autism doesn't mean you're going to look like your neighbor who has autism. Everything is so specific and individualized. So we look at what your needs are and we'll work on your specific goals. For somebody, it might be, I need help getting a job. For somebody, it might be, I'm doing well. I live on my own. I can make my own meals. But when I go to the doctor, I don't know how to advocate for myself. So maybe I go with them to just help with that. Maybe it's that they need help learning how to set up their medications or reorder their medications. It just really depends or it might be social skills that can be a big area of concern for people. So the nice thing is I have a nursing scope of practice. I'm independent from a physician, but that's a very large scope of practice that I can do independently. And so that gives me a lot of wiggle room to really work with people and really look at what their needs are.
How to get more information
A couple of options. They can go to my web page, which you so kindly have scrolling across the bottom at FHSHome.com there is a submit question place on there that if you just want to learn more, submit an inquiry there and I'll get back to you. I will answer within 48 hours of business Monday through Friday. I actually will often respond after hours too, just depending on what's going on. But I'm happy to have a conversation. Even if somebody's like, hey, I'm not sure if your services are right for me, but I have a question. I'm happy to answer questions as well. Okay.
What are some of your services?
So I go and I work with the individual in their setting. And again, it really depends on what they need. So for example, it might be that, say, one individual I'm working with needs to really work on personal space. And as they're in that transition age, for example, something as simple as going to the grocery store to get your groceries, there's a lot you need to think about when you do that. You and I take that for granted, but somebody who has personal space issues has to be very careful of when they're driving the cart. You're not bumping into people and you can't stand too close to somebody when you're in line because that might make somebody very uncomfortable. You need to shower. You need to not wear pajamas when you go to the store. You think things like that would be very basic, but for some people, especially if they have any sensory issues, they're like, Well, no, I only wear pajamas because that's what's comfortable for me. But really, my biggest thing is my son really started off with very limited skills, and we did actually three years of ABA therapy in our home. I know you and I talked a little bit offline about that and what your wife is doing. I have nothing but positive things to say about that because right now, today, again, my son's 25, and he's holding a full-time job, and he's getting a competitive wage. I have seen what the possibilities are, and it's really hard as a parent. You just don't know what's out there. I really want to share a message of hope, and I don't want people to settle. I don't want people to think that this is all I can do is stay at home or whatever. So part of my thing is I know with the neurodiverse population that we have out there, they can offer so much to the community, including working, or if you can't work, you can volunteer, you can do other things. And so I also saw a statistic recently that said up to 87 % of adults with autism live with their parents. And that was another big thing for me too. I'm not going to be here forever, and I need to plan because as much as I know my son has a lot of possibilities to continue to grow. He's always going to need a little bit of support to keep him successful. There's always got to be that little safety net. And so that's part of the business that I'm trying to grow to. I'm very small now, and I don't have plans to get huge because I don't need to be big. I want to be good. But I do want to grow it beyond me so that there's a plan in place for people like my son who after I'm gone, there's something there to help, again, meet that unmet need.
How would someone who is interested in providing these services get in contact?
Again, so you can go through an inquiry on my web page. Otherwise, I'm happy to take a text message, a phone call. My number, I'm happy to share it. It's 763-232-8700. Again, 763-232-8700. Pretty easy number to remember. I'm happy to just even take a phone call or a text message, whatever you're comfortable with, and I'll get back to you.
Some Final Thoughts
I guess my focus is again, a message of hope because I've seen where my son… Honestly, when he was little, I really didn't know if he was going to read or write, and I mean that because we had a lot of behaviors, we had a lot of issues. And any of you, Rogers, teachers who are living out there or working and hear this message, you know this challenge as we went through. But I'm so proud of where he is today. And anybody who sees him now, they're just amazed because he's just grown into such a wonderful young man. And we've really been able to tap into the gifts that he can bring and give to the world. And so April is autism awareness, and we're moving to autism acceptance. I really want to move that to a focus of autism achievement because there's just so many things that this group of people can bring to the table into the world. So that's the message I really want to live with, or lead with people that don't settle. Let's turn over every stone that we can to try to get them the help they need because you get the help and you're going to keep the hope.
