ESTHER

The 2018 Individual Leadership Award was presented to Lisa at our 15th Annual Banquet on November 4, 2018.

Lisa’s involvement with ESTHER in 2016 came out of a deep tragedy in her life. Her son Nathan died from a brain tumor. While he was terminally ill and in the criminal justice system and county jail, his terminal cancer diagnosis was not fully acknowledged in spite of Lisa’s petitions. He was improperly given his anti-seizure and chemotherapy medications. He died shortly after being released from jail. Lisa has turned her grief into advocacy. She soon joined our Prison Reform Task Force as a regular participant. It was not long afterward that members of the task force saw the leadership she was bringing to the group. Her desire to change the system that did not do justice to her son was apparent. She would come to meetings with reams of research information and multiple contacts that she made with other victims of a failed system. Her passion for action were motivational to us all. It soon became apparent to the group that this was the type of leader we wanted. She hesitantly accepted this role as an ESTHER leader, and she has excelled in it.

For example, it was through Lisa’s leadership, with support from other members of the task force, that we were able to persuade Outagamie county officials to hire an outside consultant to audit medication procedures at the jail. The audit verified what members of the group and other residents had been saying all along. The result of these efforts is that the sheriff’s department will now be seeking accreditation for the jail from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. This will help ensure basic health care treatment for those incarcerated in the jail. The Prison Reform Task Force believes that helping those in jail and prison re-enter our community will greatly reduce recidivism.