Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Kroencke.
Hi Lisa, what was your thought process behind starting your business?
This is the story of a small, relatively unknown, non-profit founded in 1987 that has changed the lives of thousands of women and their families in every demographic of our local community. About an agency that has experienced double-digit growth in a short time by putting a face on the disease of alcoholism.
In 2007, just two months sober, I walked into The Magdalen House, and I never left. It is where I found the purpose for all the pain I caused; it is where I learned that I was given freedom from alcoholism for a higher purpose. No glass of wine ever gave me the high of when a woman thanks me for helping save her life. That was my substitute for alcohol; that is what I had been searching for.
Soon after discovering this non-profit, I became immersed in their programs and services. I volunteered here for eight years, served on the Board of Directors for seven, and became the Executive Director in 2016. In 2017, to meet the increasing needs of our community, we began to implement a growth plan that culminated in moving into our new facility in April of 2021. What was once a small agency with a budget of less than $200,000 a year has grown into an agency that helps hundreds of women every year with a 2022 budget of $2.4 million.
This was my simple thought process; if it worked for me, it could work for others.
Social impact: How does your business help the community or the world?
According to the CDC, 35,400 women die every year from Alcohol Use Disorder (the fourth-leading preventable cause of death), 1 in 11 women are alcoholic (equating to more than 250,000 women in Dallas-Fort Worth) and only 1 in 15 seek treatment.
The Magdalen House has a solution for this, we are a nonprofit organization that helps women achieve sobriety and sustain recovery from alcoholism at no cost and based on 12-Step spiritual principles. Founded in Dallas in 1987, Maggie’s, as it’s affectionately called, remains the only agency in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to offer comprehensive recovery services for women at 100% free of charge.
We offer crisis intervention through our two-week, in-house First Step Program, alongside continued care through our Next Step and Community Programs. One serves women in crisis, while the other two are available to any alcoholic woman and her loved ones at any stage of her recovery. This creates a recovery community grounded in the idea that together, we can accomplish what we cannot do alone. Most recently, we are expanding by adding Spanish-speaking classes and sponsors to cast our net even further in helping more alcoholic women find the education and resources they need.
Risk-taking: how do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life?
I strongly believe that leaders who recognize a critical need in our community must take certain risks, walk through fear, and take action to make a difference in the world.
Through taking risks, I found that failures are often precisely what is needed to produce successes. Most of our ideas have worked and the ones that did not became the catalyst for some of our most unique programs.
We have created an innovative solution that not only helps to hold each other accountable but creates an environment that sustains long-term recovery. Rather than a “case management model” as seen with most treatment programs, The Magdalen House staff serve in a “community management” capacity overseeing recovered volunteers who deliver the curriculum. In a clinically oriented treatment model, the agent of change is the “counselor-patient” relationship; in our model of care, the “recovery community” acts as the agent of change.
We strive to continue double-digit, year-over-year growth, duplicate the agency model in other areas of North Texas, and to continue expanding our reach to more people and their families. We are passionately dedicated to helping as many women and their loved ones as possible– just as someone did for me many years ago.
The plan is big and bold, but human lives are worth the risk.
If you are a parent, what do you think is the most important thing you’ve done as a parent to your children?
I missed many years of my children’s lives due to my active alcoholism. If I hadn’t learned that I am powerless over alcohol and experienced a spiritual awakening, I would not be alive today to see my children thriving. The message they would have learned about alcohol may have looked a lot different. Our program is based on 12-Step spiritual principles aimed at helping an alcoholic recover, but that ultimately can be a guide for everyone to live a happier, more fulfilling life. When I became sober, not only my life, but my entire family’s life changed; there’s a ripple effect that spans out more than just the alcoholic themselves. The single most important thing I’ve ever done for my kids is deciding to get help and dedicating my life to this spiritual journey.
What is the most important factor behind your success/the success of your brand?
The single most important factor to our success is education. Focusing on education about the disease of alcoholism has become the foundation for growing our programs and services. And because our services are no cost and comprehensive, education about alcoholism is accessible for more women and their families.
In addition, every woman on our program staff and all our program volunteers are in recovery- our programs are facilitated by those who don’t just talk the talk but walk the walk of recovery- grounded in the idea that together we can accomplish what we cannot do alone.
This educational, supportive, and community-driven model of care is an innovative approach to the treatment of alcoholism.
How do you know whether to keep going or to give up?
When I feel overwhelmed, tired, or question my purpose, I remember the moment a little girl came up to me after one of our workshops, was crying, and thanked me for helping her Mommy. These moments give me the energy and motivation I need to go on.
Work/life balance: how has balance changed over time? What do you think about life?
The COVID pandemic and the last two years have presented unique trials and challenges for The Magdalen House and the alcoholic women we serve, but I reflect on the experience with deep gratitude. Because of mandatory COVID protocols, we became open-minded to work from home policies that affected work-life and home-life balance in ways that would not have been considered before 2020.
The policies that started during the COVID crisis have continued today establishing a healthier work-life, home-life balance not just for me, but for the entire staff. It has changed our culture and I was grateful for the chance to think outside of the box. These policies help create happier, more productive team members resulting in a better quality of care for our clients. We are a stronger, more well-rounded agency today, specifically due to the challenges we faced these last two years.
What makes you happy? Why?
Watching my family grow and thrive, not in spite of my alcoholism, but because of it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://magdalenhouse.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themagdalenhouse/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themagdalenhouse
