“When I did my fire department orientation, our conversation turned into me asking questions about things and then Fire Dept. Chief Davis had brought up to me the program that we based our CARES program on,” Martin said. “It’s called the Cahoots Program in Eugene, OR. They were the first people to start mental health ambulances and training people to go into situations that are emergent, but not requiring law enforcement. They showed throughout the history of their program — which is maybe 20 years at this point — how helpful that program is.”

It was three years later that the political environment had evolved where the city would be supportive of creating the CARES program. It was during the 2022 lock down and mass protests over the muder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Martin was already primed to lead the effort to establish it.

“Chief Davis gave me a call and was like, ‘I think this is the time,’” Martin said. “And he told me that he had brought this program up to other alders when they were starting and never had anyone respond the way that I did. And so he reached out to me and said, ‘I think we could do this now.’ I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ We put a lot of work into it. We also looked at a similar program in Denver, CO. These programs are able to help provide more follow-up services. They have people who are social workers as well as trained first responders who go out and help, whether it is a well-person check or AODA response.”

Martin was committed to the program because of experiences members of her family having armed law enforcement come to their homes.

“I’ve had experience with loved-ones who needed care and calling the police would escalate a situation because they see someone come in with a uniform and a gun,” Martin said. “And they are like, ‘I’m in trouble.’ The reason we would be calling is because we were worried and wanted to make sure that they were safe. And so this program allows people to call in and hopefully get people to a situation before it turns to the point where it is a true emergency and law enforcement is needed. It helps catch people before it gets too late.”

CARES started out as a 8-5 p.m. program focused on the Isthmus area. It soon grew into a city-wide program with expanded hours. And it was a revenue saver for the city.

“I know that when we had someone do a mental health call, that would take two officers out of commission for the rest of the day because they would have to stay with the patient through the immediate care in the emergency room,” Martin said. “But then they would have to drive the patient up to Winnebago. Those officers were off the streets for four hours and that doesn’t include the time they were with the patient in the emergency room. What we found from both Denver and Eugene, OR is that these calls actually reduced costs to the municipalities for emergency services. There are fewer ambulance calls. There is less money spent on treatment in the emergency room. Not only is this a more humane way of dealing with people in crisis and helping people in crisis, but it also is fiscally responsible as well. That was the icing on the cake.”

Martin was elected vice-president of the city council in 2020 and served until 2021 when she resigned her position as alder to take on the duties of executive director of EMERGE Wisconsin, the same group who had trained her to run for office.

“I really enjoy it,” Martin said. “We are in the process of interviewing for our next class that will be starting next month. The interviewing and then the interacting with the new class always fills my cup. We see what other people are doing in their communities. And reminds you that you are not alone. It always makes me happy to see what people are doing to better their own community.”

EMERGE has primarily attracted candidates from the Madison and Milwaukee areas. She is looking to recruit more women from the other areas of the state. Martin believes in the value of diversity, springing from her Native heritage.

“It goes back to traditional Indigenous agriculture with corn, squash and beans,” Martin said. “They help each other grow. Humans then would get the nutrients from three different kinds of food. And those plants that were growing got support from each other. It’s the exact same concept. When we all have different skills, when we all have different ideas and when we all have different experiences, we are able to put those together to put forth policy that is able to help the most people we can.”

Diversity, in essence, covers for everyone’s blind spots.

“My experience in the community as a Native person is different than other people’s who aren’t Native,” Martin emphasized. “Especially now with all of the talk about DEI and how it is currently the boogeyman and claiming that it is racist because it  considers diversity, I always think about how we want diverse bodies in units of government, whether it is legislative or in administration or anything like that because we all have our blind spots. And if we all have the same blind spots, we’re missing so much. But if we have people who have different blind spots, then we’re covered. Our collective blind spots are smaller and we’re able to help more people and cover more ground and be more effective with the services we are trying to provide. I think diversity of legislative bodies and governmental units is so important. And I mean that in the truest sense of the term, people from different races, from different religions, from different backgrounds and experiences, and professional hats. We can’t have every have accounting degrees and feel like we are set. You might have some excellent things related to accounting that are happening. But you might not think about making a phone call for someone in crisis if you haven’t experienced it. Because I did experience that, I knew the pain that family members and loved ones experienced when they had to make a decision to call. ‘Am I going to make the situation worse when I am only trying to make it better?’ And you are able to do something about that. I do think it was because I had that experience that I was able to look at it and be like, ‘Yes, this is something that we need to do.’”

As the EMERGE executive director, Martin is looking for the organization to expand the pool of people they are training.

“We were originally founded to elect women,” Martin said. “But we are working to build policy to make sure that our non-binary siblings are included as well. Last year, we graduated our first non-binary class member. And again, that is part of the diversification of everything. It’s a different experience. Our class members who participated had different experience. And I certainly learned a lot from them. And they brought so much to class, which was very exciting. Again, being able to practice that kind of diversity is really important for an organization like EMERGE.”

With the developments in Washington with the reelection of Donald Trump and his dictatorial push to implement the right-wing agenda, Martin feels that everyone has to be present in the fight. But people also have to take care of themselves in the process.

“Finding a spot to work in is important to the cause of protecting what is important to us and protecting our fellow Americans,” Martin emphasized. “Put that time in that you have available. Also remember to protect your space and protect your own well-being because this work can be really hard. And things are scary. And we need everyone. If that means you need to skip out on protest A because you are frazzled, then stay home. In high school, I was in choir. And a choir director at West High School used to always talk to us about watching your breath. And if you’re singing a note, sometimes you have to stop and take a breath. But you know that everyone else is still singling. And so the audience won’t notice. And then once you catch your breath and pick up again, your neighbor might have to catch their breath. You can take time for yourself to protect your own mental health and well-being. Protect yourself and take a rest when you need it because we are going to be holding this note for a long time.”

Arvina Martin has followed in her parents footsteps and has brought the Native values of diversity to the modern political arena for the betterment of the state of Wisconsin. Well done!