Our Story

At The Roots LLC is a small (but always growing) peer support organization that was founded in Eau Claire County in 2021 by Renee Sommer. After struggling to access peer support when she needed it during the pandemic, Sommer set out to create a space where non-clinical mental health and substance recovery support was affordable, accessible, and provided with a dash of professionalism and a load of heart.

Her husband, Mike Sommer, joined Renee in the fall of 2021 and together they’ve grown At The Roots LLC into an organization that is unique, community-oriented, and overall pretty kick-ass (in their totally unbiased opinion). From humble beginnings in a shared home office to an almost 3000 square foot space in Banbury Place, At The Roots LLC has grown to be a community resource and trusted place to find support. Beyond providing individual & family services in 13 counties, At The Roots LLC offers community training opportunities, workplace consultation & support, advocacy, gathering space, and recovery-friendly events.

None of this, however, would be possible if it wasn’t for the peers who trust us, the providers who are out there day in and day out making the world a better place, the staff that keeps things running, and the community members around us who uplift us, push us forward and love on us every chance they get.

So who are we?

We’re a bunch of ragtag misfits with varied lived experiences trying to leave the world a little healthier, happier, and cooler than we found it. And we are so damn glad to have you (yeah you!) along for the ride.

MISSION

To be good people, do good things, and empower the communities we live in to build healthy connections in which everyone is safe to thrive.

VISION

To create a more curious world in which each person’s story is valued and honored while proving that business can be done with love.

Our Values

  • At the core of everything we do, we strive to show up for our peers, our community, and each other. We work diligently to make sure we’re in the right spaces, uplifting the voices of lived experience, and advocating for a more compassionate model of community, mental health, and substance use support. We must, above all else, do the right thing regardless of whether it is easy, comfortable, or popular.

  • We believe that lived experience is valuable and so, we are committed to providing living wages. We believe that hope is key and so, we keep hope at the forefront of our interactions. We believe that connection is prevention and healing and so, we look for opportunities to build and strengthen connection. We must model the changes we want to see in our community.

  • No one person should be defined by their past, diagnosis, criminal history, or the experiences of others. It is our job to honor a person’s story while holding space for them to define who they are, what matters to them, and what their future holds. We believe a person’s story as they see it, period while also understanding that multiple perspectives can be true all at once.

  • Our communities, the people we meet, and the stories we live are complex, ever-changing, and full of opportunities to grow and learn. We must continuously hold curiosity at our core and approach all situations with judgment-free curiosity so that we can deepen our understanding of the human condition, better honor perspectives and experiences that don’t align with our own, and act as connection creators.

  • To truly empower others, we must hold sacred the power of the individual, choice, and honor self-determination. We must each individually commit to allowing others the space to learn, experience, and make decisions free from our personal opinions while allowing others the opportunity to experience natural consequences and personal victories. We are there to support, brainstorm, process, and make plans WITH the people we walk alongside. We are not gurus, know-it-alls, authority figures, or predictors of the future so we must act accordingly.

  • There is advocacy and activism woven into the threads of everything we do. While we are experts in our own experience and area of study, we must always remember that there is more to learn, plenty we haven’t experienced, and things we do not yet understand. Each of us carries different levels of privilege in this life and we must learn to use that privilege to uplift the voices of marginalized communities. Most importantly we must know when to sit down, shut up and listen.

  • Peer support is based on the simple belief that people can help people. While many systems need fixing, we must not forget how powerful we are in our own homes, communities, workplaces, and streets. Every person can do something that makes a difference. Small gestures are often more significant than we realize and add up to create spaces where people feel heard, valued, respected, and loved. We must actively work to remind people of their power and create tables where people can collaborate, lean on their strengths, have their voices heard, and take back the power to heal their own communities.

  • When we focus too hard on what’s going wrong or not working, we tend to miss all the opportunities we have to celebrate and uplift what is. We must look for victories to celebrate, no matter how small, within our organization, with our peers, and in the community. This doesn’t mean we should ignore the hard things or gloss over where we can do better. But we believe that celebration fuels progress and change. It also allows us to view problems with unjaded eyes so that we can remain energized for the hard work at hand. Celebration also reminds us that no meaningful effort is too small or not enough. Every step counts.