A passion for compassion

by Luella (Dooley) Menet ’01

When Heidi (Erlenbusch) Titze ’02

talks about her work, you can’t help but be energized. You immediately pick up on not only her passion and enthusiasm, but also her realness and practicality.

The common theme throughout her work is her compassion for the most underserved and vulnerable. In high school and college, she cared for children with developmental disabilities at the Anne Carlsen Center in Jamestown. After graduation, she started her nursing career at county hospitals in Minneapolis-Saint Paul where she got a daily reminder of what life is like for so many.

“There were days when we were discharging people to a bus stop because they didn’t have anyone to pick them up after surgery. We had collected sweatshirts and sweatpants so patients would have something to wear home,” said Heidi. “There is just such an incredible need and these experiences lit the fire in me to use my gifts to serve those who need it most.”

Heidi obtained her Family Nurse Practitioner certification in 2014 and joined the Southside Community Health Services, a nonprofit community health center that provides access to primary care to anyone in the community, regardless of ability to pay. It was a perfect fit. There, she quickly realized how important mental health care is to primary care and how difficult it is to access, especially for the uninsured and poor. She earned her Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Certification and shortly thereafter began her current role as Clinical Director.

A safe space and compassionate approach

At Southside, Heidi is responsible for overseeing and guiding the care they provide. She also sees patients as a Family and Psychiatric provider. Southside takes great care to meet the unique needs of their community, including providing a safe space for immigrants. “Knowing the strength and determination it must take for a family to leave their country, their language, food, culture and everything they know and try to get a fresh start makes me want to help make at least one thing easy and safe for them and their children—their health care,” said Heidi.

Southside also strives to be a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community. It’s important for trans individuals to receive the recommended cancer screenings for the sex they were assigned at birth.

“But,” explained Heidi, “if you don’t love those parts of your body, [caring for them] can be hard. We work to make that population comfortable enough to take care of themselves and get the checks they need.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they responded swiftly.

“Because we are small clinic, we have more agility and flexibility to make quick decisions and were able to pivot really quickly to a telemedical platform,” said Heidi.

They also were one of the first clinics in the area to do mass testing, and when vaccines became available they partnered with other community organizations to vaccinate those at particular risk of COVID-19.

Big steps ahead

In her role at Southside, Heidi’s always thinking of new and innovative ways to expand access to care.

“We offer so many great services from cooking classes and diabetic education to hypertension education in culturally sensitive ways,” said Heidi. “My hope is that we will have a new/or bigger building in which we can expand our psychotherapy services and add in other services as we continue to partner with the community.”

Heidi and her team are currently working with community leaders to find a space in South Minneapolis to either build or find an existing structure to make their own— fingers crossed for 2022!