When Frank Schmidt met Evan Jandl at The Retreat Recovery Center (Wayzata, MN) in the spring of 2024, neither had any idea about the journey that they would begin together. A casual conversation about the difficulty in finding someone to care for their dogs while pursuing recovery treatment led to the founding of a project …
Category: Recovery
Beginning a New Chapter for Behavioral Health in Minnesota
Minnesota is facing several complex issues that affect Minnesotans’ ability to get timely, quality, and culturally relevant behavioral health services. Addressing those issues with compassion is the top priority of the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS). Now, for the first time in department history, there is an entire administration dedicated solely to behavioral health. …
Recovering Parents Value Project CHILD’s Support
Project CHILD (Community Health, Intervention, Linkage and Development) has been helping Hennepin County residents make a healthier start with their babies since 1990. We asked Hennepin County behavioral health manager, Alexandra (Ali) Kraak to share more about the program. Can you tell us a bit about Project CHILD? Project CHILD is a voluntary, multidisciplinary case …
Autumn Leaves
“Autumn demands that I release what I think is important to do and returns me to the only thing which matters that I remember—to love and to allow love to sculpt me, even as it breaks my heart.” Christine Valters Paintner Autumn. The closing of a year. The last burst of color and abundance as …
The Man Behind the Medallion: Introducing the Other Bill W
You know that bronze medallion you have tucked away somewhere – the one in safe keeping in your jewelry box, or at the bottom of your underwear drawer? Or perhaps you fondle it daily as it jingles and jangles against the heads of Washington and Franklin in your pant’s pocket? Have you ever wondered about …
Founder Envisions Minnesota’s First Recovery Ranch
The Phoenix Spirit talked with John Magnuson, the visionary founder of Relevant Recovery, a new Recovery Community Organization (RCO), designed to train and mentor Family Life Recovery Coaches at Minnesota’s first Recovery Ranch – a space and place where individuals, families and organizations can “experience” recovery as they build greater wellbeing. John’s life story, his national network …
Helping People Achieve Recovery – However They Define It
Recovery from substance use disorders is an incredibly challenging journey, but it’s also one of the most rewarding paths a person can take. Every individual in recovery deserves to be celebrated, no matter what their recovery looks like or how they define it. This September, during Recovery Month, the Minnesota Department of Human Services is …
Seeking Grace in Recovery
I learned a lesson about grace when I experienced its flipside a number of years ago, after I was laid off from a corporate communications job in health care. Seeking employment, I dutifully worked my network, including a breakfast meeting with a woman I had recently worked with. She had just started a new job …
A Moral Compass: What Is It? How Is It Built? Why Do We Need It?
You know, about thirty years ago I had a big decision to make while dating my wife-to-be. I could either hide the fact that I had a son that I had never seen before or else tell her the whole truth and risk losing her by paying back child support that I owed my son …
Creativity: One Response to Addiction and Recovery
An on-going issue for all of us who are aware of our addictions is simply how to continue to live in recovery. This really is a life-long challenge, isn’t it? It is for me, as addictive triggers can burst upon my life at any moment. In this article, I am sharing the importance of expressing …