“We Went Through It Together, So We Can Heal Together”: Megan’s journey to recovery
Megan, a mother of twins, is celebrating something extraordinary month – a year and a half of sobriety. She also completed her first official semester of college and is working toward earning her license as an alcohol and drug counselor (LADC).
Before coming to Avivo, Megan was facing more difficult times, including legal issues and brief incarceration.
“When I got out, I started using again,” she shares. “That’s not what I wanted for myself.”
Megan decided she was going to quit using, this time for good. Before meeting with her probation officer at the end of October 2023, Megan made the decision to enroll in a detox program, and shares that she hasn’t used since.
Starting out in a different treatment facility, Megan quickly realized she needed greater accommodation with her twins – she needed a place she could recover with them in the same location. That’s when a friend in treatment with her told her about Avivo, one of the only programs in Minnesota that allows mothers to live with their kids ages 0-17.
Learning she would be able to stay with her children in her recovery lodging, Megan entered into Avivo’s intensive outpatient treatment program.
“I’m not the only one who went through things. They also went through things,” Megan explains. “We went through it together, so we can heal together.”
“I’m not the only one who went through things. They also went through things,” Megan explains. “We went through it together, so we can heal together.”
Originally from Ponemah, a small community of around 800 people on the Red Lake Reservation, Megan worried about settling into a big new city like Minneapolis, but Avivo’s welcoming environment put her at ease.
From day one, Megan says, the staff and counselors were supportive and helpful. They offered her the stability she needed.
“They let you work at your own pace,” she shares. “You’re able to focus on what you really need to do for your sobriety, and they have multiple people to help you on the way.”
“They let you work at your own pace,” she shares. “You’re able to focus on what you really need to do for your sobriety, and they have multiple people to help you on the way.”
Megan started out in Avivo’s singles program for around a month before moving into a family unit with her kids. That time apart helped her plant firm roots.
“I had a couple months of sobriety before I got my kids, which helped me process a lot,” she shared. “(I was) able to not only help myself, but help my kids, too.”
She says she learned the true meaning of the phrase, “if it weren’t for my kids…” by including them in every step of her recovery.
Megan and her twins are now living in their own apartment as she continues through college, and shares that her life is moving a completely different direction now from when she first began her recovery journey in mid-2023.
“Back then, I would only dream of where I’m at now,” Megan shares, “but with this program [at Avivo] – the amount of time it gives you to get back on your feet – it’s what I needed.”
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