Recovery Corps puts passion into action, hands-on experience

Meg has been involved in the recovery community since she started her recovery journey over 10 years ago. Today, as a Recovery Navigator with Recovery Corps, she gets to support others with their recovery journeys! 

This is Meg’s first year serving as a Recovery Navigator at Minnesota Recovery Connection (MRC), but she’s been connected to the organization since early on in her recovery journey. She volunteered there and worked at the front desk. She wanted to start working with clients, so she took several trainings from MRC that eventually helped her earn peer support certification. Recovery Corps now has given her the opportunity to provide direct peer support to MRC’s clientele. 

“I felt like I had a lot of experience. I've been there and done that,” Meg says. “I know for me, other people's experiences helped me along my journey, and I just felt really passionate about that.” 

Meg knows she will make a difference, as she knows what it’s like to feel alone in recovery. “I really wished that I would have had somebody to be there when I was coming out of treatment, and that's what really made me passionate about being able to help people,” she says. “I just wanted to be there.” 

On her caseload, Meg has about 12 people she contacts regularly to help them navigate the many systems involved in starting recovery. She helps them find housing, community, childcare, financial assistance, and many other resources! “I consider it a real honor to do what I'm doing,” she says. “I'm excited to make an impact on people's lives.” 

Having started in August 2023, Meg can already see herself coming back next year to serve with Recovery Corps again. In the meantime, she’s planning on giving her education award to her granddaughter. “I really like what AmeriCorps is doing, and it might be fun to do another term. I feel like this is my passion and this is where I belong.”