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Misty: Give me an opportunity to do something different

Teresa Evans and Misty Helm before the cameras at KSTP-TV.

Former client Misty Helm was recently profiled on KSTP-TV’s Minnesota Live program about her personal story of addiction and her recovery at Wayside Recovery Center.

Follow the link: Recovery center focused on helping women – KSTP.com Eyewitness News

Misty began using at a young age and although she had been involved with the criminal justice system several times, she had never been sent to a treatment program. It wasn’t until she was older and facing a felony hearing that she actually pleaded with the judge to send her to treatment. The judge agreed and Misty was sent to Wayside Recovery Center where she was able to successfully recover from her addiction.

“Wayside Recovery Center helped me to address the guilt, the shame, and gave me access to grief and loss counseling,” said Misty. “The staff at Wayside were amazing. They were just so warm and so supporting.”

Current Interim Executive Director Teresa Evans also joined Misty on the program to let viewers know about what makes Wayside Recovery Center’s program and services so effective. “Wayside looks at the unique needs of women and their whole family unit,” said Teresa as she described how Wayside’s Family Treatment program was started 25 years ago. At that time Wayside staff realized that women were not accessing treatment because they didn’t want to live their children behind. In response to that need, Wayside established the first program in Minnesota that allowed woman to live with their children while providing them with access to recovery services.

At Wayside Recovery Center, each woman has the opportunity to address both her substance use and also any other mental health issues which might be linked to the substance abuse. While mom is in treatment, her children also have access to mental health services, case management, and access to schools so that they stay current with their education.

As part of the broadcast, a link was provided with information about how make an in-kind donation of diapers, baby formula, and self-care items: Donations Needed at Wayside.

Wayside Recovery Center’s mission is to break the cycle of addition and trauma for women, children, and families. We offer mental, physical, and behavioral healthcare for the entire family and we seek to empower families with the tools they need to achieve a better quality of life.