RECOVERY WORKS - The Waseca County Courthouse will be lit in purple all through the month in recognition that September is "Recovery Awareness Month" both nationally and in Waseca County. Celebrating the strength and resilience of people who have rebuilt their lives after recovering from substance abuse disorder are (front, from left) Nikki Weller, Elissa Johnson, Megan Radel; (center row, from left) Hunter Carlson and Heather Clark; and (back, from left) Rachel Cornelius, Waseca County Attorney; Mackenzie Weis, Department of Corrections; Nicole Grams, Steele Waseca Drug Court Coordinator; and Dan Frenk, Waseca County Court Services. The purple shirts saying "Living Proof that Recovery Works" are from Doc's Recovery of Rochester. Star Eagle photo by Deb Bently
Recovery Awareness Month sends support
Wed, 09/10/2025 - 11:45pm
"I'm living a life now that I never thought would be possible." - Megan Radel
Waseca County has proclaimed September “Recovery Awareness Month,” in alignment with a nation-wide initiative.
For the next four weeks, the courthouse exterior will be lit in purple to help increase awareness surrounding recovery from substance abuse disorder and show support for people and families who are rebuilding their lives.
Waseca resident Megan Radel spearheaded the initiative which requested the proclamation. Radel and fellow group member Nikki Weller recently completed the process to become certified peer recovery specialists (CPRSs). Requirements for the program are that an individual have personal experience with substance abuse disorder, must have been sober for at least one full year, must complete at least 46 hours of classes in coaching and ethics, and must pass a state-administered examination.
Radel explained the role by describing what Charity Steinbring, the CPRS who helped Radel on her recovery journey, had done. “She walked alongside me,” said Radel. “She helped me feel I wasn’t facing my struggles all by myself. She offered guidance, support and encouragement.”
The county proclamation states one of its purposes in declaring Recovery Awareness Month is “to honor the strength and resilience of individuals who are on their journey to recovery.”
Radel elaborated on this by saying, “it takes amazing strength to leave behind that old lifestyle and start rebuilding relationships within families and the community.” She mentioned feeling fear she would “lose all my friends” until she came to realize the people she was interacting with daily “weren’t really my friends at all.” She spoke of wondering whether her family members could ever accept her back into their lives, then discovering they had been longing for her return.
“I talk to my mother every morning now,” she said. “My day wouldn’t feel complete if I didn’t.
“I’m living a life now that I never thought would be possible,” she stated. “I am really grateful to those people who are willing to see me for who I am now rather than for the way I used to act.”
Members of the group have a purple shirt with the large words “Living Proof that Recovery Works.”
Radel explained people who experience substance abuse disorder are never “cured.”
“We fight all day every day,” she said regarding the risk of falling back into that former lifestyle, saying it is an anthem in the recovery community that “You’ve got to change your people, places and things.”
“Going to any of those old places, interacting with people who are not in recovery, those are a real risk factor.”
Because of that risk, Radel says people in recovery search for settings where they can enjoy positive social interactions away from any types of chemicals. She names regional organizations which plan such events, and mentions that the Waseca area sober community is putting together a family night the evening of Sept. 17 with a pot luck meal and sand volleyball.
A group called Minnesota Recovery Connection is offering a Recovery Night at the Twins on September 16 with tickets in a designated section costing only $16.
“There are getting to be more and more of them,” Radel said of such activities.
The county’s willingness to proclaim September as Recovery Awareness Month, and the fact the county courthouse will be among landmarks across the country illuminated in the signature color, Radel said, is part of an important message that people in recovery are not going through their journeys alone.
“It unites us all. It’s a message of support being sent by the whole country,” she observed. “It joins us all together and helps give us confidence.”