Mae Maurer-Rogers, BS LADC MSW LICSW, Owner/Director is a magna cum laude graduate of St. Cloud State University where she received a Master’s of Social Work and Bachelor of Science with dual degrees in Social Work and Criminal Justice Studies. She received her Chemical Dependency Counselor certification from Ridgewater College. She is a MN Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC). She is one of the program’s members of the Stearns County Drug Court Team. Mae is EMDR trained and specializes in trauma related disorders and life events. She has specialized training in domestic violence. She was a MN Child Welfare Scholar and has extensive training, education and experience working with children and families. Mae fully understands the complexity of the various systems that individuals encounter when battling addiction and rebuilding their lives.
Deborah Haines, Assistant Program Director & CPRS, is a retired Alcohol & Drug Counselor in Training (ADC-T) and received her Chemical Dependency Counselor certification from Ridgewater College. She oversees all areas of the program including sober housing. She is also a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. She shares life experiences that can never be learned in a classroom. She has overcome her own suffering from addiction and models a lifestyle of compassion, strength, and courage to others. Her wisdom, grace, faith, and honesty will inspire you to join her in the life-changing journey of recovery.
Alex Maurer, LSW, LADC, is a graduate of St. Cloud State University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Social Work and minors in Criminal Justice Studies and Human Relations. He received his Chemical Dependency certification at Ridgewater College. He is a MN Licensed Social Worker (LSW) and Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC). He is one of the program’s members of the Stearns County Drug Court Team. He co-facilitates the domestic violence offender program. His lifelong passion for helping others has led him to the world of addiction. He finds renewed energy in watching people change their lives through recovery.
Tricia Pirsig, BA BS LADC, is a graduate from St. Cloud State University where she received her Bachelor’s in Art and Bachelor’s in Science with several degrees in Applied Psychology, Human Biology, Community Psychology and Addiction Counseling. She is one of the program’s members of the Stearns County Drug Court Team. She has extensive professional experience working in the field of addiction and corrections. Her passion for the addiction field came about through working with the youth in correctional settings and witnessing family discord and dysfunction due to substances. Her strengths shine through her strong knowledge of the cognitive behavioral and biophysiological/organic components of addiction. She loves to education others about the science behind the brain disease of addiction.
Kelsey Nehring, BS, LADC, is a Paynesville High School graduate and has lived in Paynesville most of her life. She received her Bachelor of Science with a degree in Community and Public Health from South Dakota State University. She received her alcohol and drug certification at Bethel University. She has experience as a Treatment Coordinator and assists clients with referral support to access various services including economic and housing resources, mental health and medical services, prenatal care, and other treatment plan related needs. She is a person in recovery and has a strong passion for helping others find faith in a Higher Power. She encourages others to surrender to the process of change and believe in restoration through recovery.
Nanette Foreman, BS, LADC (Licensed Alcohol & Drug Counselor), is a native of Chicago that made rural MN her home for the last 30 years. She received her Bachelor of Science degrees in Community Psychology and Addiction Counseling from St Cloud State University. She is a strong person in recovery and demonstrates exceptional counseling skills. She spends a lot of her free time serving as a volunteer for various non-profit organizations. She believes helping others is her true passion and finds it brings joy to her life. She is a person in long-term recovery, and she wants to use her own personal journey to recovery to help others learn to live the life they deserve. She wants to help others find their Higher Power and walk with them through their transformation.
Robert “Bob” Blaisdell, LADC, (Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor) graduated Little Falls High School and attended St. Cloud State University. He obtained his Certificate in Chemical Dependency Counseling from Ridgewater College in Willmar, MN. He joins our team with years of experience in the field of addiction and a personal journey of recovery that spans decades. He has 40 years of experience in 12 step groups through Alateen/AA/NA meetings. He seeks guidance through the Big Book and his Higher Power. He is passionate about supporting others in self-exploration and healing through recovery. The knowledge he has acquired outside of formal education is priceless and valuable to our program. He is actively involved in the recovery community and models sober socialization development as a member of our Recovery Bowling League.
Randi Thiel, BS LADC, is a graduate from St Cloud Technical College with an A.A.S. Degree in Child & Adult Care & Education, a Chemical Dependency Certificate from Ridgewater College, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Community Psychology from St Cloud State University. She has served as a member of the U.S. Army and worked as a counselor with veterans. She has training and experience working with children and has a passion for making the future better. She is a firm believer that true healing is raw, messy, and is rewarding; often simultaneously. She feels that working in a reality-based program, dealing with life on life’s terms as things happen, helps to prepare clients for life in the real world. In addition, she utilizes motivational interviewing combined with empathy and compassion to get the client to realize what their priorities and strengths are to create internal motivation for change. Her passion at its core is to help guide people to achieve health and well-being in the physical, mental, and emotional realms.
Courtney Magedanz, Office Manager & Billing Coordinator, is a resident of the Paynesville area. She has several years of experience in customer service and management positions. She handles all aspects of the operation of the Business Office and financial records for sober housing. She is a quick learner with a positive team player attitude that enhances our program’s overall efficiency in helping others. She handles all insurance and billing issues and provides administrative support to all clinical staff to achieve exceptional client care. Her kind nature is contagious, and she makes it easy for others to ask her for help. Her knowledge and “can-do” attitude are valuable assets to the program. She is always willing to lend a helping hand and smile to clients and/or staff.
Kylea LaMont is a high school graduate from Big Lake, MN. She attended the Model College of Hair Design in St. Cloud, MN to obtain her Esthetician license. She has work experience in the health care field through massage, skin care and eye care. In addition, she has management experience in low-income housing for seniors and adults with disabilities. She is responsible for the daily functioning and oversight of general staff at Milestone. She is a very organized, polite, patient, and detail-orientated manager that staff and residents appreciate. She has watched many friends suffer with addiction. Some have been successful in sobriety while others have not. She is passionate about supporting the residents of Milestone as they explore their own journey to recovery.
Diane Schultz is a teacher employed with Recovery Center to teach our GED program. She is a graduate of Paynesville. She received her AA degree from Ridgewater College and her Bachelor of Science in Education from St. Cloud State University. She has spent her career working as an educator in the Paynesville District in several areas ranging from Head Start/Preschool, 1st and 4th Grade and Title One Interventionist to now a local community GED teacher. Her true passion is helping people learn so she decided to expand her teaching skills from young students to include adults. The expressions on the faces of the GED adult students and knowing that they are on their way to making many improvements in their lives is such a rewarding feeling for her!
Helen Storkamp, CPRS, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. She has worked throughout her life in various service-related fields and finds great joy in being of service to others. She is employed with the Paynesville Schools in addition to working with people in recovery. She has lived in the Paynesville area for about 40 years and knows the local resources available. She is an active member of the AA/NA/Recovery community. Her own recovery stretches over decades, and she loves serving as a role model to others. She is very passionate about supporting people during their own recovery journey and wellness restoration.
Tracy Christiansen, CPRS, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. She received her CNA certification from Ridgewater College and pursued a Christian Ministries degree at Crown College in Minneapolis. Through her experience of working in the elderly care field, she discovered her true passion of sharing the power of spirituality with others. She is proud to be humble and says, “I am who I am” and displays her own vulnerabilities while building rapport with suffering addicts/alcoholics. She shares her personal story of recovery to encourage others to tap into their strengths as she helps build them up to live the life they desperately desire~ a life of recovery!
Susan Wright, CPRS, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist Reciprocal with the MN Certification Board. She is the Lead CPRS for Recovery Center and assists other CPRS staff in scheduling, support, communicating client needs and more. She attended Ridgewater College in Hutchinson for accounting and business management. Her pursuit of education was exchanged for motherhood. She originally started at Recovery Center serving as our office and sober house manager but quickly realized she found a new purpose in life and completed the training to became a CPRS. Her personal journey of finding recovery motivates her to share her own story with others. She takes great pride in managing her recovery. She believes that connecting people through sober social support and networking is a key component to making lasting changes. She is very passionate about supporting parents in early recovery and works closely with the parents in the program.
Charles “Chuck” Gorres, CPRS, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. He is a long-time resident of the Morris, MN area and relocated to Paynesville to share in building the strong recovery community. He served 17 years in the Army National Guard and Reserves. Throughout his military experience, he attended several colleges to enhance his knowledge and skills. He received his AAS degree with diplomas in auto mechanics and civil engineering with some training in aircraft mechanics. He is a proud father of two children and even prouder grandfather of three grandchildren. It was the love for his family that motivated him to find recovery. He learned through his own struggle with addiction that you cannot do it alone. He genuinely enjoys the comradery that exists within the walls of AA/NA and recovery events. He loves to cook and is more than happy to serve as chief griller or master chef for cook outs or potlucks. He is semi-retired and believed working as a CPRS would be the perfect role for him to share his personal experiences learned through the school of hard knocks with others. He is a man of courage, discipline, loyalty and dedication that will strive to help anyone live recovery.
Brandon Wester, CPRS, is a graduate of Brown College in Brooklyn Park, MN where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice Studies. Through his studies, he gained knowledge of the challenges people face while involved in the criminal justice system. He understands the extensive support systems that people need for rehabilitative efforts to make positive and lasting changes. He recently became a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. He is strong in his recovery, his faith, and his passion to help others. He has learned first-hand that hope is given through inspiration, and he loves to share his inspiring story of recovery with others. He knows what it is like to feel hopeless, so through his guidance, wisdom and role modeling of recovery he restores hope in those still suffering from addiction. He loves to sing and is a participant of the Recovery Choir where he can express his spirituality through music. He is also a player for the Recovery Center Softball Team and Recovery Center Bowling League. Through his many recovery activities, he is helping to break the stigma associated with addiction.
Leah Orner, CPRS, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. She is a graduate of Minnesota State Community and Technical College where she received her AAS degree in Administrative Assistant, Medical Reception Diploma and Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health Certificate. She is passionate about music and serves as the Director of our Recovery Choir that partners with local organizations to fundraise and bring awareness to their organizations cause. She is a recipient of the two-year federal State Opioid Response (SOR) scholarship, which aims to help combat the opioid epidemic. She is currently attending Minnesota North College in pursuit of her Chemical Dependency Certification to become a counselor. She works closely with parents and utilizes “Love and Logic” curriculum to improve parenting skills through hands-on demonstration. Her own recovery has taught her that “there’s no bottom too low to turn around from” and she wants to let people know there is hope; as she is living proof that anyone can change!
Jennifer Ketchum Anderson, CPRSR, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist Reciprocal with the MN Certification Board. She dropped out of high school and experienced significant loss including the overdose death of her fiancé and loss of custody of her children due to her addiction. Through her participation and successful completion of the Stearns County Drug Court and Recovery Center program, she learned to surrender to the process of recovery. After more than a decade of being out of high school, she earned her GED. She is a recipient of the two-year federal State Opioid Response (SOR) scholarship, which aims to help combat the opioid epidemic. She is currently attending Minnesota North College in pursuit of her Chemical Dependency Certification to become a counselor. She realized that her desire to inspire and help others could be fulfilled by being a CPRS and completed her certification. She is a member of the Recovery Choir and the Recovery Center Bowling League. She was recently married, has regained custody of her two children and cherishes her family. Her life has transformed in ways she never thought possible. She takes pride in gaining people’s trust and hopes that through her own experiences, she will encourage others to invest in finding their own recovery.
Nikie R., CPRS, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. She is a high school graduate of Barnesville, MN. She moved from northern Minnesota to the Paynesville area about three years ago to start a fresh, new life. She has embraced all that Paynesville has to offer, especially the beautiful Lake Koronis. She loves to be a mother to her son and spends her free time helping him to develop into his own self. She has an eye for detail and pays close attention to the littlest things. She is a kind soul with a passionate heart that takes the time to recognize the small things that really matter in one’s life. She is a person in recovery that has traveled throughout the United States to share her love of God with others at Recovery Churches. She hopes to inspire others to let her guide them as they create their own recovery story.
Lindsey Cheek, CPRS, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. She is a high school graduate of Huntley, Montana and attended college for a short time before realizing that it was not the right path for her. She has been employed in customer service positions for most of her life. She chose to be a CPRS to give back to the recovery community that she loves. She has three plus years in recovery and wants to help other people know that it is possible. She wants to share the hope that she desperately needed when she was in her own addiction. She is a married mother with two children and living her best life. She hopes to help make others unthinkable dreams come true through recovery.
Erin Nicholas, CPRS, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. She is a high school graduate of Onamia, MN. She is the proud mother of two boys with a 12-year age gap, so she is busy attending sporting events and play dates. She wants her greatest accomplishment to be the boys she raises into fine men. Her recovery journey led her to Paynesville, but the strong faith-based recovery community is what kept her here! She is a member of the Recovery Choir and is always willing to serve as a volunteer. She is a leader amongst the women and mothers by providing parenting wisdom and support. She went through many trials and tribulations before obtaining several years of recovery. She believes her foundation built around God was the “game changer” for her. Her passion to give to others what was so freely given to her by the recovery community is what motivates her to give hope to others. She is honored and excited to share her story while helping others write their own.
Jessica Hemmingson, CPRS, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. She attended McKinley ALC but never graduated. She was a mother of five before obtaining her GED through the Recovery Center program in 2023. She is currently working on her bachelor’s in psychology with a concentration on children and adolescents through Southern New Hampshire University. Addiction and abuse ran her life because she did not know anything else. Her battle with CPS is what lead her to get sober, but the Recovery Center is what brought her to recovery. She got her children back and they are her absolute everything. She says she went from the lowest point in her life to building a life she no longer has to run from. Her ability to build her current life is why she chose to be a CPRS. She wants to make a difference in the world, especially for children and families. She is determined to help others break the cycle like she has for herself.
William “Mike” Peterson, CPRS, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. His life was plagued with addiction, abuse and criminal behaviors for decades. He spent most of his life in and out of incarceration despite his constant fight to live a “normal” life with his children. He would have short stints of sobriety but would fall back into the trenches of addiction time and time again. He obtained his GED while in prison and never believed in a future outside of his addiction lifestyle. That was before he experienced his “rock bottom” when two of his three children and their mother were killed in a car crash. He realized that his daughter needed him more than ever, so he joined her on the venture to recovery. He has spent the last five years living in the glory of God’s greatness and has become a father again. He has a new family that encompasses everything that recovery represents through service work, community, personal restoration and God. He wants others to know that despite being a “slow learner” that he is living proof that recovery is real, and anyone can do it!
Natasha Peterson, CPRS, is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with the MN Certification Board. She received her GED many years after leaving high school due to her addiction. She spent the early years of her adulthood entrenched in addiction and domestic abuse. She suffered the loss of her children through CPS and shortly after she lost her mother and siblings in a tragic car accident. Her addiction had her in the darkest place and through the light of her recovery and God, she found a new life. She was successful in rebuilding herself as a mother and was awarded the rights to parent her last two children. She embraces every second with them and never forgets the pain of losing her other children. She knows far too well how devastating addictions path of destruction can be. She stays forward thinking and hopes to inspire others to do the same. She is a strong believer in God and turns to her faith during challenging times to maintain her long-term recovery. Her story is powerful and her role as a peer recovery specialist is inspiring. She looks forward to helping others that feel lost to find recovery and live the blessings that recovery offers. She wants others to know that nothing is impossible!
Roni Barton is a graduate of Sauk Rapids-Rice High School. She briefly attended St Cloud Technical College in pursuit of a degree in the healthcare field. She struggled with addiction for many years before establishing a life in recovery. Through recovery, she has discovered her purpose in life is serving others. She is passionate about her children and supporting other parents in their journey for recovery. She works closely with the owner/director to micromanage the oversite of the many volunteers throughout the community. Her loving and calm nature is inviting to the volunteers, and they sincerely enjoy their volunteerism under her supervision. She has served the most volunteer hours of anyone in the history of the Recovery Center. Her dedicated and selfless service has been motivating to others and our program is truly blessed to have her.
Danielle Kornezos grew up in Cass Lake, MN and is a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwa. She obtained her GED shortly after high school. She briefly attended the Leech Lake Tribal College in pursuit of a degree in human services. She switched gears and worked as a correctional officer while raising her small children. Unfortunately, addiction wreaked havoc over her life, and she veered away from her goals of education. She has about 2 ½ years of recovery and is passionate about wanting the best for all people. Her native heritage and spirituality are very important aspects of her life, and she loves to teach others about them. She has the belief that everyone deserves great things and through helping others her recovery has been strengthened. She works closely with the owner/director to support the many volunteers at Recovery Center as they fulfill their commitments in the community.
(Left to right- Makaela Maurer, Nicholas Maurer, Dillon Maurer, Katerina Maurer, Zachary Maurer, Brandon Maurer and Megan Maurer)
The Maurer’s serves as support staff to all the employees of Recovery Center. Their service is vital within the program by assisting staff members with an extra hand. They each have their own unique skill that supports the program, and we are fortunate to have them. Together they are the backbone and the future of the Recovery Center.
Monday: 9:00am – 9:00pm
Tuesday: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Wednesday-Thursday: 9:00am – 9:00pm
Friday: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Saturday – Sunday: By Appointment
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