The worst thing for addiction is isolation. The opposite of addiction is connection.”

Tiffany Neuharth, founder of Rise Up Recovery and Lionheart Wellness

When Rise Up Recovery first started its now-annual roast in 2020, it was a way to support the community during the isolation of the pandemic.
“The worst thing for addiction is isolation. The opposite of addiction is connection,” said Tiffany Neuharth, founder of Rise Up Recovery and Lionheart Wellness.
Five years later and what started as a way to counteract pandemic isolation has become an annual tradition.
This year marks five years of annual roasts, which this year featured free food, live music, and a number of resources from around the community.
It was explicitly not a fundraiser, but simply a way to bring the community together, said Chad Neuharth, founder of Rise Up Recovery.
And that’s exactly what happened. Singer Smiley Kaul and the group Relentless Hope sang before the crowds with many audience members providing testimony on their journeys to sobriety.
“Today the Lord has given me true victory in this place,” said Mike Haeve, one of the speakers at the event.
“What if every town had this,” mused Smiley Kaul before starting his set.
One of the resources available to attendees of the event was from Lionheart Wellness and Recovery.
The outpatient treatment center was created by Tiffany and Chad in part due to the lack of clinical treatment for substance abuse and mental health issues within the Hastings community for both adults and adolescents.
Previously Rise Up Recovery would refer adult patients to Allina Clinic for clinical treatment within the community, but there was nowhere local to send adolescents seeking treatment, according to Tiffany.
The clinic opened its doors at 1112 North Frontage Road earlier this year in March.
The center serves about 15 adult patients, which butts up against the state limit of 16 patients to one councilor, what Dawson Urquidez, Lionheart Administrative Manager calls not a bottleneck but “a growth point” for the center.
This number of patients, only months after the center opened its doors, underscores the need for treatment within the community.
According to Tiffany, the center is already looking for more councilors.
As a new treatment center, Lionheart has been able to tap into the existing network established by Rise Up Recovery, which Urquidez credits with the center’s high use.
When building out adolescent treatment, a key part of treatment is involvement from parents.
“We’re not just trying to bring youth in, but we’re trying to bring the parents into it too,” said Urquidez.
Broad education on how to talk about substance abuse and diluting the stigma around acknowledging it is another focus for the adolescent program.
“The earlier you can catch people, the less likely they are to continue having problems later in life,” said Tiffany.
Lionheart is meant to fit alongside Rise Up Recovery “like pieces of a puzzle,” said Urquidez.
Lionheart’s focus is on counseling and the clinical side of recovery for both substance abuse and mental health issues, with Rise Up Recovery focusing on peer supports and housing.
“It’s one thing to get sober. It’s another to walk out those doors,” said Tiffany.
Tiffany talks about the recovery process as creating new paths from old ruts. Just as cars make ruts in gravel roads they drive on over and over again, it can be hard for patients to get out of old habits.
“The way you build a new pathway is with people and support,” said Tiffany.
The event has always been an effort to do exactly that.
“We just want to bless our community,” said Tiffany.