The autumn of 2001 is etched into my memory as another time of profound unrest. Just a few weeks after the devastating attacks of September 11th, the world felt fragile, shadowed by a collective sense of upset and fear.
As we started to resume everyday life, and air travel returned, I remember the chilling sight of looking out my plane window and seeing F-16 fighter jets escorting us through the sky—a jarring reminder of how much the world had changed in an instant.
I was traveling as part of the Bucks County Council, and our mission felt like an imperative challenge. We were in the early, vital stages of building PRO-ACT (Pennsylvania Recovery Organization—Achieving Community Together), and we were looking for a blueprint for hope. That search led us directly to Minneapolis for the 2001 Recovery Summit.
Stepping off that plane and into the streets of Minneapolis, I was met with a warmth that I will never forget. Including the Peanuts on Parade: Following their native son, Charles Schulz’s death in 2000, over 100 fiberglass statues of characters like Snoopy and Charlie Brown were placed throughout the Twin Cities, including several in Minneapolis landmarks like the Star Tribune building.
Despite the national tension at the time, the people of Minneapolis met that moment with a quiet, intentional strength. There was no coldness or withdrawal; instead, there was a palpable humanistic kindness—a deliberate act of defiance against fear. Their fortitude served as an inspiration for all of us gathering from across the nation to build a new, holistic system for supporting the stigmatized community of people seeking or maintaining recovery.
The foresight of the community leaders in Minneapolis was staggering. While the rest of the country was looking for enemies, they were creating and hosting connectedness.
It was here that I was introduced to the power of drum circles. In a time of global unrest, that rhythmic, visceral pulse provided a grounding force that words couldn’t reach. I saw firsthand and was wholly awestruck by how the beliefs of Native Americans—so integral to the identity of this land—offered a blueprint for this new recovery movement. Their focus on the “Great Circle” and the interconnectedness of all people mirrored exactly what we were trying to build with PRO-ACT: a world where recovery isn’t an isolated struggle, but a communal homecoming.
Watching the strength and determination of the people of Minneapolis today, that same resilience is still the city’s heartbeat. This community has faced immense trials over the decades, yet just as they did in 2001, the people here have turned toward hope. Their foresight taught us that recovery is a “lived solution,” helping to found and establish Faces & Voices of Recovery.
That spirit of peace and healing persists. Minnesotans continue to show the world that a community’s greatest strength lies in its ability to embrace and heal its own.
I left from my first and only visit to Minnesota empowered by the vibrancy and compassion of the human spirit. I learned then that the people of Minneapolis don’t just survive; they cultivate peace. Whether it was the drum circles I joined twenty-five years ago or the advocacy happening today, the message remains the same: we are all part of the same circle.
”The water is the first medicine. It is the blood of Mother Earth. We are all connected by it, and in its flow, we find the strength to wash away what no longer serves us. Here, among the lakes and the pines, the land doesn’t just hold our history; it holds our cure.”
— Louise Erdrich – Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
”…It’s so cold, it keeps the bad people out.” – Prince
Streets of Minneapolis – Bruce Springsteen
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