Tallgrass

The mission at Tallgrass Recovery & Sober Living Homes is to provide the greatest opportunity for individuals and families suffering from alcohol and drug addiction discover a new way of life by embracing a 12-step, spiritually-based solution. Our vision is to help people get their lives back, a life they never imagined possible.

My name is Mallory Flanigan, and I am the development manager at Tallgrass. I grew up in northeast South Dakota, graduated from college at the University of South Dakota and moved to Sioux Falls about 12 years ago.

I have been in recovery for seven years now, and Sioux Falls means a lot to me, because my recovery community is here. This community has really helped me to gain confidence while discovering my purpose in this world. They’ve been my village, and I’m grateful.

I first encountered Tallgrass during my recovery, while spending some time in their sober home, and I fell in love with the organization. I started volunteering there in 2011 and then began full-time work with them as their development manager in 2013. It’s been an exciting, rewarding and challenging career. My main responsibility is to raise dollars for our scholarship fund, which helps individuals get into the doors of Tallgrass to begin their journey in recovery. Along with fundraising, I build relationships with the recovery community in Sioux Falls and just try to keep our name out there for people to reach out to us. We want the recovery community to know that we are here for them all the time, anytime.

When people think of an alcohol and substance abuse treatment center, they think of a cold hospital setting, with doctors and a clinical practice in place. But Tallgrass Recovery & Sober Living Homes is the exact opposite of that. We are a non-medical, non-clinical facility that is warm, comfortable and welcoming. Our entire campus stretches along 10 acres of beautiful property. We are a home, and we want people to feel that way — as if they are coming home.

“Simply put, Tallgrass offers a new perspective on life and a new approach to living.”

Here, we focus on the 12 Steps and really spend time educating our guests and providing the necessary tools to live sober so that when they leave here, they can be part of the world and live the life they want to live.

Our treatment care is a 30-day residential program, but we also encourage individuals to come by anytime. We don’t have formal after care, but even if they’ve completed their 30 days, if they are struggling or don’t stay sober right away, we want people to know that they can come back anytime or even just for an hour to relax. Or sometimes, people don’t even need the 30-day program, they just need a refresher on the tools needed to apply to their life, so we are available to them for encouragement and conversation.

We have a full staff and over 200 active volunteers, and each of us is in recovery as well, so we really are able to serve as that village and support system as our guests transition to becoming a productive member of society. We know it’s not always easy, but we are all in this together, every step of the way.

Simply put, Tallgrass offers a new perspective on life and a new approach to living. When I was new in recovery, the sober home really helped me to build positive relationships with people who were trying to do the same thing I was. Here at the sober living home, we are all like-minded people trying to apply the tools needed to succeed in our life. I was able to establish my own footing because I was around people who think like I think and can relate to my struggle. With the help and encouragement of Tallgrass, I figured out a way to be among everybody else in this world and become a productive member of society. And that’s all we want for our guests. We want them to get well so they can see how amazing their life can be.

At Tallgrass, it’s important that we serve as a spiritual guide. Before my own recovery, I didn’t know how to navigate through this world without drugs or alcohol, and Tallgrass helped in showing me a new way. Recovery helped me to find my trust in God, and I was able to build a personal relationship with Him that I didn’t even know I was capable of.

Our spiritual side of recovery exists because we can’t do this work on our own. Yes, we are a community that is here to help, but it’s God working through us to help others. We are turning things over to Him. At Tallgrass, we talk about prayer and meditation and helping others, and we understand and trust that while helping ourselves get well, we are helping others do the same.

There are a lot of difficult days at Tallgrass, but there are a lot of great days, too, and it’s important to acknowledge that both kinds of days serve a purpose for what God has in store. It’s a battle every day in recovery, but we all still have purpose here, and we are doing everything we can at Tallgrass to help individuals and families realize a better life.

For whatever reason, God gave me several chances, and He’s not done with me yet. He gave me years of opportunity to apply my recovery, but the time needed to be right for me. Today, I apply that same philosophy to the people I work with here, assuring them that even if they can’t see it yet, there is purpose in their life. Unfortunately, some people never will see it, but those people help me, too. Their hurt is proof of what could happen if I continue to drink and use, so I thank them and I send up a prayer, because their journey has helped me stay sober. It’s hard to understand, but to all whose lives were lost because of addiction, they lived out a purpose, too.