“Lives Transformed”…that’s the name of the work MTC does in North Dakota.

“This issue, substance-use issues, they are a community problem,” says Heather Howe, group facilitator at Lives Transformed North Dakota. “They are community issues. And it needs to be dealt with together.”

MTC partners with the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide behavioral services to people who are on parole, probation, or in re-entry programs with the state.

MTC provides behavioral services in-person and virtually to people in Minot, Rawlings, and Williston, North Dakota.

MTC’s facilitators are passionate about helping clients transform their lives and overcome destructive behavior like substance use.

Using evidence-based practices, MTC is making a difference in North Dakota.

“This is really helping me change,” says client Mark Thompson. “I mean, I’ve been using the program every day. So, it’s been really helping me.”

Jennifer Robinson is also a client at Lives Transformed North Dakota. “I think it’ll give me new ways to think about doing something more positive than taking the easy way out and going in the same route that I’ve been doing,” she says.

“It’s good that I’m here,” says client Dayton Murray. “I learn a lot. I learn more skills. And I’ve been through treatment before, but I don’t know, it’s just different being here.”

Domenix Johnson completed the program in 2024 and now he says can be the father he’s always wanted to be.

“I’m glad I came here,” Domenix says. “It changed my life. It made me a better person and a better father to my kids.”

MTC and North Dakota corrections leaders are united in their goal to keep people out of prison by giving them the support they need to overcome addictions and other challenges.

“I think that we definitely need to recognize that people need support and that they can’t do it on their own,” says Lisa Peterson, MTC’s senior director of behavioral health services. “If they could, they wouldn’t be involved with the justice system. They wouldn’t have a need for behavior healthcare with us.”

Lisa continues, “The team here has worked so hard to build this program from the ground up and have been so creative and willing to step out and do what it takes.”