Bigger Impact Through Education

08/27/2026

Big shout out to my newest top fans! 💎 Yammy Bear

Drop a comment to welcome them to our community,

08/27/2026

08/23/2026

🌟 What is Court Watch?
It’s a community‑powered movement where volunteers sit in on court hearings to make sure justice is fair, transparent, and accountable. We observe, collect data, and help shine a light on how our courts serve the people — not profits.

👀 Why it matters:
When the public watches, the system listens. Court Watch helps identify patterns of bias, gaps in victim support, and areas where change is needed.

💪 Hennepin County and Ramsey County are already using Court Watch to track repeat offenders, improve communication between courts and communities, and make sure everyone’s voice is heard.

Now it’s Freeborn County’s turn!
Join Bigger Impact Through Education and Minnesota Freedom Fund for Court Watch training on August 31 at 10:45 AM at the Freeborn County Courthouse.

Let’s stand together for fairness, transparency, and justice for all. 💙⚖️

08/20/2026

August is Overdose Awareness Month, and I want to take a moment to honor every life taken far too soon. If you’ve lost someone you love, please comment with a picture of them, along with their first name and age.

Nobody should be forgotten. Their forever age matters, their story matters, and their memory deserves to be seen and spoken.

Let’s fill this space with love, remembrance, and the faces of those who should still be here.

08/16/2026

COURT WATCH: TURNING OBSERVATION INTO ACCOUNTABILITY ⚖️📊

What actually happens during a person’s first appearance in court?

How are bail and release decisions being made?
Are similar cases receiving similar treatment?
How long are people waiting?
What conditions are being imposed?
What patterns exist across courtrooms, judges, and cases?

These are the kinds of questions Court Watch can help us understand.

Court Watch is a community-based transparency tool where trained volunteers attend public court proceedings, make objective observations, and collect data about what they see. That information can then be analyzed to identify patterns, disparities, trends, and areas where the criminal legal system may need greater transparency or reform.

This work is already happening in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties through the Minnesota Freedom Fund, whose Court Watch program trains volunteers to observe bail hearings and collect information about how the pretrial system operates. Their work has also contributed to broader conversations around pretrial justice and the need for better data transparency in Minnesota.

🤝 BIGGER IMPACT THROUGH EDUCATION + MINNESOTA FREEDOM FUND

We are excited to share that the Minnesota Freedom Fund Court Watch team is working with us at Bigger Impact Through Education to help bring this opportunity into our community.

We are looking for people who are interested in learning how to become Court Watch volunteers.

You do not have to be an attorney.

You do not have to be an expert in the legal system.

You simply need to be willing to learn, observe objectively, follow the training, and understand the importance of showing up and paying attention.

📅 OUR FIRST COURT WATCH OPPORTUNITY

August 31st

We will be at the courthouse observing first appearances and learning firsthand how Court Watch works.

This isn't about disrupting court.
It isn't about taking sides.
It isn't about judging individual cases.

It's about being present. Paying attention. Gathering accurate information. And helping turn what happens inside the courtroom into data that can inform conversations about fairness, accountability, and meaningful system change.

Minnesota currently lacks a centralized statewide system for collecting and analyzing important pretrial information, which makes community-based observation and data collection particularly valuable.

If you've ever said, “Someone needs to pay attention to what's happening in our courts,” this may be your opportunity to do exactly that.

👇 COMMENT BELOW if you're interested in learning how to volunteer for Court Watch.

We'll connect with interested community members and provide information about training and getting involved.

Your presence matters.
Your observations matter.
Data matters.
And transparency matters.

⚖️ Bigger Impact Through Education
Education • Harm Reduction • Advocacy • Community Empowerment

08/15/2026

There was a time when Sean and I were simply trying to survive.

We were caught in active m**h addiction, and little by little, it took pieces of our lives that we never thought we would lose. We made choices we aren't proud of. We hurt each other. We hurt the people who loved us. Our family felt the consequences of a life that had become centered around addiction instead of the people who mattered most.

From the outside, it may have been easy to look at us and see two people who had lost their way.

And honestly, we had.

But what people couldn't always see was that underneath the addiction were two human beings who still had hope buried somewhere inside them.

We hit our rock bottom.

But we didn't stay there.

Recovery didn't magically erase our past. It didn't undo the damage or make every day easy. Instead, recovery forced us to face the things we had spent so long running from.

We had to learn accountability.

We had to learn that loving someone doesn't mean saving them from the consequences of their choices.

We had to learn that our experiences could either continue to destroy us—or become som**hing we could use to help someone else.

And somewhere along the way, our story began to change.

Today, Sean and I are Peer Recovery Specialists and the owners of Bigger Impact Through Education.

The same experiences that once brought us shame have become part of the reason we are able to sit with someone who is struggling and say:

“I understand. I've been there. And you are not beyond saving.”

We carry the lessons from our darkest days with us—not because we are proud of addiction, but because we know what it feels like to believe there is no way out.

We know what it feels like to lose yourself.

We know what it feels like to disappoint the people you love.

We know what it feels like to start over.

And we know that recovery is possible.

Our goal isn't to pretend that we have a perfect story. We don't.

Our story is messy. It's painful. It's complicated. But it's real.

And that's exactly why we believe it can make a difference.

Bigger Impact Through Education was born from the belief that our past doesn't have to be wasted.

We can take what almost destroyed us and turn it into education.

We can take our mistakes and turn them into prevention.

We can take our experiences and turn them into connection.

We can take our survival and turn it into hope for somebody who hasn't found their way out yet.

Sean and I aren't the people we used to be.

We're still growing. We're still learning. We're still doing the work.

But today, instead of asking, “How did our lives get this bad?”

we can look at where we've been and say:

“If we made it through that, maybe we can help someone else make it through theirs.”

This is our story.

Not a story about being perfect.

A story about falling, getting back up, taking accountability, finding purpose, and refusing to let our worst chapters become our ending.

We hit rock bottom.

But we didn't stay there.

Now we're using everything we've lived through to create a Bigger Impact Through Education.

Because recovery isn't just about changing your life.

Sometimes, it's about using that changed life to help change someone else's. ❤️

08/15/2026

65 days clean.
That’s 65 days of fighting for my life, my peace, and my purpose.

Recovery isn’t a straight line. Sometimes we relapse. Sometimes we fall. I pray I never do again — but even if I did, it wouldn’t erase the lessons I’ve learned or the strength I’ve built. It wouldn’t take away the way I can help others by sharing my story.

M**h took pieces of me I thought I’d never get back. It stole time, trust, and parts of my soul. But recovery gave me som**hing deeper — clarity, compassion, and the courage to face myself.

I’m not perfect. I still cry. I still get scared. But I’m clean. I’m healing. I’m learning to love the woman I’m becoming.

This isn’t just about being sober — it’s about being alive again.
And I’ll keep telling my story, because someone out there needs to know it’s possible to start over.