09/23/2026
💜 RECOVERY CHAMPION SPOTLIGHT: Megan Payne 💜
Megan Payne will be the first person to tell you that she wasn't exactly the easiest Drug Court participant in the beginning.
Her words, not ours. 🙃
The people around her kept showing up anyway.
Megan graduated from the Lewis/Upshur Adult Drug Treatment Court program, and when she talks about that part of her life, she doesn't pretend she had everything figured out from day one.
“I was not an easy or compliant participant in the beginning of that program. However, they believed in me until I learned how to believe in myself.”
The person standing in front of you isn't going to immediately look like the success story they may eventually become.
Sometimes they're angry, struggling, and making mistakes. We've all been there.
Megan had people who advocated for her and took chances on her during her own recovery journey. Now, she's doing the same thing for other people.
Megan is from Buckhannon and is the Director of One Unique Recovery House, which includes men's and women's sober living programs and the OUR House Outreach program. She's also a mom raising her son, who has autism, full-time.
And yes, this is the recovery that was impacted by the recent floods. We can't brag enough on how well she handled that situation and how much our community stepped up.
When we asked Megan about her “why,” her answer came back to advocacy.
For her, advocacy means standing beside someone until they're strong enough to advocate for themselves. It means refusing to accept stigma or discrimination because of someone's past mistakes, their recovery pathway, race, sexual identity, religion, or any other part of who they are.
And it means remembering that a person's past on a piece of paper does not tell you who that person is today.
That's a cold piece if we've ever heard one.💣
Megan is living proof of that, but she's also in a position now to witness it happen in other people.
She said if she can be even a small piece of making one person's recovery journey a little less stressful, then she's been successful.
The woman who once needed people to stand beside her is now running recovery programs and standing beside someone else.
The person who needed others to believe in her is now reminding other people that their past does not get the final say in who they become.
And if you're struggling right now, Megan's advice is:
“REACH OUT. The recovery community no matter who you are, where you are, or what time or day it is, is here for you!”
Megan also wanted to give some love back to the Lewis/Upshur county Adult Drug Treatment Court and the people who believed in her long enough for her to begin believing in herself. 💜
Megan, we're glad they took a chance on you.🥹
And we're really glad you've decided to spend your life taking chances on other people, too.
Help us celebrate our newest recovery champion! 👏
