Lost and Found: Empower House recovery cafe in downtown Pine City to officially open in March

After a soft opening in October, the Empower House Lost and Found Recovery Cafe in downtown Pine City is expected to officially open in March.

Empower House is working with the nationwide Recovery Cafe Network on the project, joining Anoka and Saint Paul's Frogtown neighborhood as Minnesota locations with recovery cafes.

"We will be the third recovery cafe in the state of Minnesota, the only one in a rural town," said Cheryl Schmidt, founder of Empower House.

Empower signed a lease in 2025 for the space, located at the corner of Main Street and 3rd Avenue Southeast.

Schmidt said she's hopeful the nonprofit will "be established enough" to purchase the building from owner Mitch Pangerl in two years.

"He was gracious enough to lease us the space, and he is taking care of the construction in the back, which is amazing," Schmidt said.

David Anderson, a certified peer recovery specialist, said the back half of the building is still under construction, with a hard opening likely set for mid-to-late March.

"If the sign says open, we're open," Anderson said.

In the meantime, the front space of the facility remains open for visitors and programming.

"We do get foot traffic," Anderson said, "It's not a lot, but we get some people in here that are asking for resources and help."

The recovery cafe's name — the Lost & Found Recovery Cafe — comes from Anderson, who admits to having struggled to christen the space.

When a girl Anderson was seeing pitched the Lost & Found name, Anderson latched on immediately.

"I instantly loved it, and fought to the death for it," Anderson said.

"Yes, he did," Schmidt added with a laugh. "It's grown on us, though. We love it."

In September, certified peer recovery specialist Jack Frechette described the recovery cafe as a "safe, sober place" for people in recovery to gather, relax, and get resources.

"If a person has really specific needs, like they need to apply for a job or need help accessing benefits, myself or someone also in my role will be there to help that person get the logistical assistance that they need," Frechette said.

The cafe doubles as a comfortable place to spend time for people in recovery to spend their time.

Anderson described the space as similar to a community center, where the only requirement is sobriety when visiting.

"It's a safe place for people to come and hang out, and get off the streets," Anderson said. "To hang out with likeminded people who are struggling with substance abuse or mental health issues."

The recovery cafe is also a naloxone access point, and Schmidt said Narcan trainings will be conducted through the Steve Rummler HOPE Network.

Schmidt explained that the cafe will likely start with running on Tuesdays and Thursdays to begin with, instead of operating five days a week.

As part of the recovery cafe model, visitors can come in three times before having to sign up for a free membership, which includes an agreement to come to circle meetings every week.

"We want to start out slow, because we don't want to scare people away," Schmidt said.

Schmidt said Empower House wants people to be committed to their recovery and the recovery cafe as their space. A community needs survey is looking to help shape available resources and programming.

"We want the community to make this their space," Anderson said.

Schmidt said Empower House is grateful for grant funding through Operation Roundup, which helped purchase furniture for the recovery cafe, and from the Greater Pine Area Endowment, which helped fund computer desks and computers, among "many, many sponsors."

"We're so appreciative for those resources, because without them, we would be sitting here on fold-up chairs," Schmidt said. "So we're so thankful for those grants that we've been given, and every sponsor that we've had."

Schmidt also said that Empower House is always grateful for community donations and volunteers who have helped the nonprofit. Fundraising opportunities are available on the Empower website.

"We really encourage people if they're looking for a great non-profit to support, and they want to support their community," Schmidt said.

Empower House is also opening a women's sober living residence, which Schmidt said the nonprofit is "hoping and praying" will open by April 1 at the latest.

Schmidt said Empower has already had a conditional use permit for the project for a year, which has been a project with "a lot of hoops to jump through."

Both Schmidt and Anderson have roots in Pine County, and said they want to do what they can to make their community better.

"We just want to be here to help people, in whatever situations they're in," Schmidt said.