For years, the front door to gambling support has looked much the same: a helpline, a counselor or a support group.
While those resources remain invaluable, they’re no longer the only way people seek help.
Today, many people facing challenges first reach for their phone to search for answers, connect with others or learn on their own. That’s the thinking behind Evive, a free digital platform now available to Minnesotans through the Minnesota Alliance on Problem Gambling (MNAPG).
Created by entrepreneur and person in recovery Sam DeMello, Evive combines education, self-guided tools, peer support and connections to local resources in one place. Rather than replacing traditional treatment, it’s designed to help more people find it.
“It’s not so much an app as it is digital infrastructure for the public health system,” says Sam.
What You’ll Find in Evive
• Daily check-ins
• Mood and urge tracking
• Recovery journal
• Educational lessons
• Guided coping exercises
• Peer support community
• Virtual support meetings
• Minnesota-specific resources
• Connections to counselors and treatment
• Goal options: stop gambling or manage gambling
Evive Foundation
The Evive Foundation provides help for gambling problems to anyone who needs it, regardless of income, location or insurance status. The foundation operates as a fiscal sponsorship program under a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity, helping make support more accessible to people affected by gambling.
Built from Lived Experience
Sam didn’t set out to build a gambling recovery platform. He spent more than a decade building technology companies before entering the digital health field, where he saw how software was being used to help people manage behavioral health conditions. At the same time, he was quietly fighting a gambling addiction that had begun in childhood.
His gambling started with poker at age 12 and escalated dramatically with online sports betting. Despite earning a good living and paying his bills, he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years.
“I looked very successful,” he says. “The addiction wasn’t just hidden from other people. It was hidden from me.”
Because he wasn’t bankrupt and didn’t fit the stereotype often associated with gambling disorder, he never believed treatment was meant for someone like him. When he finally sought help, he found caring professionals, but many resources simply didn’t reflect his experience.
“I was gambling on my cellphone with cryptocurrency,” he recalls. “They were talking about the horse track in 1978.”
Eventually, with support from his wife and a better understanding of the neuroscience behind addiction, he entered recovery. As his life improved, he assumed that chapter was behind him.
Then, after unexpectedly losing his job in 2023, he began searching for tools that could strengthen his recovery. He hoped to find a comprehensive digital resource, but instead found a gap. “There was nowhere that you could go to find all of the resources in one place,” he says.
Meeting People Where They Are
One of Evive’s defining characteristics is that it doesn’t require users to identify as having a gambling problem. When someone opens the platform, they’re simply asked what they’d like to accomplish: stop gambling or manage gambling.
“The reason it’s called Evive and not ‘Quit Gambling Today’ is because it’s for everybody,” says Sam.
Rather than labeling people, Evive focuses on helping them understand their own behavior and supporting whatever positive changes they’re ready to make.
“I don’t need to tell people to stop gambling,” says Sam. “I just need to hold up a mirror.”
Support Whenever It’s Needed
Evive brings together resources that are often scattered across multiple organizations, including daily check-ins, tracking tools, educational lessons, coping exercises, virtual peer meetings and direct connections to local treatment resources.
For Minnesotans, the experience is customized with links to MNAPG resources and services available throughout the state.
Community First
Although Evive includes sophisticated technology, its greatest strength isn’t the software.
“The community is probably the most valuable experience,” says Sam. Members encourage one another, share setbacks and successes, attend recovery meetings together and remind each other they’re not alone.
The community aspect helps address the shame and stigma that keep many from reaching out for help.
A Partner for Minnesota
MNAPG partnered with Evive because it complements — not replaces — the state’s existing prevention, treatment and recovery efforts.
For someone who’s ready to call the helpline or meet with a counselor, those resources remain available. For someone who’s not quite ready, Evive offers another path into the support system.
Sam believes that’s essential as gambling continues to evolve. “If we’re going to address this problem in the United States we have to break the stigma,” he says.
For him, every person who discovers they aren’t alone represents progress. “The reason I talk about it out loud now is that every time I do, I get emails from people saying, ‘I didn’t think anyone else was like me.’”
That’s ultimately what Evive hopes to offer Minnesotans—a welcoming first step toward support, recovery and hope, wherever they are on their journey.