LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in 2024, 58% of people 12 years old or older used an addictive substance in the past month.
According to that same survey, among the more than 130 million Americans who drink alcohol, nearly 60 million were binge drinkers.
Numbers from the American Hospital Association show that most people struggling with addiction don’t receive treatment.
Hunter Taylor, the executive director of Lifeboat Addiction Recovery Services, said having someone alongside you is extremely important for those battling substance use disorder.
“Yeah, so a big part of what we do as recovery coaches is instill hope and optimism in people. And how we do that is, we say, you can do this because look at how many people have done this before you,” Taylor said.
Taylor started his addiction recovery journey in Iowa, where peer coaches were not widely established. But when he came to Michigan, he was able to talk with someone consistently.
“And when I had a thought, or I had questions about what direction I should head in, I could talk to him, and he had some understanding because he had similarities to me in the addiction recovery realm,” Taylor said.
Patrick Patterson leads Mid Michigan Recovery Services. He said they use peer recovery tactics throughout their process.
“We’ve got peer recovery coaches in every segment of what we do, outpatient from residential treatment all the way to outpatient and safe harbor,” Patterson said.
He said the lived experience the coaches offer helps guide the journey of recovery.
“The sense of welcome and ‘okay, and you get me’ which is really essential to human experience is what the peer brings,” Patterson said.
Taylor recently returned to Iowa, and he could see how recovery efforts have changed in the state.
“It’s cool to be able to see the services they can access now that I wasn’t able to access when I was there,” Taylor said.
Taylor said with the Super Bowl a few days away, he encourages people in recovery who worry about triggers or peer pressure to look into attending a sober watch party or celebration.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is accepting grant request letters from Organizations interested in developing Recovery Community Centers and Recovery Community Organizations. According to MDHHS, the “maximum grant funding available per applicant is $75,000. The grant period is Wednesday, April 1, 2026, through Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026.”
The deadline to submit questions regarding the grant is February 13th. The deadline to submit a letter of interest is Sunday, March 1.
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