By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – Food, conversation and camaraderie warmed the rooms of the Passenger Recovery Community Center Nov. 7 as the new Wyandotte location held an open house at 1004 Oak Street.
The peer-led, non-clinical center was founded and is based in Hamtramck and Detroit, and provides social, physical and human resources to improve quality of life, boost self-esteem and decrease psychological distress for people in substance use recovery, helping to reduce relapse rates and combat social isolation.
Recovery Coach Sunshine Romanowski said when people are recovering from substance use, they often lose their connections and community that they once had.
“When we give that up, when we abstain from that, we often lose some type of connection or community that we once had,” she said. “So, Passenger Recovery becomes a safe, sober, ‘third space’ for folks that are in recovery from substance use disorder.”
Romanowski said one gets to meet friends that understand, that are sober and that are not going to try to tempt them or try to convince them that relapsing ‘isn’t a big deal.’
She said they have groups for people from a lot of different backgrounds, including an atheist/agnostic meeting; an LGBTQ+ meeting; a witches recovery circle; a Dharma recovery, which is a non-theistic, Buddhist-inspired model based on personal responsibility; a SMART recovery group, which is science-based, secular mutual support program using dialectical behavioral therapy as an approach to recovery; and creative alchemy, which is using art and the process of art as a way to support people in recovery.
Romanowski said they were blessed and humbled to have so much support from the Downriver community in their first month at the new location.
She said the recovery center is planning to be open through the holidays, which can be a tough time for people.
“The relapse rate climbs over the holidays,” Romanowski said. “It is pretty significant, so we are here Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and we have programing to support folks both socially as well as their recovery during that time.”
Founder Chris Tait said Passenger started in 2016 as a support system for touring musicians and over the last 10 years they have expanded from helping people who were on tour and needed support to eventually helping the general population of people who live in Hamtramck.
He said when the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services got on board with them, they were allowed to open the center.
“Over the course of the last few years, through our mission of using music and the arts to try and inspire people who are struggling with substance use disorder, we’ve developed relationships with organizations Downriver as well, and it seemed like there was a need for that community component,” Tait said. “So, our goal is to expand on the work that we have already done in Hamtramck and hopefully connect the two as well.”
He said they are currently working on getting transportation between the two locations so Downriver people can take part in the radio station, art gallery and some of their skill-set building through audio/video engineering classes in Hamtramck.
Tait said that recovery programs are not “one size fits all.”
“I think if there was a winning answer, like a winning lottery ticket answer, we’d all be doing it,” he said. “And so, if we can provide as many options for as many different people in order to present the information to them and then empower them to make the decisions on what’s going to work for them, so much the better.”
Photos by Sue Suchyta. Guests enjoy the Passenger Recovery Community Center open house Nov. 7 at 1004 Oak Street in Wyandotte.
Tait said they have peer recovery coaches that are state-certified people who help people get connected with treatment, food assistance and sober living.
“To be able to see the way that it has changed over the years, from helping musicians to using music and the arts to benefit the general community and then giving it a little bit of a push in that direction and getting out of the way and watching what the amazing people in our community have done with it is really just incredible,” he said.
The Wyandotte center is open Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 8 p.m., and from 1 to 8 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call 313-288-0062 or go to passengerrecovery.com.