10 GROUNDCOVER NEWS RECOVERY JONATHAN GLASS Groundcover contributor What do you get when you combine a single mom of two young children, nearly no resources, and a recently-beaten addiction? If your heart is in the right place, and you’re willing to do the work, you get anything you set your mind to! Glynis Anderson beat insurmountable odds to have the effect of a tidal wave — wiping out substance use disorders, mental illnesses and destigmatizing those who society has marginalized. This month Anderson is retiring from her CEO role at Home of New Vision, a multi-million-dollar non-profit agency she founded that services Washtenaw and Jackson counties. This is her story. When you tell the story of a woman like Glynis Anderson, it’s not just her story you tell — you tell the stories of the million people she helped. While helping a million people may seem like hyperbole, it’s probably a bit modest. A little of Glynis lives in every life she’s touched, directly or indirectly. The old Gaelic blessing, “May the devil not know you’re dead until 100 years after you die,” can be modified to, “May the devil never know you retired!” Glynis Anderson opened the gates of hell for countless souls and facilitated their releasing themselves from it. In doing so, she gave them the resources to succeed. With professional help and through the recoveree’s own self-efficacy, thousands upon thousands have removed the shackles of addiction and moved to a life of freedom. If it’s true that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere (MLK Jr.), then anyone who lightens the burden of another lightens the burden of the whole world. In measurable ways, Glynis Anderson has changed the world. The clinical director at Home of New Vision, Wendy Klinski, attributes her own success to Anderson’s help. Anderson helped Klinski open Monroe’s Engagement Center in 2018, which over the years has helped thousands of people. Engagement Centers are short term treatment centers, usually day-by-day, that get people off the street to take a hot shower, wash their clothes, sleep in a warm bed, and seek more permanent treatment options. Anderson pioneered the engagement center model that’s been adopted across Michigan. All freestanding engagement centers in Michigan have Anderson’s fingerprint upon them. Klinski said, “If it wasn’t for the innovative work that Glynis Anderson has pioneered in Ann Arbor, I wouldn’t have been successful in my career in Monroe.” If Glynis hadn’t chosen to advocate for those in need, it becomes the premise for the classic film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” where an angel shows George Bailey what the world would have been like without him. What if Glynis Anderson had decided to make lots and lots of money without working for the welfare of society? Those who went on to have families of their own, in sobriety, are grateful Anderson chose a magnanimous path. Some alumni from Home of New Vision became business owners, nurses, florists, personal trainers, you name it. One notable alumni is an advocacy director at the state level and a former director of Constituent Affairs at the U.S. Senate. Lives have been changed and destinies forever altered because of the efforts of one woman and a dedicated team of likeminded professionals. Today, Home of New Vision is 85% - 90% staffed by those in long-term recovery. Anderson dedicated her life to proving that with enough TLC and patience, anybody can recover if they want it enough! Anderson knows well not to despise small beginnings. Home of New Vision began with one female client in 1996. The agency hadn’t officially opened, but Anderson lost no time in welcoming the woman. According to operations director DaMira Anderson, “Glynis did not want to lose this woman or that woman’s chance for recovery, so she invited her to stay on our couch until HNV could officially open.” Friend and business partner Robbie Renkes joined Anderson in 2001. According to Renkes, “That was when Home of New Vision’s growth began to snowball into an avalanche. However, it wasn’t for several years that we hit the turning point financially. Before that there were times we were really struggling. We would sit around the table and decide who would get paid that week. If someone’s mortgage or car payment was due, they would get paid and the rest of us would wait another week. To this day, there are two payrolls at Home of New Vision, on alternating Fridays. Still, there was a therapist who practically worked for free for a long time named Barbara Nordman. I think she eventually got all her pay, but Glynis "We took anyone with a willingness to be helped" — Robbie Renkes, on the early days of running Home of New Vision with Glynis Anderson JANUARY 24, 2025 Celebrating the career of recovery visionary Glynis Anderson named a conference room after her in the Ann Arbor office. That was the secret to our success, dedicated, hard-working people.” Anderson and her dedicated team built Home of New Vision by hand, brick by brick. Reminiscing about the early days, Renkes said, “Glynis and I used to go to garage sales to find things to furnish the transitional homes with because we didn’t have the money to go and buy things at the store. That wasn’t in the budget.” Renkes laughed as she recalled an email she wrote out of frustration. She and Anderson had asked a favor and were disappointed with the refusal. Renkes wrote, “I can’t believe they’re not willing to do this. My God! You and I have moved so much furniture on our own that we should have 'Two Women and a Truck' tattooed on our asses!” Anderson and her team of recovery pioneers bore a great deal on their shoulders. As they opened recovery house after recovery house, there were several residents who couldn’t pay and had nowhere else to go. Renkes remembers, “But we took anyone with a willingness to be helped.” If the business was in the red that month, Anderson somehow got HNV through the financial trouble. Putting people ahead of profits is Anderson’s calling card. There are many competing programs that do not adhere to a “people first” policy according to Renkes. There used to be, and still are, some treatment programs that are abusive. Anderson didn’t want to be like those agencies and took an entirely different approach, one of honoring and respecting the individual and giving as many chances as they needed within reason. Renkes said, “These places would - frequently abandon people in their recovery because of a relapse. Sometimes, these agencies would put people out in the middle of the night. But Glynis didn’t see the sense in discharging people for relapsing; rather, Glynis would increase their level of service. A big part of Glynis’s legacy is meeting people where they’re at, engagement over time and creating a safe haven. She will always be there for people.” Anderson’s professional accomplishments include a broad range of academic accolades, prestigious awards, and speaking engagements. Recognizing the need for safe, structured, and nurturing environments tailored to unique needs, she was inspired to create a program that would provide women and their families the tools to heal and succeed. Despite being in early recovery and a single parent, Anderson pursued higher education with relentless determination, earning an Associate degree in Criminal Justice, a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Administration, a Master’s Degree in Social Work, and a Certified Addictions Counselor (CACII) license, and that was the foundation for a lifetime of service. Anderson was inspired by the words of former first lady Betty Ford, “Until we expand treatment opportunities for women and tailor programs to their specific needs, we will make little progress in helping addicted women recover from drug and alcohol dependency.” Anderson’s impact extends beyond Home of New Vision. She is a parttime lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work and has been a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan’s Medical School. She is a board member for A Brighter Way, an advocacy group helping the formerly incarcerated reenter society and get work. Home of New Vision received the prestigious SAMHSA grant in 2008. The SAMHSA grant only goes to eight agencies in see GLYNIS next page
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