10 GROUNDCOVER NEWS RECOVERY DAVID CRANE Groundcover contributor In Washtenaw County, compassion has become a public language. It appears in mission statements, grant proposals, awareness campaigns and policy discussions. We speak often about helping the vulnerable, reducing stigma and meeting people where they are. Yet for many of us living inside that reality, another truth exists: people are still slipping through the cracks while the systems built to help them continue to expand. I know because I am one of them. I am approaching three years in changed my habits, recovery. I changed my thinking, and rebuilt my life through discipline, accountability and persistence. Anyone who has walked that road knows recovery is not a slogan or a single decision. It is daily work, often done quietly and without recognition. That is why it can be difficult to watch progress become invisible. Too often, our public conversation celebrates stabilization while overlooking transformation. If someone reduces harmful behavior, that can absolutely be a meaningful step forward. Harm reduction can save lives, reduce immediate danger and create opportunities for change. But when survival becomes the highest goal, recovery risks becoming secondary. The message many of us hear is this: staying in the cycle is understandable, but asking to be recognized for leaving it is inconvenient. Accountability is treated with suspicion. Standards are dismissed as judgment. Long-term change becomes less compelling than short-term crisis management. That imbalance matters. When communities focus only on managing emergencies, they can unintentionally create systems that sustain suffering more effectively than they solve it. Programs multiply. New initiatives launch. Careers advance. Funding grows. Yet many of the people these efforts are meant to help remain trapped in poverty, instability, addiction and despair year after year. Meanwhile, those who have fought to rebuild their lives can feel unseen. This is not an argument against harm reduction. Preventing overdose matters. Preserving life matters. Treating people with dignity matters. But dignity should not end at survival. Real dignity means believing people are capable of growth, responsibility, healing and independence. It means investing not only in keeping people alive today, but helping them build a life tomorrow. It means valuing treatment, sober housing, employment pathways, mentorship and leadership from people with sustained recovery experience. Washtenaw County is filled with intelligent and compassionate people MAY 15, 2026 Invisible process: recovery in the harm reduction era who want to help. But good intentions alone are not enough if visible homelessness rises, addiction persists, poverty deepens and hopelessness spreads. Those outcomes should prompt honest reflection, not automatic self-congratulation. We need balance. Support harm reduction, yes. But support recovery with equal seriousness. Measure success not only by crises managed, but by lives rebuilt. Ask whether programs are producing progress or simply preserving the need for themselves. Most of all, stop overlooking the people who chose change. There are many of us in this county. We may not fit the preferred narrative of permanent struggle. We may not be the loudest voices in the room. But we exist, and our lives are proof that transformation is possible. A community that forgets how to recognize recovery may eventually forget how to create it. Between abstinence and acceptance LENA BUHL Trott-War street paper Courtesy of Trott-War, a street paper in Germany, INSP.ngo. Many of those affected by addiction never seek help. The mental barrier is hard to overcome, and the journey to the door of the clinic is a long one. But there are places where this door is wide open; places where people listen and encourage each other with honesty, where nobody has to lie anymore. One of them is in Stuttgart — at the Blue Cross. The first Blue Cross Society was founded in Geneva back in 1877. Eight years later, the movement arrived in Germany, where it celebrates its 140th anniversary this year. The founders took inspiration from the Red Cross and saw themselves as “stretcher-bearers venturing onto the battlefield of life to rescue the victims of alcoholism and the pub life.” That is why they chose the cross as their symbol. In the Anglo-Saxon world, the color blue has traditionally been associated with the temperance movement. The Blue Cross is now active in almost 50 countries worldwide. Back in the 19th century, members were still required to sign a pledge of abstinence from alcohol. Nowadays, however, the aim is not necessarily to achieve abstinence, but rather to bring about a positive change in a person’s substance use and psychosocial situation. The Blue Cross Centre in Stuttgart attempts to achieve this through addiction counseling, supported living services, self-help groups and activity groups. Generally speaking, we describe a condition as an addiction when the craving for a particular behaviour or substance is so intense that it significantly disrupts the person’s life. Addiction can manifest itself in various ways: through the use of substances such as alcohol, recreational drugs and medication, or through behaviours such as gambling, eating and media use. However, the point at which people turn to the Blue Cross varies greatly. Some come after just a few months; others take 30 years. “The sooner, the better,” emphasized Benjamin König, head of the Stuttgart office. Caregivers also receive support from the Blue Cross: in 2025, 15% of all those receiving counselling were relatives. Some people try to persuade their loved ones to seek counseling. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. König prefers not to speculate on the likelihood of a successful recovery from addiction: “Of course, the sooner you seek help, the easier it is,” he admitted. “They say the first year or two are the hardest. And you’re on your own at times. You have your self-help group and the addiction support center, but, unlike in clinics, there isn’t a therapist you can call whenever you need. Those who still have a functioning support network around them simply have it much easier.” As well as therapy, it is the self-help groups in particular that give people strength. Self-help groups are associations without professional leadership, consisting exclusively of people affected by addiction. Although each group organizes its meetings slightly differently, they are all centered around the sharing of personal experiences and current challenges — it’s about openly discussing what’s on your mind, asking questions, getting advice and learning from others. This helps people to gain new perspectives and develop a greater awareness of certain issues. At the same time, it helps people to keep their feet on the ground and avoid falling into the trap of complacency; it fosters awareness of the reality that addiction is a lifelong struggle, even after many years of sobriety. There is a palpable sense of trust - among the members of the Blue Cross group in Bad Cannstatt. Every Wednesday, they host a safe space where attendants can be heard, supported and encouraged, no matter where they are on their journey. “It’s as if I can finally recharge my batteries on Wednesdays, after they’ve been draining a little bit every day of the week,” said one of the members. “I’m not really the whistling type, but I’m practically whistling all the way home this evening after our meeting.” The Blue Cross Center is not a facility that provides physical warmth, whether through its premises or its meals. Instead, what it aims to do as an addiction support service is to offer human warmth. “Addiction is a highly stigmatized issue. Some people might be afraid that they’ll come in here and learn that they’re full of flaws, that they’re doing everything wrong, and that they’ll have to sit through a sanctimonious lecture before getting help,” said König. “So, hopefully, they’ll be pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome they receive. “We all have the odd bad day, of course. But it’s important to me that we convey a sense of calm. There are people who are very, very nervous and have sometimes taken years to come and seek help.” Even today, there is a lack of openness and acceptance in society when it comes to dealing with addiction. The term “inclusion” is commonly used in the field of support for disabled people — but it’s a concept that should extend far beyond physical or mental impairments. It relates in equal part to people see ACCEPTANCE next page
11 Publizr Home