Part 5: Finding a support group and how to get there

The role of meetings and transportation in the recovery community

Meetings are not all one in the same, and the meetings a person goes to can ultimately come to define one’s recovery experience.

“There are AA meetings, NA meetings, (Overeaters Anonymous) meetings, (Marijuana Anonymous) meetings, all different types of 12-step meetings,” Byberg explained. “But there are also LGBT meetings, young people’s meetings, health professionals meetings. There are huge meetings that happen in an auditorium with 200 people. There are tiny meetings that happen just in someone’s living room. So we feel super confident, honestly, that when we’re encouraging clients to find a place in the recovering community, that’s kind of your tribe, that they’ll be able to do that because we have such a richness in the recovering community here.”

Meetings can be found all over the city, often in churches and community centers. But in order to attend those meetings, figuring out how to get there cannot be overlooked.

Transportation is a major factor in creating a successful Healing Forest. Ann Arbor is a walkable and bikeable city. It also has an efficient bus system to assist people in recovery, who may no longer be able to drive due to health or legal reasons or simply don’t have a vehicle, access meetings, grocery stores, and other services they may need.

Ann Arbor is a walkable and bikeable city, and it also has an efficient bus system to assist people in recovery.

Creating more public transportation is often viewed through the lens of trying to become a more efficient, environmentally friendly city. However, understanding the impact it has on people in recovery sheds light on its implications as social justice and public health issues.

To read Part 6 on employment, click here.