BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Groups Recover Together officially opened in Battle Creek Wednesday afternoon, marking the event with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We’re pretty excited,” said Tammy Zylstra, a therapist at the center. “Just to get it out there and let people know that we’re here.”
Groups Recover Together is open to anyone who struggles with opiate use, she said, whether it be prescription-based or heroin addiction. Their approach to combat the problem is two-pronged, first treating their patients with the medication suboxone.
“It decreases the cravings for any kind of opiates [and] helps lower their blood pressure,” said Zylstra. “So far it works really good.”
Simultaneously, Zylstra sits with them and helps patients gain the coping skills needed to overcome the addiction. The fee for both is $65 a week.
“Folks that we’ve seen here so far have been really positive and really focused on changing their lives,” said Jamie Reckelhoff, clinical supervisor. “Those are the kinds of folks that we want to meet and talk to.”
Groups Recover Together has been treating 10 patients so far. Should they grow, Reckelhoff said, they’ll open more offices, which is a possibility considering the opioid epidemic has ravaged many communities in the area.
“Calhoun County is one of the higher ranked areas for opiate addiction and really prescriptions drugs is where we’re seeing that,” said Kara Beer, president of the Battle Creek Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s great that Groups Recover Together has now come here because they recognize that we are trying to address the problem.”
Beer was among the handful of people who attended the event and believe in their mission to curb the opioid problem. Painted on the side of their building in large bold black letters is the sign Believe in Battle Creek. The staff’s message to patients is similar: believe in yourself and anything is possible.
“Just keep on trying,” Zylstra said. “It’s not how many times you fall down. It’s how many times you keep trying.”
