Courtesy Photo Carlos Vivero, left, and Shannon Vivero, right, present a check for $4,030 to Dr. Jason Beatty and son Gage Beatty of Freedom Recovery Center in Alpena. The funds were raised at the Battle of the Bands event held March 2 at the APlex, a sober event organized by Vivero Industries, in partnership with Freedom Recovery Center.

ALPENA — In the first of what is planned to be an annual event, the Rock Recovery Battle of the Bands raised $4,030 for Freedom Recovery Center in Alpena.

Carlos and Shannon Vivero of Vivero Industries organized the sober event held March 2 at the APlex. They presented Dr. Jason Beatty and his son Gage Beatty with the check on Thursday. Freedom Recovery Center partnered with the Viveros to bring the event to the community.

The band Driving Dawn, from Gaylord, won the Battle of the Bands, and donated their winnings back to Freedom Recovery Center.

“It was a huge success,” Shannon Vivero said of the inaugural event. “Really an amazing turnout ­– over 350 people. We are so grateful to have made such an impact in our recovery community.”

Dr. Jason Beatty, owner and founder of Freedom Recovery Center, was thrilled with the amount raised, which will help people in recovery in a variety of ways.

“The biggest reason we wanted to do this is we wanted to have a sober event that people could come to in Alpena to bring together the recovering community,” Beatty said. “Rock and roll is a perfect way to do that, so we figured we’d get some turnout, and we are planning on doing this annually, because we really just want to bring about awareness.”

He explained how the funds will be used.

“One of the things that I would like to do, moving forward, is to use some of that money, of course, for Freedom to continue to offer the services that we offer and the support that we offer for patients, but we would also like to find a struggling nonprofit that deals with substance use disorder, and try to help them stay afloat by donating some of the proceeds, starting next year.”

Beatty explained some of the services that Freedom Recovery Center provides.

“We offer medication-assisted treatment for both alcohol and opioid addiction,” Beatty said. “Come mid-year or later in the year, we will likely be treating stimulant use disorder, as well. But more so than that, what we focus on is education.”

Beatty started Freedom Recovery Center in 2013.

“I’ve spent the last 11 years in this region and in the U.P. trying to change the minds of local law enforcement, the criminal justice system, as well as the medical systems, to try to teach people that this was absolutely not a choice,” he said. “These folks are suffering from a legitimate disorder that causes death in quite a high number of them.”

Beatty grew up around substance use and addiction, and has lived through it himself.

“Being one of them, myself, I didn’t particularly care for the way we were treated in society, by professionals,” Beatty said. “So, I started my career by educating the best I could, whenever I could. This money allows us to continue to do that.”

He said if anyone is looking for resources, Freedom Recovery Center can steer them in the right direction.

“If anybody’s looking to get into some kind of a rehab or an in-patient facility, we will help facilitate that, even if they’re not a patient of ours,” Beatty said. “They can always call us. We have tons of resources.”

He said a recovery coach is available to work one-on-one with people to help them find housing, employment, and other resources in the community “that may help them better their lives and continue on in a better state.”

Beatty cares enough that he even gives out his personal cell number to anyone who walks through the door.

“They have an immediate contact if they are down and out, by themselves in the middle of the night, believe it or not, I answer the phone,” Beatty said. “All hours. I am Freedom’s emergency line.”

He talked a bit about his own journey, and what he’s been through to get to where he is today.

“I was born to two addicts myself,” Beatty said. “Alcoholics/addicts, in New Brunswick, Canada.”

He dropped out of school at age 17, and “hopped on a train to East Lansing, Michigan, which was the only other place in the world I’d ever seen, at 17 years old.”

He eventually got a GED and attended Lansing Community College, then transferred to Michigan State University for his undergraduate and medical degree.

He struggled with substance use disorder for many years, so he understands.

“The goal is to make them self-sufficient, productive members of society, and back to the wonderful people that they were before they started using,” he said.

For more information, visit freedomrecoverycenter.net.