News Photo by Julie Riddle Kathy Freel, clinical supervisor at the Sunrise Centre in Alpena, displays a naloxone kit, which can be used to save the life of someone endangered by an opioid overdose.

ALPENA — Going into the center, they knew they were fighting a battle against themselves.

When they come out, their fight won’t be over — and, in a world changed by a virus, it may be a tougher battle than ever.

People check into the Sunrise Centre — a pleasant building attached to the old Alpena Community College East Campus building on the north side of Alpena — to make their lives better.

From all walks of life, they come to the center to get help ending their drug or alcohol addiction.

Some come for a 3 to 5 day detox. Others stay three months or more, working intensively on learning skills and sharing struggles to help them stay addiction-free when they leave the center’s walls.

For those completing their course and getting ready to leave, the world they left will not be the world to which they return — and, they’re scared, said Kathy Freel, clinical supervisor at the center.

The coronavirus has been radically changing the lives of Michiganders since mid-March, when businesses were closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and face-to-face communication became potentially dangerous, replaced by digital conversations and masks and staying at home.

As of Sunday, 113 cases of COVID-19, the sickness caused by the coronavirus, have been detected among Northeast Michigan residents, with another 12 area residents presumed to have the sickness despite not being tested.

Ten people from the area who were infected with the sickness have died.

When they emerge from the Sunrise Centre, after weeks and perhaps months of meetings and appointments and therapy sessions, people trying to avoid going back to a life of addiction have to do exactly the worst thing for a recovering addict, Freel said.

They have to be alone.

When they walk out of the center, clients are usually encouraged to stay connected. Don’t isolate yourselves, they’re told. Go to meetings. Reach out. Find your recovery community.

“And now, it’s no, go home,” Freel said. “Stay home. Wear your mask.”

The center is doing its best to connect clients who have left with sources of help, Freel said, and is providing telemedicine services and connecting with them digitally or by phone. Posts on the center’s Facebook page offer encouragement and links to resources and online meetings.

Still, it’s a scary world for those inside, waiting to go home.

Sometimes clients are given one-hour passes to go outside for a serenity walk along the nearby river.

Sometimes they’re back in five minutes, Freel said.

Being outside doesn’t feel safe.

“We do worry about them,” Freel said, concerned about her charges no matter how hard she tries to prepare them for the changes in the world outside. “It’s a really hard place for them to be right now.”

Inside, the center is taking the same precautions as the rest of the world. Masks, hand sanitizer, six-foot distancing, and temperature checks are the norm.

Usually, the facility can house 34 residential and six detox clients, separated into men’s and women’s units that feature two-person bedrooms, now limited to one person per room to provide precautionary separation.

Nobody from the outside is allowed to come in — nobody except new clients.

The new faces walking in the door — some there by court order, some making the choice on their own that they want their lives to be different — could look like anyone.

“Addiction does not care who you are, what you do,” the director said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a judge or a service worker. It can hit anyone.”

The center’s clients are strong, resilient, and some of the most amazing people you will ever meet, Freel said. But, she tells them, addiction is doing pushups in the parking lot.

Now, mid-pandemic, addiction isn’t the only thing waiting for them when they leave. A virus and the world it has created is making the fight to stay sober that much harder.

Pockets of support are available all over the Alpena area, with many passionate advocates and addicts-in-recovery championing sobriety-focused causes, such as long-term recovery housing. In-person recovery meetings for fewer than 10 people are permitted by the governor’s most recent order, and innovative resources such as a 24-hour worldwide videoconferenced recovery meeting are a click away.

At the Sunrise Centre, the phones work 24 hours a day, Freel said. The people who need help can always call, always hear a voice.

Not everyone who leaves the center will stay sober, Freel knows. Statistically, only 15% of addicts find full recovery.

Then again, she said, she doesn’t believe in statistics.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.