News Photo by Julie Riddle Madison Frishett, owner of Shear Envy Salon in Alpena, displays a stress ball and other addiction recovery-related giveaways at her business on Thursday.

ALPENA — Through her downtown Alpena business window, Madison Frishett watches people who need help.

As she cuts and styles hair at Shear Envy Salon, she notices people passing by who look like they don’t have a home, or people who seem to struggle with poverty or addiction.

With a family member of her own who struggles with addiction, Frishett knows how hard it can be to try to help someone with a substance use disorder, especially when local resources seem few and far away.

That’s why she said yes when a customer asked her to wear a T-shirt and give away freebies at her store to promote September as National Recovery Month.

While people hired to run programs to combat addiction can make a dent in a community’s fight against drug and alcohol addiction, other people need to step up to make sure people who need support can find it, she said.

“Everybody needs to help,” Frishett said. “Or it’s not going to get better.”

Along with courts and social service agencies, a handful of business owners in Alpena agreed to sport blue “Recovery is for everyone” shirts and hand out flying discs, pens, stress balls, and other themed items as part of local participation in a nationwide recovery-focused campaign this month.

When Frishett learned about the effort, she jumped on board, even though she didn’t know much about Alpena’s recovery community or efforts, Frishett said.

The small stash of giveaways on her counter, and on other counters around the community, might help someone impacted by addiction feel noticed “and know there is help out there,” she said.

More and more help is out there all the time in Alpena, said Kara Steinke, regional administrator for Catholic Human Services.

That organization led efforts to promote the national recovery awareness campaign locally, including distributing 200 shirts to businesses and agencies.

When communities rally around recovery instead of shaming those with addictions, everyone benefits, Steinke said.

Catholic Human Services, law enforcement, and multiple other agencies have ramped up recovery-supportive programs in recent years, introducing programs like Hope Not Handcuffs — which lets people go to police for help with their addictions — and an overdose response team that connects people at risk of overdose or who have experienced overdose with resources to stay safe long-term.

Peer recovery coaches stationed throughout the community, including in the MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena emergency room, use their personal experience with addiction to offer been-there encouragement to other people trying to shake off addiction.

Medical workers have learned about the unique medical needs of a person in recovery and the best ways to discourage relapses.

Experts and professionals are vigorously fighting addiction, but they need the rest of the community to help, too, Steinke said.

When planners approached several local businesses asking them to promote September as Recovery Month, most eagerly said yes, she said.

Business owners listened as planners hand-delivered the shirts, taking the opportunity to talk about the importance of a recovery-friendly community.

Addiction impacts everyone, Steinke said, listing off wide-spreading repercussions, including stress on families, preventable deaths, poor parenting, kids struggling in school, and a crippling trickle-down effect on the medical system.

Recovery impacts everyone, too, and a community that wants to reverse the negative impact of addiction can take steps in that direction by offering whatever help it can — even if that means wearing T-shirts to work and handing out stress balls, she said.

“Recovery is for everyone,” Steinke said. “But we’re not going to move that dial without everyone helping.”