by Stavi Tennebaum

THE DAWN FARM 6th Annual Ride for Recovery took place Sun., Apr. 26, along Stony Creek Road, at the organization’s headquarters in Ypsilanti. Over 350 participants paid a $35 registration fee to walk, bike and run in a series of family-friendly fitness events, including 40 mile, 10k and 5k bike rides.

For 42 years, Dawn Farm has offered drug and alcohol recovery programs for addicts and alcoholics in the Washtenaw county area, and this annual spring fundraiser generates the bulk of the non-profit’s scholarship funds to provide treatment to individuals who would otherwise not be able to afford it. Development director Megan Rodgers says that the Ride for Recovery not only helps fund Dawn Farm’s detox, outreach, outpatient and residential treatment programs, as well as its safe and sober transitional housing program, but that it helps in reducing the stigma surrounding addiction.

“A lot of the individuals who came out to this event today have no actual connection to our organization. But they came out to support us and our non-profit. It’s an opportunity for them to get to know our organization, and to get to know that addicts and alcoholics are not scary, horrible people—they’re people like you and I. They’re our neighbors, they’re our friends, they’re our brothers and sisters, they’re our teachers, they’re our doctors. Addiction is a terrible disease that can affect anyone from anywhere. So the idea to have this event is not only to reduce the stigma, to let people know that we’re here, and we’re to help, but also to raise the money that’s important and vital for our organization to continue to keep our doors open,” said Megan Rodgers

This year’s event was estimated to have raised approximately $18,000 in combined registration fees, outside team fundraising and donations. Every year more and more cycling groups are drawn to the Ride for Recovery—word about the event is spread through ads in magazines, newspapers and with notices posted to bulletin boards around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.

Open to people of all fitness levels, ages and level of recovery-community involvement, current clients, program alumni and their family members come together to give back to an organization that has helped improve the lives of countless Washtenaw country residents, and continues to do so every day.

The Ride for Recovery event was founded by a team of nurse anesthetists led by Christine Shrewsbury.

Shrewsbury said: “We have a CRNA bike team, and we raise money for charitable events for people in need. We’ve ridden for MS, cancer and diabetes, but we’ve made this our signature event, as this is one that we started. We do this every year, the last Sunday every April for the past six years. The very first year we only had 50 participants, and last year we had over 300. The money goes directly to Dawn Farm and their various housing and recovery programs—last year we made just over $16,000. It gets bigger and bigger each year. My personal connection to starting this program is that I lost a brother to substance abuse at age 59, and also have a son who’s struggled with it for the last 10 years.”

Participant Karren Hubbard said: “We belong to a group of the Michigan Association of Nurse Anesthetists, and we do two volunteer charity events every year. This is our first one of the season, and we love it. Prior to today, we had already raised $13,000, and we get a lot of on-site registrations each year.”

Rest stops along the ride’s bike routes where water and snacks were made available were staffed by volunteers from all ages and walks of life.

Volunteer Alice Roelofs said, “I’m here to support people in recovery, and to work to raise funds for Dawn Farm, so we can continue helping people with issues of alcohol and drug abuse. I just started as a volunteer this year, but I’ve always been for helping people be the best they can be and my whole life has been dedicated to working with others. I have people in my family who are in recovery, and who had to go to through a struggle to get into recovery, so anything I can do to help guide them into a place where they can function and have a good, happy life in society, is what I want.”

Another volunteer, Marian Eberlien, offered up a personal perspective.

“I’m here, second time volunteering at this event, because my mom went through a similar rehab program a couple years ago, and is coming up on two years sober. I just finished junior year at U-M, so I wanted to be here to help out and give back as much as I can.”

Teri asked that only her first name be used to protect the privacy of her family: “My son was getting help from Dawn Farm a couple of years ago, and I am so grateful that Dawn Farm is here in our community. They were such a help to him, and I want to give back and volunteer my time to help anybody else who might be in need of their services.”

“We’re here because we’re affiliated with Dawn Farm, as residents in their transitional housing program. We’ve been in the program for five months and seven months, respectively. The transitional housing program is all about camaraderie, accountability, and striving to stay sober together. We came out to volunteer at this because we’re a part of Dawn Farm and the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti recovery community.” -Rob Webster and Chad Powell

The Dawn Farm farm itself houses over 36 men and women for long term residential treatment, and many other smaller residential offices, treatment centers and facilities are located around and just outside of Ann Arbor. To learn more about the addiction treatment and recovery support services that Dawn Farm offers, visit dawnfarm.org