CARE of Southeastern Michigan has a new home

ROSEVILLE — For nearly 50 years, CARE of Southeastern Michigan has been helping families deal with relationship issues, substance use addiction, anger management and more.

Now, CARE staff members have more space in which to provide services.

The organization recently moved from Fraser to its new location at 18441 Utica Road in Roseville. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to strengthen resiliency in people and their communities through various programs.

On the afternoon of June 23, a ribbon cutting — coordinated by the Eastside Community Chamber — was held with employees and local dignitaries. Guests also toured the new location and talked with employees. CARE President and CEO Susan Styf welcomed all to the event.

“This has been a wonderful project for CARE. We’ve been around for almost 50 years. To be able to move to Roseville on a bus line for the people that we serve, and to have a parking lot that is big enough, is just incredible,” Styf said. “Most importantly, to have a board of directors that really supported my crazy idea. A year ago I said, ‘This is what I want to do: I want to get this building.’ And they said, ‘OK, go ahead.’ Here we are a year later with what we think is a beautiful building and a wonderful community that has been supportive of us.”   

Referring to his background as a law enforcement officer, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel also addressed the crowd.

“We’ve come to the realization that in law enforcement we need a lot of support organizations out there to help people that are coming through our doors. Oftentimes, people think law enforcement is just there to arrest the bad guy and we put them in jail or lockup,” Hackel said. “That’s not our mindset today. It never really was back then, and we’ve come to realize there are organizations out there that really do care about people that want to partner with us and help us out. We know there are people out there who have challenges, and we care enough to try to figure out how to support them.”

Prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Hackel walked around the facility and spoke with several CARE staff members.

“Every one of those people I talked to are so passionate about what they do,” Hackel said. “You have such an incredibly talented staff.”

CARE of Southeastern Michigan provides services that cover parenting classes; alcohol, tobacco and drug prevention; suicide and depression; counseling; mental health; home-based case management; recovery coaching; employee assistance programs; and more. The organization also works with the local school districts.

The youth counseling and outpatient treatment, for instance, provides resources and interventions within the classroom to foster a responsive learning environment. CARE supports adolescents and their families as they manage mental health or substance use issues.

Another example of a CARE program is Recovery United Community Center, which offers free support groups and services to everyone in the community. It is also home to CARE’s peer recovery coaching program where individuals can continue their progress and receive support on their substance use recovery journeys.

Each CARE staff member works in a specified area. Jade Cruz, prevention program manager; Kayla Dadswell, director of prevention; and Elizabeth Cupolo, project coordinator of the Sterling Heights Drug Free Coalition, work together to prevent substance use disorder. The Sterling Heights Drug Free Coalition supports CARE and what the organization does; hence, the relationship.

“We work with elected officials and community partners to try to combat the marketing strategies aimed toward youth. Drugs are accessible in our community or normalized through our culture. The biggest component we see with kids is social media,” Cruz said. “We do evidence-based curriculum in the school system. These are honest conversations we have with youth. The new location brings a new face to the services we provide.”

Lauren Letzmann is the Project VOX coordinator.

“We do a lot of grassroots work with different sections of the community, law enforcement, elected officials, churches and schools,” Letzmann said. “We do expungement clinics to reduce the barriers to getting a job. We get them integrated more into the community and try to give the people in recovery a voice. We have Narcan kits free to the community to help reverse opioid overdoses. We provide resources for treatment.”

For more information on CARE of Southeastern Michigan, visit careofsem.com or call (586) 541-2273.