Guest column

September is National Recovery Month. It’s a good time to ask why the City of Poulsbo has invested so much, in recent years, in recovery services and programs.

In 2023, we created a Recovery Resource Center in a downtown business plaza. Staffed with city-employed peers and providers from multiple agencies, the “RRC” has become a resource hub for people struggling with substance use and mental health issues. In 2024, we partnered with Gambit Recovery to open the historic Nelson farmhouse in Nelson Park as a sober recovery residence. And this summer, we launched the North Kitsap Recovery Café, a welcoming, attractive space where members support each other’s recovery, share meals, and plug into volunteer and learning opportunities. It’s not typical for cities — let alone cities of our small size — to promote recovery in this way. What is going on here? Why is this so important?

In one sense, Poulsbo’s focus on recovery is about public health. Around 18 percent of Washingtonians age 12 and up have a disorder related to drugs or alcohol in any given year, and the vast majority, perhaps as high as 90%, do not receive treatment. That translates into roughly 9,000 people in North Kitsap damaging their health with substances, most not getting the help they need. The number of people with substance use disorders is far greater than the number struggling with heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, or asthma. We have a strong interest, as a city, in the well being of our residents and finding creative ways to fill gaps in the healthcare system. At the Recovery Resource Center, anyone can walk through the door Monday-Friday 10am to 4pm and be connected to care. We work with four local agencies to provide in-house services — substance use counseling, mental health case management, housing navigation, and vocational coaching — and employ peer specialists who bring perspective and connection. If we don’t provide a needed service ourselves, we make every effort to find it elsewhere, and help people navigate transportation barriers and application/qualification systems.

In another sense, our focus on recovery is about community health. Recovery is about connection. We opened the North Kitsap Recovery Café to create a place where people from different walks of life can, in the words of Recovery Café founder Killian Noe, “know the oneness of the human family.” Members from vastly different circumstances uplift each other and focus on what they share. There have been conflicts, to be sure, but the café has become a place where people from all walks of life feel welcome. Relationships are developing between members, and, just as importantly, are developing between members and the broader community. We are seeing positive re-connections between people who have been charged with crimes and the officers who once arrested them. Businesses are stepping up as “second chance” employers, hiring people who had been excluded from work, in the past, because of criminal records. Volunteers cook meals for neighbors who live in tents or cars and gain a new perspective. Nelson House residents mow the grass at Nelson Park and park visitors benefit from their efforts. Recovery has given our community new ways to come together and get beyond stereotypes and polarizing language. As Café Coordinator Summer explains, it helps us actually see each other. “Our spaces help de-stigmatize the shame associated with substance use and mental health and give us the opportunity to celebrate individuals’ recovery,” she says. “That is what national recovery month and the coalition are all about.”

Finally, Poulsbo’s investment in recovery is also a matter of public safety and fiscal responsibility. Addiction that goes untreated doesn’t just affect individuals — it shows up in 911 calls, emergency room usage, and our criminal justice system. These responses are costly, reactive, and rarely solve the underlying issues. By supporting easy to access treatment and building a recovery community, we reduce strain on first responders and the justice system. In the long run, recovery services save money while creating a safer, healthier city.

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September is recovery month. Looking for ways to participate? We’re always looking for kitchen help at the Recovery Café and teachers willing to share their knowledge (the Café’s School for Recovery offers free drop in classes to members four days a week). We’d love to see more businesses work with us on job and volunteer placement. Looking for support? We welcome visitors and new members at the Center and Café and encourage recovery in a multitude of ways. Looking to advocate? We work closely with the Salish Recovery Coalition here in Kitsap and are deeply grateful for their legislative and networking efforts. For Poulsbo, promoting recovery has never been about doing something unusual for its own sake. It is about doing the work that keeps people healthier, communities stronger, and city systems more sustainable. When individuals recover, our whole community recovers too.

Kim Hendrickson is the Housing, Health and Human Services Director for the City of Poulsbo. She can be reached at kimberlyh@cityofpoulsbo.com.