In 2003, Sandy Arnold stood behind the bars of Wayne County Jail - yet the truest prison he faced was not made of concrete or steel. It was the relentless bondage of a 20-year addiction to crack cocaine that had drained his purpose, devoured his peace, and left him drifting between jobs, jails, and broken promises. Probation had come and gone—twelve violations in total—and now, he stood in that cell, out of excuses, out of strength, and out of time.

As he waited for sentencing, hands cuffed but heart wide open, Sandy picked up the Holy Bible and found himself in the book of John, chapter 15. The words did not merely speak to him — they pierced him. “Abide in Me,” the scripture echoed, “for apart from Me you can do nothing.” That moment was no longer about a sentence— it was a surrender. Sandy realized he was not in control of his life. God was. And in that bullpen, he received the first of many divine assignments.

Before the judge, Sandy did not plead for release - he asked for help. “Your honor,” he said humbly, “I’m not asking to go home, because I’d probably continue on the same path. But if you give me the help I need…I believe I can make it.”

That moment of truth was met with mercy. The court sent him to a jail-based treatment program, then to Elmhurst Residential on Linwood, where Sandy began the hard, holy work of transformation. Through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, he rewired his thinking—and with every shift in thought, his life changed. He became responsible. He became consistent. He became a father, an employee, a man of faith with fire in his soul and purpose in his step.

The transformation wasn’t complete. 

Sandy became a certified peer specialist and peer recovery coach at the Detroit Recovery Project, mentoring others with the same compassion that once rescued him. He returned not to condemn, but to guide, reaching out to the MDOC probation department with open hands and a servant’s heart, offering recovery mentoring to those still wandering where he once was. He had received grace, and now he gave it away freely.

In 2021,  Sandy joined Sobriety House full-time, helping to create an outpatient recovery group that has grown to over 100 strong, each meeting a testament to the power of hope in motion. By 2022, he was instrumental in Sobriety House’s partnership with DMC Hospital and DWIHN, placing peer recovery coaches in the emergency department at Detroit Receiving Hospital. The result was a revolutionary pathway from hospital beds to healing centers, changing lives in real time.

Sandy’s impact was not just felt—it was honored. In 2024, he was awarded Certified Peer Recovery Mentor of the Year by MCBAP. He has spoken at opioid summits and DMC didactic lectures, and has earned a place not just in the recovery community but in the hearts of those he has helped

Today, he is waging a new battle in his community.  

He works with the You Have the Power to Save Lives campaign, which promotes and expands the use of overdose-reversing naloxne in Black communities in Detroit, MI; Albuquerque, NM; Philadelphia, PA; Louisville, KY; Durham, NC; Milwaukee, WI; and Newark, NJ.  Combatting overdose deaths in Black neighborhoods is the new challenge that communities must overcome. Here in Detroit and Michigan, Black overdose deaths have reached a crisis level. 

In 2023, the rate of overdose death was three times higher for Black Michigan residents than for the white population. Black residents accounted for almost half of all overdose deaths in the state, and in the five years through 2023, Black men aged 60 to 69 years experienced the highest overdose rate in the state. One in five Michigan residents lost to overdose lived in Detroit in 2023. In Wayne County, where Detroit is located, the Black population is dying from overdose at twice the rate of the white population.

Supported by Vital Strategies, a global public health organization, the You Have the Power to Save Lives campaign is making a significant impact. It includes more than a dozen community groups, health organizations, and local government agencies. Together, they are establishing new naloxone distribution points in Black communities, including firehouses, neighborhood gathering spaces, and local health providers, to reduce the stigma around carrying naloxone and empower individuals to save lives in the event of an overdose. The website, YouCanSaveLives.org, is a resource that directs visitors to locations in their neighborhoods where naloxone is available and provides information on the medication, its benefits, and its use.

The biggest challenge is that the community doesn’t know enough about naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan. It’s essential to have it inside and outside the home to be ready to save lives. Whenever anyone who has suffered an overdose leaves the treatment center, they take naloxone with them. Their mobile truck rides through the community, handing out Narcan.  What people need most is education: too many people don’t realize that you don’t have to be an addict to overdose. An elderly person takes too much of a prescribed medication, or someone can accidentally take a street drug laced with fentanyl.

Sandy is the first to say that what he has accomplished is not all his work. To him, it’s the Lord’s work. He also gives thanks to Angela Wilson, Nikita Cargin, Marshea Browner of the Detroit Health Department, and countless others whose belief in him helped nurture the seed God planted in that jail cell so many years ago.

Today, Sandy Arnold is no longer shackled by drugs - he is called. Not just free, but favored. His story is not about crack, crime, or consequence. It is about redemption. About what can happen when a man lays his life down and picks up purpose. He is living proof that no one is too far gone, and no life too broken, for a miracle.

(Michael K. Frisby, a former award-winning White House Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, is President of Frisby & Associates, and a media strategist for the You Have the Power to Save a Life campaign. Sandy Arnold was instrumental in reporting and writing this story. It first appeared in the Telegram Newspaper.)