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"Bridging the Gap"
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BRIDGING THE GAP

The Western Mass Area 31
Institutions Committee

Between Treatment and A.A.
Through Temporary
Contact Programs

E-Mail: bridgethegap31@yahoo.com

The monthly Institutions Committee meeting of Area 31 is held on the 1st Wednesday of the month at 7pm at the

Providence Hospital in Holyoke.
For more information on Bridging the Gap Program
call 1-888-240-6991

or E-Mail: bridgethegap31@yahoo.com

To see if you meet the requirements for the program
CLICK HERE
to download a printable requirement form.

If you have any questions please call or write us through the contact information above and we will get back to ASAP.

Following through with the released inmate:

The follow-through — released A.A. inmates

When correctional facility-group members are released, they almost always intend to continue with A.A. in whatever town or city they go to. Sometimes, however, in the anxiety, excitement, or novelty of new freedom they put off looking up the local A.A. group—and just never get around to it.

Here the group’s sponsor can make membership in a correctional facility pay off—by getting the member’s permission, in advance of release, and arranging for A.A. people to welcome the newcomer home and into the local A.A. group.

By writing to G.S.O., the sponsor of the correctional facility group may find out how to get in touch with a local institutions committee or A.A. contact, and thereby smooth the inside member’s transition to the outside A.A. world.

This final step may be the most important one of all, because experience shows that the first few hours of an inmate’s release can be the critical ones. When a released man or woman goes directly to his or her hometown A.A. group, there is far less chance of a relapse—and a return to prison or jail.

What if I needed an A.A. meeting and there was none?

There are over 62,000 A.A.’s in confinement and 2,410 prison groups throughout the United States and Canada. These meetings answer only fraction of the need for more groups in correctional facilities all across the country. Many there reach for, but don’t find, the hand of A.A.

You can help. Here are some ideas to share at a correctional facility.

• Volunteer to be a temporary contact upon their release and take them to their first outside A.A. meeting.
• Provide the correctional facilities, with their permission, with cassettes’ of A.A. material.
• Donate the Big Book and the Twelve and Twelve to your local correctional facility, as well as back issues of the Grapevine and A.A. Conference-approved literature.

• Correspond with an inmate through the Correction Correspondence Service.

• Support your district, area or intergroup/central office correctional facilities committees.

• Participate in correctional facilities workshops.

In carrying the message inside a correctional facility, we are sharing our experience, strength and hope with another alcoholic. We let our stories speak for themselves. Our audience is more interested in learning how to stay sober than in hearing how we got drunk, so we talk about our program of recovery with the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Obey the rules of the facility you are visiting. Dress neatly and in keeping with the requirements of the facility. A.A. is a program of attraction.

• The only thing we take in is our message.

• Take nothing out – no letters, messages or notes.

• Don’t promise anything but sobriety.

• By giving this program away we get to keep it.

Part of Bridging the Gap between a treatment program and A.A. is the Temporary Contact Program, which is designed to help the alcoholic in an alcoholic treatment program make that transition.

As you know, one of the more “slippery” places in the journey to sobriety is the door of the facility and the nearest A.A. group or meeting. Some of us can tell you that, even though we heard of A.A. in treatment, we were too fearful to go.

A.A. experience suggests that attending meetings regularly is critical. In order to bridge the gap, A.A. members have volunteered to be temporary contacts and introduce newcomers toAlcoholics Anonymous.

The video “Hope: Alcoholics Anonymous,” shown to patients in treatment, emphasizes the importance of having a temporary contact as the essential link between treatment and recovery.

It is suggested that the temporary contact take the newcomer to a variety of A.A. meetings; introduce him or her to other A.A.s; insure that he or she has the phone numbers of several A.A. members, and share the experience of sponsorship and a home group.

• Keep in mind that this is basic Twelfth Step work.

• Experience suggests that it is best to be accompanied by another A.A. member when meeting our newcomer. One of the two temporary contacts should have at least a year of sobriety.

• Experience also suggests that men work with men and women work with women.

• The intent is to provide the newcomer with your help for a limited time. You need not have experience with treatment facilities. Your qualifications are experience as an alcoholic and recovery in A.A.

• It may be helpful for you as a temporary contact to attend workshops on bridging the gap and attend meetings of your area’s hospital and/or treatment facilities committees.

• Remember, the goal of both A.A. and the treatment facility is the same—the recovery of the alcoholic.

• Be familiar with the paper “Information on Alcoholics Anonymous,” particularly the section on what A.A. does and does not do.

• In all contacts or activities with treatment facilities it is extremely important to be punctual and to look your best.

• Make contact with the newcomer while he or she is still in treatment. To avoid any misunderstandings, explain clearly that this is a temporary arrangement.

• Review the many different meeting formats—cover the difference between open and closed A.A. meetings and accompany the newcomer to a variety of meetings. Give the newcomer an A.A. meeting schedule.

• Introduce the newcomer to A.A. Conference-approved books (particularly the Big Book), pamphlets and the A.A. Grapevine.

• Explain group membership and the value of having a home group.
  
  Explain sponsorship to the newcomer, referring to the pamphlet “Questions and Answers on Sponsorship,” and perhaps help the newcomer find a sponsor.

Points To Remember

A.A. does not provide housing, food, clothing, jobs, money or other welfare or social services.
The professional treatment facility is in charge of its patients or clients and is responsible for them. While we cannot compromise our A.A. Traditions, we should remember that we are there as guests of the facility, and must abide by their rules. We are there to carry the A.A. message to the newcomer, and to answer any questions regarding the A.A. program of recovery and the A.A. way of life. Statements that may be interpreted as medical or psychological diagnosis or advice on medication should be avoided. We are there only to share our experience of staying away from one drink, one day at a time, through the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.

In many cases, months of hard work have gone into establishing a relationship which enables us to be invited into a facility. A careless action could destroy that trust and interfere with carrying the message. If problems arise, inform the local service committee. They may wish to present an A.A. informational meeting.

No one speaks for A.A. as a whole. When we carry the A.A. message to those in treatment, we are just one drunk talking with another. How we look, act and talk may be all they are going to know about Alcoholics Anonymous. Since we may be seen as part of A.A., let our new friends see, hear and talk to a winner!