Online Meetings – Innovative Solutions for Difficult Times
Online Meetings – Innovative Solutions for Difficult Times
Staying Connected; Alina Lodge is Here for You
April 2, 2020
You are our number one priority: our alumni. Alina Lodge and Haley House have started online AA meetings.
It isn’t the same as an in-person meeting, but it is the closest thing we can get to comfort and routine. No one understands what you are feeling better than another alcoholic/addict in these online meetings through Zoom. This is not a bunch of strangers, it’s me (Laurie) your dedicated Alumni Coordinator and Amanda from Haley House hosting. I am hoping most of you will recognize me and find familiarity in seeing me and hearing my voice. We can all get through this together. You are not alone.
Topics such as: Fear, Anxiety, Living in the Solution, First Things first, One Day at a Time, Let Go and Let God all apply more than ever now. Remember in the Big Book the story of the soldier in the trenches during the war? He couldn’t get to a meeting or talk to another alcoholic but his foundation in AA and his program helped him fare far better than some of the other soldiers. This is the same thing. The only difference is we are blessed with the internet today.
In this time of uncertainty and uncomfortably hold on to ‘this too shall pass’. An alcoholic/addict’s worst day sober is still better than his last day drunk/high. Your sobriety must come first. The staff at Alina Lodge and Haley House care about you more than you can imagine. The reason everyone wants to work at the Lodge and Haley is because we get to know you, to care about you and to see the change in you as you stay the course and complete the program. Nothing is easy about getting sober and clean, but you did it! You trusted the process and I am asking you to do the same thing now.
Another way to contact me is via email: lauriea@alinalodge.org/alina. Please include your phone number in the email and I will call you, I am happy to.
Gerry Gunnels always says “What are you going to do with this precious gift of sobriety?” I want to you remember that day in and day out. I recently spoke to him on the phone and he said “who is better equipped to handle this than alcoholic/addicts in recovery? We have been in a life and death battle before with alcohol and drugs”.
I also spoke on the phone with former counselor Mary Kay Carlin. Yep… that fiery redhead is still going strong. She mentioned we can work the first 3 steps on this situation.
- Step 1: we are powerless over COVID-19 virus and our life is somewhat unmanageable now.
- Step 2: We came to believe a power Greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Step 3: we made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him. We must turn this situation over and work our program through it.
We know how to take direction! How cool is that? If you look up the word suggestion in the dictionary it reads “subtle command”. We need to take direction and trust that God will get us through this.
We all miss in person AA/NA meetings but we are not supposed to meet in large groups. For today we can use the phone and the online meetings. WE HAVE EACH OTHER. When AA came into existence everyone carried dimes in their pockets to use the pay phones. We have cell phones in our hands 24/7. Another reason to be grateful! Be of service to others and pick up your phone each day, talk to another alcoholic. You can do so much good asking someone how they are… perhaps if you share your fear and anxiety, they will admit the same and you can help each other. It only takes 2 people to have an AA meeting. Guess what? In this time if you pick up the phone and talk about your alcoholism/addition with another in recovery it is a meeting!
Meeting link:https://zoom.us/j/6742912077
To join meetings, a password is required. Email lauriea@alinalodge.org/alina to be obtain the password.
Laurie Andrysiak
Alumni Coordinator
Alina Lodge
Alina Lodge has been helping men and women pursue addiction recovery and sobriety for the past 63 years. Let us not only help you learn tools to be abstinent but tools to be sober. Call Alina Lodge right now to start on your journey to sobriety – (800)575-6343. There is a place where “Hope can become Fact.”
Little Hill Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Alcoholics operates Alina Lodge and Haley House for Women for the purpose of helping people attain and maintain a life of sobriety.
Alina Lodge
61 Ward Road, Blairstown, NJ 07825
(908)362-6114
AlinaLodge.org
Alina Lodge is a premiere long term residential alcohol and drug addiction rehab facility specializing in the treatment of adults with a history of chronic relapse issues. More than just a 12 step program, our treatment program works where others have failed.
We treat all types of chemical dependency such as alcoholism and drug addictions including cocaine, heroin, opioids, marijuana, methamphetamine, as well as prescription drug addiction. If you or a loved one struggles to stay sober, contact us today.
