Heart to Heart
This Issue: A.A. in Corrections, A.A. in Treatment Facilities and Other A.A. Services
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Share the message, do not throw away, pass this newsletter on
June 2015
th
All Newsletter submissions must be in by the 20 of this month for the next month and sent to h2heditor@aaregina.com
Alcoholics Anonymous in Corrections Facilities
Going Inside Correctional Facilities
The fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous was in its seventh year (1942) when a pioneering warden at San Quentin Penitentiary
asked nearby A.A.s to carry the message to alcoholics in the prison. He was heard to say, "Had it not been for the regular help
and understanding given by our A.A. friends outside, the San Quentin chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous would most assuredly
have failed. And by the same token, if it had not been for the persistence of that first group of alcoholic inmates who realized their
serious problem and their need for help, we could never have continued beyond the first few meetings.” Today there are
hundreds of A.A. groups behind the walls.
Where hugging ain't cool
A recovering alcoholic connects with fellow A.A.s behind the walls
I LOOKED around the room at the 32 men in the Tuesday night meeting, watching them as they listened to the "guest" speaker. A
lump formed in my throat as my eyes started to burn, just slightly. I thought of the first meeting we'd had at a correctional facility,
some six years before. I remembered how scared I was as I walked up the stairs into the prison. The overactive imagination I'd
had as a kid hadn't disappeared entirely. I had wondered what the likelihood of a riot, or, at the least, a hostage situation, was.
I asked God to remove my fear and direct my attention to what he would have me do. When I got to the reception area, I met Bob,
Mike and Tom, also outside A.A. members. A few minutes later we were given our ID badges and were escorted by two
counselors, employed at the prison, to the inside. And my life changed forever.
Mike, our area's corrections chair, had told me a few days before that I'd be the speaker at out first meeting. I had done quite a
few speaker meetings and talked at a couple of roundups, but this was different. I was painfully aware that during 13 years of
drinking, I'd never spent a night in jail. Would I have any credibility with these hard men? Would they have any time at all for a
"citizen"? Would I be able to carry our message to them?
When we got to the meeting room, we were greeted by about 25 guys who offered handshakes and delicious coffee. I think it was
coffee. The meeting was called to order by Billy C., a man in his 70s, who'd spent most of his adult life "down." After the prayer, I
recalled the conversation I'd had with my mentor Don a few hours before. A.A. found Don in a prison in Colorado in '68.
He told me that if I went into that prison to talk to inmates, convicts, felons or offenders, I'd just as well stay home, that I had no
experience with any of that. Those fellows would smell it on me and I'd lose them in minutes. But, "If you go there and talk to
alcoholics, God will use your life for his work."
I prayed that God's message would flow through me, that the experiences I've had that would be most useful to these men would
be brought out.
As I told my story, no one walked out or talked. They laughed at my jokes and when I spoke of how making my amends had
changed my relationship with my dad, I saw more than one wipe an eye. Before I knew it, time was up. I felt a little sad to leave
those guys there. But I didn't really want to stay with them, either!
We go there in blizzards, when it's hotter than a fox in a forest fire, (there's no air conditioning), even on Christmas Eve one year.
But at least one of us is there every week. And they keep us coming back. They let us see how our experience can benefit them,
they listen to us share our experience and sometimes our pain. Those guys shared their stories about failed marriages with me as
I went through a divorce, and shook my hand and slapped my back as I announced the births of every one of my five grandkids.
We are not "guests" there; we are a part of them and them of us. Some of them are our brothers and sometimes we hug where
hugging ain't cool. We have found a Fellowship, based on a common illness and a common solution. I love those guys and I think
some of them know it.
Thanksgiving morning, as I cooked a ham, the phone rang. I checked the caller ID--it was Jim. He'd gotten paroled out of prison
three or four years ago and had moved to San Diego. He calls me five or six times a year, but always on Thanksgiving and at
Christmas time. He always thanks me, and I try to correct him, telling him I need to thank him.
But it's always useless. This year I just thanked him for being my friend. When we hung up, I looked at the floor and cried a little,
filled with honor to have gotten to see God's power enter into this guy in a prison, and to see his life changed. He has changed in
such a way that I can't imagine him doing the crime that put him in prison.
Of course, not all stories end up like Jim's. Some end in heartbreak and tragedy. But we are not deterred. We know "that our lives
depend upon our constant thought of others and how we can help meet their needs."
So we get in the car and go to these guys, and carry a message to them. The fruits of our labor are that we can know that we've
tried, really tried to be empowered agents of God in an ungodly place.
Check us out on the web: www.aaregina.com
pg. 1
As I looked around that room on Tuesday, I realized I haven't been scared in there for a long, long time; in fact, not since that first
meeting years ago. Another Promise had come true. I can go to the "most sordid spot on earth," and keep unharmed.
Thank you A.A. for giving me a reason to get away from my TV and share my life with guys just like me.
Anonymous, Grapevine Archive
The Correctional Facilities Coordinator for Regina and Area A.A. Intergroup is responsible for dealing directly with staff and
personnel of correction facilities and supplying Chairpersons, Speakers, and Literature for A.A. Meetings at correctional centers,
jails, detention centers, probation centers and similar institutions in Regina and surrounding area.
To become a Correctional Volunteer requires minimum continuous sobriety of one to two years. Because we are entering highly
restricted areas, there are application forms to be completed and submitted to the facility where the individual would like to carry
the message of recovery to our members on the inside. A government background check is completed. When all this has been
completed, an identification tag with a recent photo on it is provided. By now a fairly good idea of the type of commitment needed
is clear. For example, how many times a month one can be available to put on a meeting on the inside. It is suggested that our
newly cleared members consider a minimum of once a month and commitment for one year.
If you are interested in helping to carry the message in Correction facilities, please contact a.a@sasktel.net
Alcoholics Anonymous in Treatment Facilities
First Impressions
Ways that A.A.s reach those in Treatment
Treatment facilities hold a special place in my heart," says Mike M. of Queens, New York. "I can speak only for myself, but I was in
rehab three times. It helped me by getting me off the street and detoxing in a facility."
Going away to treatment provided "a separation from alcohol in a controlled environment," says Trei J. of Montgomery, Alabama.
He says he also received the medical attention he needed.
Mike is former Treatment Committee chair and current District Committee Member Chair for Queens County, part of Area 49, New
York. Trei serves as Treatment Facilities Chair for Area 1, Alabama/North West Florida. Both have spent several years doing A.A.
service in treatment facilities, getting the message of A.A. to the patients so that they have support after they're discharged.
The Bridging the Gap program helps get new A.A.s to their first meeting. A.A.s who volunteer for this commitment either pick
patients up at discharge, meet them at a meeting, or introduce them to other A.A.s, Mike says.
In Area 1, Trei reports, all but one of the twenty-four districts now have a Bridging the Gap representative.
"It makes it so worthwhile when you bring someone to a meeting and, a month or a year later, you see them at a meeting and they
are still sober," Mike says.
Treatment committees also bring A.A. meetings into facilities, Trei says. His area coordinates a speaker meeting at a rehab and
several meetings a week at a detox including a "presentation" meeting, where A.A.s show the video "HOPE: Alcoholics
Anonymous" (see resources box) and several speakers share their experience with the first three Steps.
A.A.'s General Service Office (GSO) in New York City acts as a liaison to treatment facilities committees, Bridging the Gap
committees, and hospitals and institutions committees.
Warren S., GSO's Treatment Facilities Coordinator, says that treatment center professionals (and sometimes patients) contact the
GSO, requesting literature or a contact when a patient is about to be released.
GSO maintains a list of all treatment facilities committee chairs in the United States and Canada, so Warren directs the
professional to the local committee chair.
Bridging the Gap is similar to the program with the same name for corrections, but a stay in treatment is usually shorter than a
corrections term, Warren says. "There's always a need for volunteers."
Some A.A. groups sponsor a treatment facility meeting. Some facility meetings are not listed in an area's meeting directory and
are closed to the general public. Although occasionally, meetings are run by the treatment professionals, experience suggests that
it's best when they are conducted by outside A.A. members, Warren says. If a counselor is also an A.A. member, he has to keep
his professional work and his Twelfth Step work separate. "He has to find a way to make it clear that the treatment facility is one
thing and A.A. is another thing."
Treatment facility committee chairs may team up with cooperation with the professional community committee chairs to discuss
how A.A. can be a resource, as well as what A.A. does and doesn't do, Warren says.
The amount of time it takes a person to attend his or her first A.A. meeting upon release can be a factor in whether a patient
maintains sobriety after treatment.
"Unless they are sick and tired and I mean real sick and tired of being sick and tired and the people bringing in the A.A. meeting
have made an impression, it's not likely to occur," Warren says.
The purpose of Treatment Facilities Coordinator for Regina and Area A.A. Intergroup is to assist members to carry the message of
Alcoholics Anonymous to Treatment Facilities and outpatient settings in Regina and surrounding area. In addition to bringing the
message of hope for recovery, to alcoholics in a variety of treatment settings, the Treatment Facilities Coordinator demonstrates
Check us out on the web: www.aaregina.com
pg. 2
to administrators and staff "how it works" and are instruments of attraction to the A.A. program and provides information about
A.A. as well as literature and guidelines for setting up A.A. meetings in treatment facilitates and outpatient settings.
Treatment settings may include: treatment facilities, hospitals, psychiatric wards, nursing homes, youth non-correctional facilities,
shelters, halfway houses, veteran facilities, senior centers, etc.
The Treatment Coordinator maintains a list of members who are willing to extend the hand of A.A. to those released to their
community after completion of a treatment facility program.
If you are interested in helping to carry the message in Treatment Facilities, please contact a.a@sasktel.net
Other Alcoholics Anonymous Services
Bridging the Gap
The Bridging the Gap program matches up someone new to A.A. who is leaving a treatment, correctional, hospital or detox facility
with a temporary contact person. As a temporary contact person you may take the newcomer to a variety of A.A. meetings;
introduce him or her to other A.A.s; ensure that he or she has the phone numbers of several A.A. members, and share the
experience of sponsorship and a home group.
One of the more “slippery” places in the journey to sobriety is between the door of the facility and the nearest A.A. group or
meeting. In order to bridge the gap, A.A. members have volunteered to be temporary contacts and introduce newcomers to
Alcoholics Anonymous.
For more information take a look at the Bridging the Gap pamphlet at www.aa.org
If you are interested in participating in the Saskatchewan Bridging the Gap program, please contact btg@aasask.org
Corrections Correspondence Service – A special kind of A.A. service
The corrections correspondence Service (CCS) connects A.A.s on the inside with A.A.s on the outside. GSO has a waiting list of
male A.A. members in prison who requested the CCS and are waiting for an outside A.A. member to write to them.
A.A.s available to share, through correspondence, their experience, strength, and hope in Alcoholics Anonymous should
contact corrections@aa.org
The “Pink Can”
The Pink Can idea seemed to have originated in the Northern California Area in 1957. The purpose was to provide sufficient
funds to purchase literature for expanding work in prisons. Individual contributions, although quite helpful, were not enough to
keep up with the expanding responsibilities of the local Hospitals & Institutions Committees. Someone came up with the idea of
passing a can during meetings and requesting spare change. It was explained that all monies collected would be used to buy
literature for alcoholics in hospitals and prisons. In order to make the can “stand out,” a decision was made to paint the can pink.
In a short time, pink cans started appearing on literature tables and were being passed around at various meetings. Does your
group contribute to the “pink can”? Funds from "pink cans", earmarked for conference-approved literature, are sent to the Area
Treasurer. Applications for literature funds are made to the Area Corrections Coordinator.
If you have questions or are interested in participating in the “pink can”, please contact corrections@aa.org
ANNOUNCEMENT:
The Women’s BYOB Group has two of the roller blinds with
the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions on them. If your group is
interested in them, please email a.a@sasktel.net
I say the Serenity Prayer daily on the way to work, but I say
it like this:
"God, grant me the Serenity to accept those people,
places and things I cannot change, the courage to change
those things about myself that I can, and the wisdom to
know the difference."
Accept others---change myself: it's hard to do but at least I
know what has to be done.
Robert T.
The topic for the July edition of the Heart to Heart will
be Tradition 7. If you have anything you would like
to submit, please email h2h@aaregina.com
A friend of mine once said, "When I end the day with
unfinished business, I ended up dragging it into the next
day with me. And I can't live one day at a time until I've
dealt with yesterday."
When I remember to take a quick inventory and share it
with another alcoholic, I can see my unfinished business.
When I'm in the present, there's no fear, anxiety,
resentment, regret because those things generated by
dwelling on the past or the future. In the present, there is
only action that needs to be taken---or acceptance of the
way things are.
Todd C.
Don’t Miss
12 Steps to Recovery Group – Annual Cook Out
August 22nd @ Regina Wildlife Federation
Speaker to be announced - Watch for more information
Check us out on the web: www.aaregina.com
pg. 3
Special Events, Celebrations, Notices
Happy Birthday
To those celebrating milestones of sobriety
… those 24hrs add up!
525 Rolling Home Group
Jamie P.
May 26th
2 Yrs
Lori L.
May 30th
10 Yrs*
th
Norm D.
May 30
16 Yrs
*Open celebration held June 1st at 5:25pm
Healing Hands Group
Valerie H.
Aug 18th
40 Yrs*
*Open celebration held August 19th @ 7:30pm
Harmony Group
Kelly B.
June 1st
1 Yr
Jane F.
June 3rd
21 Yrs
th
Dean P.
June 9
7 Yrs
Scott P.
June 11th
31 Yrs
Don H.
June 16th
1 Yr
Lumsden Group
Jack H.
50 Yrs*
Stan T.
21 Yrs*
Rhonda B.
1 Yr*
Dave M.
40 Yrs*
Debbie A.
9 Yrs*
Vivian D.
1 Yr*
*Open celebration held June 25th @ 7:30pm
at Centennial Hall
Don’t forget to email your Group’s Birthdays into
h2heditor@aaregina.com before the 20th. We will
publish the month prior if missed in the previous issue.
Regina & Area A.A. Intergroup
Intergroup Service Meetings:
Central Office Committee Meeting - Monday prior to
First Wednesday of the month @ 7:30pm, Central
Office, 107-845 Broad St.
Contributions to Intergroup
What’s Happening in Regina
The Conference-approved pamphlet:
“Self-Support: Where Money and Spirituality Mix”
For posters go to: www.aaregina.com
Offers the following suggestions for the distribution of
group funds after group expenses have been paid:
50% Regina Intergroup
30% General Service Office
10% Area 91
10% District Committee
Because of the reporting structure and printing of the
Heart to Heart this list will always be printed two
months after they are received.
CORRECTION: Thank you to the following for
their contributions to Intergroup in April 2015:
Nu-Life Group, Novalco Group and District 17.
Area 91 / Districts 15, 17 & 18 News
For more info go to www.aasask.org
Districts 15,17 & 18 monthly meetings:
2nd Wednesday of the month @ 7:30pm
Mount Olive Lutheran Church, 2015 4th Ave. N.
All members are welcome and encouraged to
attend and get involved.
Upcoming District events for 2015
Gratitude Night – November 7, 2015
Upcoming Area Events for 2015
Fall Assembly - Oct 16 - 18, 2015, North Battleford
Christopher Lake to host the ACM - Jan 2016
Saskatoon to host the Spring Assembly – Mar 2016
Regina to host the Fall Assembly – Oct 2016
Intergroup Committee Meeting - 1st Wednesday of
the month @ 7:30pm, YWCA, 1940 McIntyre St.
All members are welcome and encouraged to
attend and get involved.
Vacant Positions:
• Treatment Facilities Co-ordinator (Trustee)
• Information Committee Chair
Committees to volunteer for:
• Alcathon Committee
• Regina Round Up Committee
• Social Events Committee
• Speaker Meeting Committee is currently looking
for volunteers, please contact Central office
Free Subscription
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line to: h2heditor@aaregina.com
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Grapevine Subscription Challenge
Let’s show them what
Saskatchewan can do!
For more information
go to:
http://www.aagrapevin
e.org/grapevinechallenge
Central Office
#107– 845 Broad Street, Broad Street Business
Centre
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday & Friday
12:00pm. – 5.00pm - Closed Statutory Holidays
24-Hour Answering Service
: 306-545-9300
E-mail:a.a@sasktel.net
Note from your Newsletter Editor:
I would love to hear from YOU . . . what
would you like to see in the newsletter, do
you have comments/suggestions? Or
perhaps you have a story to submit.
Please email me at
h2heditor@aaregina.com
•
•
•
Literature
75th Anniversary Edition Big Books - $15.00
Grapevine Daily Quote Books - $14.00
A Brief History of AA - $1.50
For a current list of literature and prices go to
www.aaregina.com/aa_literature.html
You can pick up all literature from Central Office.
Watch for the next Intergroup Social
Committee Open Event
ES&H - Open Speaker Meeting
June 6, 2015 Speakers:
Barb M. (Friday Eureka Luncheon Group)
Ron W. (Saturday @ 9 Group)
Fellowship 7:00pm, Speaker Meeting
7:30pm
1165 Pasqua Street
Celebrating 80 Years of
Recovery, Unity & Service
Districts 15, 17 & 18
th
Saturday, June 13 - 11:00am – 1:00pm
Tickets only $5
*If you would like to help out in any way, please
let your GSR know or contact your DCM.
Meeting News
Updates/Changes/Deletions
Northgate Group (Friday’s @ 9pm)
Effective Apr 1st meets at the Northeast Community
Centre, 160 Broad Street
12 Steps to Recovery Group (Monday’s @ 8pm)
Effective Apr 1st mteets at the Northeast
Community Centre, 160 Broad Street
Meetings needing member support
Contact Central Office at 545-9300
The Liver and Onions Group
Meets Thursdays @ 7:30pm in the
Cafeteria room 4 at the General Hospital
Pine Lodge Treatment Centre
Contact - Jim W.
Regina Correctional Centre
Meets Tuesdays or Wednesdays @ 7:00pm
Clearance Required - Contact Jim W .
Women’s Correctional Meeting
White Birch Group
Meets Wednesdays @ 7:30pm
Women's Remand Centre, Paul Dojack Youth Centre,
Clearance Required - Contact Linda K.
Out of town Round Ups
International Events
For more information go to: www.aa.org
2015 International Convention,
July 2-5, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia
2020 International Convention
July 2 – 5, 2020, Detroit, MI
2025 International Convention
July 2 – 5, 2025, Vancouver, BC
Condolences
On behalf of our members, our sincere
condolences to out to any members who
are grieving the loss of a loved one. Our
prayers and thoughts are with you.
Check us out on the web: www.aaregina.com
For more info go to www.aasask.org
Cypress Hills AA and Al-Anon Round Up
June 6, 2015
White Bear Last Stand Group Annual Gratitude Day
June 13, 2015
Coronach Pioneer Group 38th AA/Al-Anon
Camp Out
June 19-21, 2015
Marean Lake Camp Out Round Up
June 19-21, 2015
Heart to Heart is the newsletter voice of Regina area A.A.. Regina
Intergroup as a service to the A.A. community publishes it. It uses the
basic intent of the A.A. Grapevine policy and mission statement as its
editorial policy. Its intent is to enhance an already strong recovery
community by providing a vehicle for sharing the combined recovery
messages and our experiences, strengths and hopes. You and your group
can contribute to its financial survival through your group and taxdeductible donations to Regina A.A. Intergroup Office. Any of the articles
in this publication are the opinion of the writers and do not necessarily
reflect official A.A. position.
pg. 4