On April 23rd, 2011 the residents of Father Alfred Center will be heading to Sacramento to attend one day of the Northern California Convention of Narcotics Anonymous XXXIII. Each year (for the last four years) Father Alfred Center has held a spring fundraiser dinner to raise the money to charter a bus, and pay admission for all of our primary residents to attend.  With the convention just around the corner everybody is excited.

The big event is taking place at the

Sacramento Convention Center
1301 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

From Thursday April 21- Sunday April 24, 2011.  Anybody interested in attending can register at the following website:

http://www.norcalna.org/nccna.php

As per their webpage, The first convention took place in 1979 with only 360 addicts in attendance.  Since then the event as grown to encompass over 20 areas, and is attended by over 7000 addicts each year.

The conventions famous guest speakers, marathon meetings, dances, shows, food, concerts, talent shows & golf tournaments are just the tip of the iceberg.  The real magic for Father Alfred Center residents (and everybody in attendance) is to see so many recovering addicts (like themselves) gathered together in one place in celebration of that fact that recovery is possible.  They will have an opportunity to socialize and learn from other people who have faced the same problems they have and have come out the other side stronger for it.

September is National Recovery Month and St. Anthony Foundation’s Father Alfred Center has a lot on its plate. First what is recovery month? I went to www.recoverymonth.gov to find out.

“Recovery Month is an annual observance that takes place during the month of September.

The Recovery Month observance highlights the societal benefits of substance abuse treatment, lauds the contributions of treatment providers and promotes the message that recovery from substance abuse in all its forms is possible.”

Events are being held around the Nation, the State (and more importantly for us) right here in the SF Bay Area.

On Sunday 19th, San Francisco Narcotics Anonymous held their very first Men’s Breakfast. 300+ men gathered for this event at the Hilton. Father Alfred Center Alumni & Staff donated enough tickets for 5 of our residents to attend. The massive breakfast is a great opportunity for fellowship and bonding within the NA recovery community. The event was highlighted by an inspiring speaker who shared his experience strength and hope around his addiction and recovery experience. Those in attendance say it was very inspiring.

On Saturday 18th Father Alfred Center participated in the East Bay Unity Day (held at Laney College in Oakland). 10 of our residents attended and helped out with setting up and decorating for the main speaker. I asked one of the attending residents about the experience. He told me,

“It was one of the most memorable unity days I’ve ever been too. For me the most powerful moment was during the ‘clean time countdown’ (where all present acknowledge their clean time by standing when their number is reached). There was one woman at the end who had only one day of clean time. It made me think back to when that was me with one day clean. It was a really scary place to be.”

This Saturday (25th) is SF unity day. 15 Father Alfred Center residents will be attending & helping out again. Unity day offers workshops, speaker meetings, karaoke, comedy shows, open mic, workshops and fellowship for those who attend. Father Alfred Center Councilor Craig Surratt said this:

“Narcotics Anonymous has allowed Father Alfred Center to be of service in these events for years. It not only helps the event, but also helps our residents with re-socialization into society. By participating it encourages them not to isolate and makes them feel more a part of the larger NA community.”

On September 30th, 15 of our residents will be attending a Major League Baseball game between the SF Giants Vs Arizona Diamondbacks courtesy of The National Council on Alcoholism & Other Drug Addictions. It’s an event the residents are really looking forward to.

National Recovery Month is an exciting time for us. The multiple events around the bay area allow our residents a chance to step out of the microcosm of the Father Alfred Center and get a broader view of the Recovery Community that will be an integral part of their continued sobriety and reintegration into society.