Sunday May 30th is the Annual Narcotics Anonymous Men’s Breakfast put on by the East Bay Central NA committee. This will be the 10th annual breakfast and 350 men from around the country are expected to attend.

The Father Alfred Center has had a proud affiliation with the men’s breakfast since it was started back in 2000. A resident of the St Anthony Foundation Rehabilitation Center (then known as Seton Hall), named Darryl Smith painted the very first banner. The banner and that first breakfast were a big success and every year a handful of tickets are donated by alumni of Father Alfred Center, to some of our current residents. As part of the decorations that first banner (along with every banner since then) are rolled out and hung up for display.

This years theme is “Vision with out limits”. It appears on the banner as well as on tickets next to the Men’s Breakfast Motto “Diversity Makes a Difference”. The motto represents the variety of men from every walk of life, ethnicity, and social status who can be found in attendance. The exchange of experiences and the formations of friendships are the hallmark of the NA Men’s Breakfast.

Along with what I am told is an impressive spread of food, speakers from around the country are flown in to talk on the subject of recovery. As they speak a CD is cut for purchase. Some copies of the CD along with books and other Narcotics Anonymous literature are given away to those in attendance who are newest to recovery.

For the first 8 years of the Breakfast up to 500+ men would be in attendance. As N/A members from other area’s have attended the men’s breakfast and experienced the miracle that takes place there, they have begun putting on their own versions. So although the number of participants has dropped in the last two years, the phenomenon is growing.

St Anthony Dining Room staff is sponsoring a baseball game & Cookout on May 12 for the Father Alfred Center Residents as a way to thank them for their volunteer service at the Dining Room.

This event gives residents at Father Alfred Center, St. Anthony’s drug and alcohol treatment program, a chance to socialize not only with the staff, but also with each other.  Sometimes our residents have a tendency to feel confined by the routine of their day.  The game gives them a chance to get away from that routine and interact with each other & staff in a unique setting.

When asked his opinion Charles Sommer told me, “Each quarter we like to do something nice for the guys.  They work very hard down here at the Dining Room every day.  This gives us a chance to hang around with them in a different setting and have fun.”

A baseball game between St Anthony Staff & Father Alfred Center residents is the focal point of the event. Staff from Father Alfred Center & the St Anthony Dining Room are joined by colleagues from the Social Work Center & Tenderloin Tech Lab for the game.

The great food and competition with staff are something the Father Alfred Center residents look forward to.  So far the staff team is undefeated.  Will this remain the case?  Only time will tell.

With the convention behind us I wanted to take a moment to look back and get the perspective of the Father Alfred Center staff who attended the Convention.

Administrative Coordinator Raynette Page Johnson says:

“I had the privilege and honor to greet our clients at the Northern California Convention of Narcotics Anonymous XXXII in Santa Clara, California.  Forty six  residents of Father Alfred Center attended.  We were in the company of thousands of recovering addicts from all over California and other states.  The Northern California Convention of Narcotics is the largest convention in California. The first convention was formed in 1979 in San Jose California.  There were approximately 350 recovering addicts in attendance.  This celebration of unity, simply known at NCCNA, now hosts between 6,000 to 8,000 recovering addicts annually.”

Manager Michael Hurd writes in:

“It is an awesome opportunity for Father Alfred Center residents to experience a NA Convention. I think it is surreal to imagine over 5,000 recovering addicts in one place at one time from all different cultures, races, backgrounds, beliefs to gather together for one common goal ,that goal being to help the addict who wants to recover is unimaginable until they see it. Then I think there can be a physic change where they can really start to believe that being clean for them is possible. I witnessed the stoic glow in several of our residents at the convention there expressions said it all. For me to witness the joy, hope and relief I see in the faces of our Father Alfred Center residents is priceless! I look forward to exposing new residents to this awesome experience again next year.”

Saturday April 3rd, 2010 is the date of the widely anticipated State Wide NA Convention in Santa Clara, CA. Each year Father Alfred Center, St. Anthony Foundation’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, throws a dinner for Alumni, families and friends to raise the money for our residents to attend this event.

Father Alfred Center Assistant Manager Eric Clark tells us:

“At Father Alfred Center we treat drug & alcohol addiction and one of the strongest indicators of continued recovery from addiction after residents leave the program is their participation in 12-Step recovery groups. Addicts rarely get clean alone and rarely do they stay clean all by themselves. The opportunity to be present at an event where there may be more than ten thousand other recovering addicts present has been truly awe inspiring for our guys. There is no better way to present the message that any addict can recover than in this environment of unlimited support that is available virtually anywhere. The gratitude our residents express for the ability to attend this event & the message of hope that they receive there has been worth every effort to get these guys to the Northern California Narcotics Anonymous Convention.”

Excitement is growing as the days countdown to the convention. The Father Alfred Center Kitchen Crew will be preparing bagged lunches, snacks & drinks for the guys on the way down and back. The bus leaves at 2PM promptly for Santa Clara, CA under the supervision of Father Alfred Center counselors. Some off duty staff will be attending the convention as well.

When they arrive, residents will be able to attend workshops, marathon meetings, an ice cream social & even a golf tournament. Live music, Karaoke, comedy shows, and an illusionist will also be there, in the spirit of fellowship with other addicts in recovery.

The highlight of the convention is the main speaker who is scheduled to go on at 8pm, Followed by a dance at 9pm.

When asked for a few word about the benefits of the convention; Father Alfred Center Councilor Alvin Emerson said:

“Recovering addicts from all over the world will be in attendance, making this a rare opportunity for our guys to see the beauty & power of what recovery from addiction can do for them.”

Residents will re-board the charter bus after the dance and return home around 1am that morning. All and all it will be a long day for Father Alfred Center Staff and residents. But one they will not soon forget.

With the announcement of the resignation Alaska Governor Sarah Palin last weekend, I’ve been reminded of times in my life when I’ve considered quitting.

My first try at college was in 1992, and I found out pretty quickly that it’s almost impossible to be in an abusive relationship and do well in school. My abuser lived on campus with me and much of my freshman year was spent in terror. The next year, I decided to drop out and move home to live with my parents. I remember feeling like a failure and wondering if I would ever go back to school. Two years later, I experienced one of the worst days of my life when I found out that my college boyfriend had killed himself. A few months after his death, I decided to quit my minimum wage job and go back to college.

My transition back to college was not a smooth one. My transcript was marred with bad grades. The admissions representative said that I could take classes for one semester on a conditional basis and if my grades were good enough, I would be accepted as a degree-seeking student. After one semester with a 3.925 grade point average, I was in.

Four years later, I graduated with honors. A few weeks after my graduation, I had the most severe episode of panic disorder that I’d ever experienced in my life. It was absolutely debilitating. I felt like a shell of my former self and I was afraid that I would never be able to function again. I was waiting to hear about a few grad school applications, and was afraid that I was going to be too sick to start grad school in the fall.

An acceptance letter from a grad school in New York City arrived in the mail at the same time that an acceptance letter for a grad program from my hometown college arrived. I decided to quit living in my hometown and to move to New York City so that I could study social work in an urban setting.

During my 3rd semester in grad school in Manhattan, I experienced something that shook me to my core: September 11, 2001. (more…)