Some alcoholics aren’t lucky enough to be able to go to meetings when they want to. They are in prison. They have limited contact with the shared experience that our Fellowship offers through its meetings.
What if I needed an A.A. meeting and there was none?
There are over 35,000 A.A.s in confinement and over 1,400 prison groups throughout the United States and Canada. These meetings answer only a 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.
AA in our Area 80 has a presence at the following correctional facilities:
- The Pas Correctional Centre (TPCC) in the Pas, MB
- Brandon Correctional Centre (BCC) in Brandon, MB
- Headingley Correctional Centre (HCC) in Headingley, MB
- Women’s Correctional Centre (WCC) in Headingley, MB
- Milner Ridge Correctional Centre (MRCC) in Milner Ridge, MB
- Winnipeg Remand Centre (WRC) in Winnipeg, MB
- Manitoba Youth Centre (MYC) in Winnipeg, MB
- Stony Mountain Institution (SMI) in Stony Mountain, MB
We are currently holding 22 meetings each week in different areas of these facilities. This requires a large effort from a large pool of volunteers. We are reaching roughly 200 inside members per week at these meetings. 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.
You can help. Here are some ideas:
- Volunteer to come to a correctional facility and attend meetings.
- Volunteer to be a temporary contact upon an inmate’s release and take them to their first outside A.A. meeting through Bridging the Gap.
- Donate the price of a Big Book or a “Twelve and Twelve” to your local corrections committee, or provide back issues of Grapevine and A.A. Conference-approved literature.
- Correspond with an inmate through the Corrections Correspondence Service.
- Support corrections committees in your district, area or intergroup/central office.
- Participate in correctional committee meetings and workshops.
We are always needing new volunteers, and always needing literature donations. If you wish to get involved, please call our Central Office, or you can contact the corrections committee directly at correctionschair@aamanitoba.org