...Anonymous Donor Saves Shelters English 112 Professor Tara Ciccarone DeVry University Two women’s shelter that have basically been on life support for nearly two decades are now fighting to keep their doors open as more and more debt piles up. On Wednesday, October 16th, 2013, Clara Kirk, a 72-year old woman, said she was having difficulties paying for two different gas and water bills at her shelters that she runs to provide for women and children in need. One of the bills was roughly $21,000 and another bill was around $11,000 (Hutson, 2013). Due to the fact that she was unable to take care of those bills, the gas was shut off on Wednesday, October 16, 2013. This left all of the helpless people without heat or hot water which forced them to go to nearby cafeterias so they could get cleaned up. Clara’s Place, which houses 19 women and children, is one of the two shelters that have run out of gas. The other shelter – Clara’s House – also has approximately 40 women and is also in devastating financial misfortune. Both of these shelters have struggled financially in recent years, facing punishments from the town for building code violations and consequences from the IRS for being overdue on their payroll taxes (Hutson, 2013). With temperature going below 30 degrees, residents of both of these shelters finally had something be happy for. An anonymous donor has contributed a rather large sum of money in order to keep the gas successfully running at the two Chicago...
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...Biography of Bill Wilson Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous Alcohol has been abused and been problematic in the history of the world. Before Alcoholics Anonymous it was believed that alcoholism and addiction was a mental illness and failure of willpower (Cheever 253). There was never any real hope for alcoholics till Bill Wilson discovered that one alcoholic simply talking to another alcoholic could help them both stay sober. This soon became a self help program that now has over a hundred thousand groups and over two million members worldwide. Bill Wilson’s program became what we know today as Alcoholics Anonymous or simply A.A.. Bill Wilson wrote the book, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered From Alcoholism, and co-founded the 12 step program with Dr. Bob Smith. In 1999 Time Magazine listed him as “Bill W.: The Healer” in the Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century (Time Magazine 153). Bill Griffith Wilson was born November 26th, 1895 in East Dorset Vermont, to Gilman and Emily Wilson. He was born the night before Thanksgiving behind the bar at his parents home and business Mount Aeolus Inn and Tavern. He had a sister, Dorothy Wilson who was four years younger than him. In the spring of 1906 his mother took both children on a picnic to Emerald Lake in Vermont to tell them that their father was not coming home from a business trip and that they were going to get divorced. After the divorce Emily Wilson left her...
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...James Brow Professor DuBro English 111 June 15, 2015 Response Essay I read the article The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous by Gabrielle Glaser and her opinion on the effectiveness of the AA program. The author states that the AA program is not as effective as people believe and is not the only option when it comes beating alcohol addiction. As the author states " Hospitals, outpatient clinics, and rehab centers use the 12 steps as the basis for treatment. But although few people seem to realize it, there are alternatives, including prescription drugs and therapies that aim to help patients learn to drink in moderation. Unlike Alcoholics Anonymous, these methods are based on modern science and have been proved, in randomized, controlled studies, to work." The author researches through the article to find other options to combat alcoholism and compare AA to other therapy companies. The AA program says it has a 75 percent success rate but interviews with actual members, puts the percent range around 8 percent. The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous has stories of former members that had Alcoholic problems that tried AA but could not fix the problem and AA blame them for it and not themselves showing their true colors. The AA program is not flexible and uses the same treatment for all members instead of adjusting to the level of drinking of the person. With interviews and travels, it shows that AA is not the only options alcoholics have to help them. ...
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...picture on the front). What Else Should I Know? To change the style of any paragraph, select the text by positioning your cursor anywhere in the paragraph. Then, select a style from the Style list on the Formatting toolbar. To change the picture, click it to select it. Click Picture on the Insert menu, and then click From File. Select a new picture, and then click Insert. Company Name Street Address Address 2 City, ST ZIP Code Phone (704) 555-0125 Fax (704) 555-0145 Web site address Future Solutions Now Customized Turnkey Training Courseware Adventure Works Date of publication Bridge The gap A Temporary Contact Program A Bridge between Alcoholism Treatment and AA Sponsored by: Indiana Area 23 Treatment Facilities Committee Of Alcoholics Anonymous www.area23aa.org WHO CAN I CALL? Area 23 Bridging the Gap Hotline 317-490-8036 Temporary COntact Definition: A temporary contact is a member of Alcoholics Anonymous who works with alcoholics both in and coming out of treatment facilities and programs. The primary purpose is to help you bridge the gap to Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a short-term arrangement (30-90 days) until you, as a new member, become established in a group and find more permanent sponsorship. TREATMENT Carrying the message into… * Inpatient Treatment Facilities * OUtpatient Treatment Programs * Non-correctional Youth...
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...http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204903804577080261756886728.html?... Page 1 of 4 HEALTH JOURNAL December 6, 2011 Shop 'Til You Stop: How to Treat Compulsive Spending By MELINDA BECK Daily door-buster deals … friends and family discounts … free shipping if you spend over $150! For an estimated 6% of Americans with compulsive buying tendencies, this is a tough time of the year. "The whole culture conspires against us in the holiday season," says April Lane Benson, a Manhattan psychologist who has treated compulsive shoppers for 15 years. Besides tempting sales, pressure to top last year's gifts and the urge to shop for oneself, she says, "the holidays bring up a lot of unfulfilled longing for some people—and that's one reason why they shop, as a salve for disappointment." While the stereotypical compulsive shopper is traditionally a woman in her 30s, experts say the ease and speed of Internet shopping is luring more men and more young people. Over Black Friday weekend, men outspent women $484 to $317, on average, according to the National Retail Federation. Men also spent an average of $200 online—twice as much as the average woman. In a 2005 survey of 195 U.K. teenagers, who grew up with the Internet, 44% showed signs of compulsive shopping habits, according to research published in the British Journal of Psychology. "The Internet is dangerous for compulsive buyers in two ways," says psychiatrist Elias Aboujaoude, director of the Impulse Control Disorders...
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...I attended an alcoholics anonymous meeting in Whitefish Bay, WI with my classmate. We previously tried to attend a meeting in September, but were unfortunately turned away due to it being a closed meeting. The leader of the meeting was kind enough to let us know when the next open meeting would be, which was October 8th. I nervously returned to the church that night and didn’t know what to expect once we arrived, which caused some anxiety for me. We entered a cozy room and were greeted right away and took an open seat. When the meeting began, there were six other participants and the facilitator as well as Liz and I. The meeting started out by going around the circle stating our names and our birthday or how old we were and a fun fact about ourselves. When it came to my turn to give my name, I stated my name and age and stated that I was a pharmacy student. A couple of people were surprised when they heard what I actually did for a living. The meeting began by reading the preamble and the twelve steps to recovery of an alcoholic. This was very interesting to me as I was not aware of the focus they put on God, although he is referred to as simply a “higher power” by many of the participants. The topic of today’s AA meeting was gratitude. A few of the attendees chose to speak about their experiences and why they were grateful. One particular member’s brief story had an especially meaningful impact on me. Her name was ND. I decided that I wanted to talk to her one-on-one...
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...FR Alcoholic Anonymous Group Paper PC6505 Alcoholic Anonymous Group The purpose of this paper is to describe the nature and purpose of an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group and its members. The paper will discuss the AA group’s philosophical orientation to human development. While using the writer’s knowledge of therapeutic factors, the paper will analyze the group process and its stage of development. The paper will also discuss the approach of the leader, often called ‘trusted servants” or “secretary”. Finally, the paper will discuss the use of the reconstructive inventory steps of 4-10 and how the writer would work with a client who was seeing her in individual or family counseling. Alcoholics Anonymous has a well-defined recovery program that AA members have been following since the founding of the group (Alcoholics Anonymous, 2014). In 1939, the group published its basic textbook, Alcoholics Anonymous, also known as the Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous, 2014). The Big Book explained AA’s philosophy and methods, the core of which is the now well-known Twelve Steps of recovery (Alcoholics Anonymous, 2014). The Twelve Steps are the core of the recovery program, which are based on the trial-and-error experience of early members of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous, 2014). The Twelve Steps are not simply a set of tasks to be carried out (personal communication, September 30, 2014). They are a guide for living and being in the world, and, for many individuals, they become a way of...
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...Twelve Step Program Unk Author1 1 Kaplan University Abstract This paper is about the twelve step program and the lasting affect it has on individuals who suffer from addiction. The twelve step program is a treatment program that holds people accountable for their actions to overcome their addiction and head down the road to recovery. This paper also explains an organization that I want to observe who implement the twelve step program among other things like a phase based treatment program. A phase based treatment program, is a structured program set up for individuals who recently were released from prison or jail. The program is intense and structured leaving the offenders accountable for their own actions, progress, and success. Once the offender has completed all their phases successfully they are up for graduation, where participation in their alumni is encouraged. Twelve Step Program Twelve step programs or self-help groups are designed to help in the treatment and recovery of addiction and are highly effective with a lasting success rate. The main focus of self-help groups are to bring people together who suffer from addiction and provide an emotional support system along with valuable information. Self-help groups are great for individuals to be able to relate to something or someone, because they may not get that opportunity out in their personal life. They get pressured into using, pressured into stopping, given ultimatums, etc. and all they really...
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...Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) is a self-help group developed to help and support alcoholics maintain sobriety. AA has a twelve-step model that helps guide alcoholics to sobriety. I attended an AA meeting that was held in a church. At the beginning of the meeting, the group said the serenity prayer. The prayer encourages the participants to make changes in their lives. Following the prayer, introductions were made by the members of the group. The members stated their names and some of them said that they were alcoholics. The theme of the meeting was “Letting Go, Letting God”. There was a featured speaker who discussed how letting go of insignificant problems helps improve the quality of your life and bring you closer to God. He stated that AA meeting...
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...self-discipline gained through meditation, and the active assistance and intervention of fellow AA members, they ultimately achieve a state of peace in the absence of alcohol consumption. (Harvard) Some personal characteristics that I expected to experience were angry, annoyed, cold-hearted, dark, embarrassed, harsh, and impatient group members, but instead, all I met was members who were nice, self-aware, sweet, affectionate, loving, and goal-focused. Overall the group interaction was wonderful. Everyone interacted except one person that seems to be sleeping. Everyone was engaging with each other and willing to participate. They expressed their opinions when they disagreed and agreed about something. There are 12 steps of alcoholic anonymous and the first step is “admitting we are powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable” (). When you come to that first step you are in your first stage of recovery. If you are battling an alcohol addiction then takes the first step before it’s too late. If you have family and friends that care about you, then think about how they will feel if something bad happens to you. As you see the AA 12 step program is a wonderful program to be a part of. This program support recovery and will get you on the right step to healing. ...
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...My first experience at an alcoholics anonymous meeting was very interesting and in a way uplifting. At All Saints Lutheran Church the home group called “The Young People’s Group” there were people who had come from all walks of life. The group meeting that I thought would have been rather small slowly became larger and larger over the course of the night. I was unaware that the AA meetings had been setup with a set of codes or rules for those who struggle every day to fight this addiction. They allowed people who were new or if it was their first meeting to introduce themselves and tell their story to the fight of addiction related to alcohol. I was really impressed with the fact that the AA groups have an awards system for reaching sobriety for a certain period of time whether it was 1 month or 15 years. After the awards were given out for those who had reached a certain amount of sobriety the chapter meeting moved on to the struggles that those people in attendance were having throughout the week or weeks. A gentlemen by the name of Dave opened up the meeting with a story of him in another AA meeting. He was very upset with the reaction of a man who had been driving home on the way from work. While this particular man was driving home he described the flashing of a draft beer sign. All the gentleman could think of was the fact that his lips have been not wetted from a drop of alcohol since the previous day and he was struggling with that. Dave insisted to tell us that this angered...
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...Narcotics Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous is an international, community-based association of recovering drug addicts. It is a twelve-step program modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous. Started in 1947, the NA movement is one of the world's oldest and largest of its type, with nearly twenty thousand weekly meetings in seventy countries (Narcotics Anonymous, 2010). NA’s earliest self-titled pamphlet, known among members as “the White Booklet,” describes Narcotics Anonymous this way: “NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We ... meet regularly to help each other stay clean. ... We are not interested in what or how much you used ... but only in what you want to do about your problem and how we can help (Narcotics Anonymous, 2010).” Sunday, February 19 at 10:15 AM, I attended a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in the conference room of a park in my community. There were 22 men in the room seated in chairs arranged in a circle. The group included 17 African American men and 5 men of European decent. There was one gentleman there that appeared to be in his early twenties, an older man who appeared to be in his mid 60’s and everyone else looked to be between the ages of 35 and 50. The group leader sat behind a table in at the front of the room. He introduced himself and the group secretary just before he directed us all had to state our name and proclaim we were addicts (at this point my nerves were really bad). On the table...
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...Sample Group Meeting Format # 1 1. Good Evening! This is the regular meeting of the ____________________________ Group of Alcoholics Anonymous. My name is _____________. I am an alcoholic and your Secretary. 2. This is an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. We are glad you are all here - especially newcomers. In keeping with our singleness of purpose and our Third Tradition which states that "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking," we ask that all who participate confine their discussion to their problems with alcohol. 3. Let us open the meeting with a moment of silence to do with as you wish, followed by the Serenity Prayer. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. 4. Definition of Alcoholics Anonymous: Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership. We are self supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any cause. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other...
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...After attending the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, it exceeded many of my expectations; however it disproved others and left me slightly astonished. In my imagination, with the help of television and movies, painted a picture in my mind of what an AA meeting would be like. It portrayed a room filled with people that obviously looked like addicts; unkempt appearances, borderline offensive hygiene, and at least one person seemingly drunk while swaying back and forth in his/her chair, balancing on the line between falling forward to the ground and staying in the seat. My imagination laughed at me as I entered the room. One look around made me realize that I was wrong. The majority of the members were clean, well kept, and looked healthier than some of my school classmates. After walking through the door and soaking it all in, I found a seat near the back where I assumed the new members usually sat. Upon finding my spot, I was immediately welcomed by an older gentleman, whom was eager to invite me in and listen to my story. I explained to him that I was a student just here to observe and he was pleasantly surprised by this and continued to ask me questions about school, counseling, and my future in counseling. However soon enough, the meeting got underway. It was an open discussion that began with the storytelling of one member’s lifelong battle. This was followed by comments from the audience about how they could relate and included a glimpse of their own story which allowed me to...
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...Updates & Kidbits Janice Selekman, DNSc, RN Gambling: Normal Adolescent Activity or Pathologic Addiction? Janice Selekman A 15-year-old comes to the school counselor. He owes $4,000 in gambling debts to a sports-betting bookie, and he doesn’t have the money. He is afraid. Yet, 2 weeks later, he bet on the Super Bowl and won $3,000. A 14-year-old limits his betting to $20 and $30; he only bets what he has and he is happy with his successes. A 17-year-old was born with a malformed arm and cannot play sports; instead, he makes bets on sports games. He sells his belongings to get the money he needs; right now, he owes $700. Are the behaviors of these teens unusual? ngaging in one or more high-risk behaviors is often viewed as a normal expectation during the adolescent years. Whether testing the limits of the speedometer when one first learns to drive, engaging in sex or smoking, or using illegal substances or medications not prescribed to them, teenagers think of themselves as invincible and able to handle anything. Some activities start as innocuous behaviors and only later are found to be harmful, such as using tanning booths to look healthy. New to this list of activities in which adolescents engage is gambling. It occurs with such great prevalence that it is not always recognized as gambling; yet, this behavior, as with any risky behavior, can be detrimental to an adolescent’s health. Gambling, sometimes referred to as “gaming,” is defined as the practice...
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