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Lafayette Today ~ January 2014 - Page 25
December 2014
Serving the Lafayette Community
A.A., A Supportive Community By Fran Miller
The number of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings available within the greater Contra Costa area is illustrative of alcoholism’s pervasiveness. That these meetings are held privately and quietly, drawing perhaps your neighbor or your co-worker, is illustrative of AA’s success in maintaining anonymity for its members. Every day of the week, nearly every hour of the day, individuals in need can find a local AA meeting where members convene to share their experiences, their strength, and their hope in order that they may solve their common problem of alcoholism and help each other to recover. The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking. AA members include those from every segment of society. Grandmothers, bosses, public servants, husbands and wives - alcoholism knows no boundaries and has a dramatic impact not only on the drinker, but on family and friends as well. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, nearly 8.5 percent of American adults meet the diagnostic criteria for alcoholism. More than one half of American adults have a close family member who is an alcoholic, and children of alcoholics are significantly more likely to develop alcohol use disorders. What are the diagnostic criteria for alcoholism? AA asks the following questions: * Have you ever felt that your life would be better if you did not drink? * Have you ever decided to stop drinking for a week or so, but only lasted for a couple of days? * Do you wish people would mind their own business about your drinking-- stop telling you what to do? * Have you ever switched from one kind of drink to another in the hope that this would keep you from getting drunk? * Has your drinking caused trouble at home? * Do you tell yourself you can stop drinking any time you want to, even though you keep getting drunk when you don't mean to? * Do you envy people who can drink without getting into trouble? * Do you have “blackouts”? * Have you had problems connected with drinking during the past year? For those who answer “yes” to four or more of these questions, indicating a likely problem with alcohol, AA is available to help. AA provides a supportive and discreet community and fellowship to aide efforts in overcoming alcoholism. Members encourage and help each other to stay sober, and help the currently suffering alcoholic to become - and stay - sober. AA members share with each other their experiences within group meetings; they provide person-to-person service or “sponsorship” to other alcoholics within the twelve-step process of recovery (a set of guiding spiritual principles as accepted by a group’s membership, outlining a course
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Lamorinda Theater Academy singers delight the crowd at the “It’s a Wonderful Life” celebration in downtown Lafayette, kicking off the holiday season.
Contra Costa Interfaith Housing: Giving Hope a Home By Jody Morgan
Having a home for the holidays is only a dream for many Contra Costa County residents. In 1991, the Homeless Task Force of Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church identified the escalating problem. Fifteen congregations responded immediately to their call for help, jointly founding Contra Costa Interfaith Transitional Housing (CCITH). Recognizing that breaking the cycle of poverty, trauma and homelessness demands stability, the nonprofit renamed Contra Costa Interfaith Housing (CCIH) currently provides permanent residences for more than 330 formerly homeless families with
74% of families at Garden Park Apartments in Pleasant Hill are single parent. With life-changing supportive services, families stabilize and are able to rebuild their lives. Photo courtesy of CCIH.
support from 35 faith communities, generous sponsoring organizations and numerous individuals including 440 volunteers. Providing shelter is the first action item. Estimates suggest that on any given night, as many as 5,000 Contra Costa County residents are homeless. Accurate counts are difficult to obtain. “The reason I fight it [being labeled homeless] is not from pride, it’s from strategy. The moment someone labels you as homeless, they assume drugs, Volume VIII - Number 12 3000F Danville Blvd #117 alcohol, or laziness. There’s not room Alamo, CA 94507 [under this term] for people who Telephone (925) 405-6397 actually work,” explains one cliFax (925) 406-0547 editor@yourmonthlypaper.com ent quoted in the Contra Costa County Homeless Continuum of Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher Care’s Annual Report for Fiscal The opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do not necessarily reflect that of Lafayette Today. Lafayette year 2013-2014. Today is not responsible for the content of any of the ad-
See Hope cont. on page 20
vertising herein, nor does publication imply endorsement.