Are you working on drug addiction recovery in California? No matter whether you’re looking for a recovery group with AA, NA, or even MA—Methadone Anonymous—the Alano Clubs can be a place for you to find peace and safety. They’re also a place to discover that you can have fun without chemicals.
Years ago, a fictional drinking hole featured in a television show was made famous by the catchphrase, “where everybody knows your name.” The Alano Clubs go one better for people working on rehab. Their website says, “We got a chair with your name on it.”
If you’ve just begun recovery or you’re the family member of someone in treatment, you might not recognize that phrase. We can describe it with the story of a young man, about 18 or so, who went into residential treatment for drug addiction recovery in California. At the time of admission he told the staff that under no circumstances would he accept contact in any form from his father, an alcoholic who was never around while he grew up.
During the course of his 90 days in treatment, his counselor helped him overcome the resentments he held against his father. By then the dad was in full recovery, and the two of them actually reunited for the first time in several years. On the day of the young man’s graduation from residential treatment, he celebrated with the traditional ceremony—said the 12 steps and read aloud a paper he’d written about his hopes and plans for the future—and he told his dad, “I’ll go to AA meetings with you.” His dad answered, “I always had a chair with your name on it.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
Once you know that story, or if you’ve lived a story like that one, you can appreciate a place that offers a chair with your name on it as a slogan, and that place for people in drug addiction recovery in California is Alano. There are countless of them listed on the Alanoclub.com website, and if you want an official number there are 290 listed by the Internal Revenue Service qualified as 501-c-3 charitable, non-for-profit organizations.
Alike, Yet Different
The Alano Clubs that provide services for those in alcohol and drug addiction recovery in California are not owned by any one person, nor are they affiliated with any other organization, including AA, NA, or any 12-step organization. They do, however, provide an opportunity for drug-free and alcohol-free socializing for their many members.
You’ll also find a formidable schedule of 12-step meetings offered at just about all of them, with meetings on the 12-step schedules open to anyone for the most part. While the clubs share the Alano name, they operate independently and offer services tailored to fit the specific types of the clients whom they attract. There are Alano Clubs where you can come and go basically as you please, and others that stick pretty much to their rules of membership.
For example, one club might not care if you come in for the meeting and then hang out afterward, order a hamburger, and enjoy some chitchat. Another club might post rules that non-members can only enter the club 15 minutes before meetings and stay for 15 minutes afterward. But membership fees seem to be inexpensive. If you go to a club in your neighborhood and you find an atmosphere that suits you socially, it’s well worth your while to join.
A Safe, Dry Place for Drug Addiction Recovery in California
Clubs like these make it possible for people to have fun without alcohol or drugs. For many people in alcohol and drug addiction recovery in California, the traditional drinking holidays make for a difficult time. Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo—those are the days when everybody leaves work talking about where they’re going to party that night. If you live in California and you’re in addiction recovery, you should try out one of the Alano Clubs.
They also take in people who are in crisis. If you’ve started to work on your alcohol or drug addiction recovery in California but you don’t have a sponsor yet—maybe you haven’t even tried a meeting yet—if you fear you’re going to relapse, or if you’re distraught, you can go to the Alano Club. As long as the place is open, there will undoubtedly be someone who can take you under their wing, tell you where the closest crisis place is, and just stay with you until you feel safe. They are not affiliated with any alcohol or drug addiction recovery treatment centers in California.
At the Alano Clubs’ website, you can choose the Directories tab from the bar under the words Alanoclubs.com. From there you can choose Search by Prov/State and use the drop-down window to select California. Then click Search. As you scroll down through the list of Alano Clubs, you will see that some provide a one- or two-sentence descriptor. The Alano Club for people in drug recovery in Stockton, for example, provides a sober environment for special events, dances, meals, and much more. There is an Alano Club in San Diego that welcomes anyone but especially serves the LGBT community. In Ceres, there are two 12-step meetings per day plus dances every Friday and Saturday.
Most of them seem willing to offer their facilities to any 12-step group that needs space or wants to hold a fundraiser or other special event for drug addiction recovery in California. Alano seems dedicated to any type of recovery—including heroin. When asked if they welcome Methadone Anonymous, they responded that anyone truly embracing recovery is welcome. If you’re in opiate or heroin drug addiction recovery in California, this might just be the place where you can finally enjoy a social life once again. A place where people will come to know your name, and a place where there is always a chair waiting for you.
Finding a place where you can meet people in a social setting can be difficult if you’ve just begun heroin treatment or prescription drug addiction recovery in California. The search option for Alano Clubs also reveals that they are located in other states as well. It’s worth reiterating that no treatment centers hold any affiliation with Alano Clubs including the treatment center sponsoring this webpage. Fact verification about these clubs—again, they are all formed independently and share only the fellowship suggested by the Alano name—ultimately depends upon your own exploration of and experiences with them.
