Purpose
The primary purpose of a Treatment Committee is the same throughout the United States and Canada, to carry the A.A. message to the alcoholic who still suffers. There is probably no better place for an A.A. member to find a suffering alcoholic than in a treatment facility or outpatient treatment setting.
Since its beginning in 1935, the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous has cooperated with treatment facilities. Bill W. himself was a product of a treatment facility—Towns Hospital in New York City. After he had finally put together several months of sobriety, Bill returned to Towns to try to work with other alcoholics. This was the beginning of A.A.’s Twelfth Step work in hospitals.
After he sobered up, Dr. Bob, a surgeon, realized the need for an alcoholism ward at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, where he worked. With the loving assistance and dedication of Sister Ignatia, Dr. Bob established a ward for alcoholics; together, they reached over 5,000 alcoholics.
The principle of carrying the A.A. message to other alcoholics was fundamental to the recovery and continued sobriety of A.A.’s co-founders and early A.A. members. Today, through the practice of this principle—the Twelfth Step—A.A. has grown and the A.A. message has been carried around the world. A.A.s who carry the message into treatment facilities and outpatient settings continue to follow the path for sobriety laid out by A.A.’s co-founders. These A.A.s help alcoholics in treatment recover through the A.A. program and find happy, useful, sober lives.
If you want to work with Alcoholics in Treatment Centers, please Email: treatment@area26.net
One of the ways to do service work within the Treatment committee is to be a temporary contact in the Bridging the Gap program.
For more information about Treatment Committees and their work in your community, please see the following literature:
A.A. Guidelines on Treatment Committees