The 2007 LifeRing Congress program is taking shape.  Our guest speaker is a distinguished author and trainer and expert in Motivational Interviewing, one of the premier non-Step approaches in modern chemical dependency and mental health treatment.  She is Michele Packard, Ph.D. (right), Executive Director of Sage Institute in Boulder, CO.  Website.  Dr. Packard is a licensed psychologist and certified addictions counselor with over 20 years in the mental health field. She is co-author of a chapter titled Innovations in the Treatment of Dual Disorders in the 2nd edition of Motivational Interviewing, as well as author of a number of other articles.  More detail.  The LifeRing Service Center is asking for LifeRing members' suggestions for additional program offerings. 

A feature article about LifeRing appeared in the Nanaimo (British Columbia, Canada) Daily News Nov. 8, thanks to B.C. LifeRing convenor Jack McNeil's effort to publicize the Nanaimo LifeRing meeting's new time and meeting place (see below).  The article showed a photo of Jack, who has 54 years clean and sober, under the headline, "Addictions can be overcome without guilt, says group."  The article quotes LifeRing participant "Jane" as saying "traditional 12-step programs place too much guilt on people trying to recover from addictions."  It also quotes LifeRing participant "Wayne" saying that "I didn't want that notion of powerlessness dragging me down any more."  Jack is quoted as saying that the secret of LifeRing's success is its secular nature.  "It isn't a spiritual group and it doesn't have religious aspects to it.  It's empowering when you take responsibility for yourself and do something about your problem."  A scan of the article is here.

The Tuesday LifeRing in Nanaimo, B.C. (Canada) is moving its location from the Harbourside Hotel to the Mental Health and Addictions Center, 3151 Barons Road, in the Birch Room.  The starting time of the meeting is also moving from the evening to 3:00 in the afternoon.  The new time and place will take effect on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. For more information, contact Jack McNeil, B.C. convenor, at 877.752.1058 or jr.mcneil@shaw.ca [11/2/06]

A new LifeRing Meeting is starting in the Austin/Cedar Park, Texas area.  The Meetings will be from 9 - 10 am every Saturday beginning on Sat. Oct 21, 2006.  We will be meeting in room 103 of the Live Oak UU Church bldg.  My name is Don and I have been sober for twenty years. I will be the convenor for the meetings until we can get a volunteer that can take over those duties. The address is Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church, 3315 El Salido Parkway, Cedar Park, TX 78613.  Please contact me if you need any other information. -- Don Sullivan, 512 692 7132 or email coachdonsul@yahoo.com .  [10/17/06]

Three short interviews with LifeRing members broadcast on XM Satellite Radio are now posted and available for online listening on unhooked.com. John G., a Lifering participant in the San Francisco Bay Area, speaks about his participation in LifeRing online. Gillian E., former Secretary and Member of the Board of Directors of LifeRing, speaks about building personal recovery programs.  LifeRing author and current CEO Marty N. speaks about getting sober in LifeRing.  Christopher Springmann, producer of the Life, Love and Health radio series, conducts the interviews.  The Ellenby Trust provided underwriting.  The interviews were broadcast during the summer.  Thanks to Christopher for making the audio files available for posting here.  -- MN 10/11/06

A local power grid failure plus a malfunction in the Internet Service Provider's power backup systems knocked unhooked.com off the net for several hours on Thursday, Oct. 6.  For the ISP's explanation, click here. [10/7/06]

If anybody is in the Lebanon/Lancaster, Pennsylvania area who would like to attend a LifeRing meeting, please contact Tim at timschoice@hotmail.com  for information concerning the new upcoming meeting.  [Tim M., 10/3/06]

LifeRing Press has come out with Presenting LifeRing -- a Primer for Treatment Professionals, an introduction to LifeRing in magazine format, aimed at addiction counselors. The publication features an article about LifeRing co-authored by William L. White (Slaying the Dragon) and LifeRing CEO Marty N., previously published in Counselor, the Magazine for Addiction Professionals. The glossy, illustrated new publication replaces the former Presenting LifeRing Secular Recovery book, which is sold out.

The new Presenting LifeRing publication is offered free to addiction professionals.  If you are an addiction pro, you can either mail in your business card and a copy will be mailed to you; or you can order online, choose the "Free to Professionals" option on the online order form, and enter a business address in the "Ship To" fields.  LifeRing convenors can obtain bulk quantities for distribution to local treatment professionals at the cost of shipping; contact the LifeRing Service Center with your needs. Others pay $5 per copy.  The complete new publication is also available for download as a PDF. 

The contact person is Barbara.  The contact phone number is the switchboard at Pacific Spirit:  604-267-3970.  [D.R., 9/28/06]

LifeRing convenors Kathleen G. (Denver) and Marty N. (Oakland) staffed the LifeRing exhibit booth (right) at the annual joint conference of the National Association of Addiction Professionals (NAADAC), the California Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC) and the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Addiction Professionals (NALGAP), held at the airport Hilton in Burbank CA Sept. 27 - Oct. 1.  It was the first time LifeRing has participated in an addiction professionals' conference.  Read more.

The third printing of the Recovery by Choice workbook is now in stock at LifeRing Press. The previous edition is completely sold out, and all orders received after Sept. 26 will be filled with the new printing.  The third printing has a new cover (left) and new typefaces, as well as some upgrades in production quality.  Apart from correction of typographical errors and a few minor editorial changes, the content of the new printing is identical to the popular second edition.  For photos of LifeRing Press volunteers stocking the new edition, click here. For more details about the changes in the third edition, click here.  [MN 9/26/06]

The LifeRing concept is beginning to penetrate the American Midwest, if a recent article in the Peoria (IL) Star-Journal is any indication.  In a listing of recovery resources at the end of a five-part series on addiction, it says:

"LifeRing Secular Recovery, 1440 Broadway, Suite 312, Oakland, CA 94612-2023; (510) 763-0779 or (800) 811-4142; www.unhooked.com: A California nonprofit that promotes an alternative to spiritual 12-step programs, with groups worldwide. Meetings are led by peer volunteers and give-and-take dialogue is encouraged, as opposed to the 12-step's uninterrupted monologue."  -- Thanks, Mark L. for spotting this item. 

A new Recovery By Choice workbook study group is starting Tuesday evenings at the LifeRing Service Center in Oakland.  The group will pick up from the original workbook study group that closed for the summer, but with a new format.  Workbook author and study group leader Marty N. says the new group will basically do the highlights of one chapter of the workbook each week.  The plan is to complete the cycle in 13 weeks so that there will be four study cycles per year.  Because the cycle repeats, people can join in at any point.  The group starting time is tentatively set for 6:45 p.m. (and not 5:30 p.m. as was indicated in some of the early printed Fall meeting schedules).  It will go for 45 minutes only.  The LifeRing Service Center is at 1440 Broadway in downtown Oakland, five blocks from the Kaiser Chemical Dependency Recovery Program at 969 Broadway.  You can download a flyer about the new group (PDF).  Please call 1-800-811-4142 if you want further information.  [MN 9/12/06 updated 9/16]

The 2007 LifeRing Congress will take place from Friday May 4 through Sunday May 6, 2007, at the First Unitarian Church at 1400 Lafayette St. in Denver, the local organizing committee has announced. Watch this space for more information as the date moves nearer. [8/20/06]

The updated LifeRing Bylaws booklet, containing all amendments to the LifeRing constitution through the 2006 Congress, is now available from LifeRing Press.  The publication is a 12-page half-sheet booklet.  A PDF file suitable for downloading and printing is posted on the LifeRing Press website.  A printed and bound copy can be obtained for $1 via online payment using Visa/MC.  Convenors of LifeRing meetings may obtain a free copy by contacting the LifeRing Service Center.  [8/16/06]

A new LifeRing meeting began Thursday July 27 at the Kaiser Permanente Chemical Dependency Recovery Program in Stockton, CA. The meeting will convene every Thursday evening from 7:10 to 8:10 p.m. in Group Room 4 of the Kaiser facility, located at 1305 Tommydon Street.  Click for map.  Steve W. is the founding convenor.  

The second in a new series of LifeRing mailings to treatment professionals was completed today, targeted at providers in the Denver metropolitan area and in San Mateo County, California.  LifeRing volunteers in Denver supplemented the list of licensed treatment professionals provided by the federal government with more than 75 names of psychologists and other counselors culled from the local phone book and from referrals by patients.  There are now four LifeRing meetings in Denver with signs of more to come.  The mailing to San Mateo county was in support of the meeting in Burlingame.  Gail C., convenor of the Burlingame LifeRing, said that response to the first mailing was excellent, and that the meeting, which had been struggling, now has strong attendance.  A copy of the current mailing is here.  Information about the earlier mailing is here.  Four additional mailings are planned in the current series.  The mailing was produced, addressed, folded and tabbed entirely in house by volunteers at the LifeRing Service Center in Oakland.  [MN 7/8/06]

A membership fund appeal has been started to have LifeRing represented at the annual conference of addiction counselors in Burbank CA at the end of September.  "Pass the Hat -- Send LifeRing to Burbank" collects funds to pay for an exhibit table for LifeRing and conference registration for at least one LifeRing representative at the annual event.  Sponsors of the conference are NAADAC (National Association forAddiction Professionals) and its California affiliate CAADAC together with NADALG, the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Addiction Professionals.  The event takes place at the Hilton Burbank Airport and Convention Center in Burbank, CA, from Sept. 28 - Oct 1 this year.  "This will be an excellent opportunity for LifeRing to get exposure to addiction treatment professionals nationwide," said Carola Z., former LifeRing CFO, on behalf of the LifeRing Fundraising Committee.  So far, $250 has been donated and an estimated $1000 is required. "We urge individuals who have a little extra to send in checks, and we ask meeting convenors to pass the basket a second time to underwrite LifeRing's costs at the event."  Checks may be sent to the LifeRing Service Center, or donations can be made via credit card online.  More information about the conference is here.

A LifeRing meeting is under construction in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area.  Persons interested in being part of the new effort please contact John B. at 602-545-7947 or john@jdbrooks.com. -- MN 6/23/06

Denver Will Host
'07 LifeRing Congress

The 2007 LifeRing Congress will take place in Denver CO, the LifeRing Board of Directors decided at its meeting on May 15, 2006.  The Board accepted a proposal from LifeRing convenor Kathleen G. in Denver to host the annual get-together. The date will be either the last weekend in April or the first weekend in May; the Denver LifeRing Congress organizing committee is checking into availability of venues and will announce the date shortly. There are now four LifeRing meetings in the Denver metropolitan area.  Also under consideration for the 2007 event were Seattle and Philadelphia.  Convenors John R. and Denise S. of the Telford PA LifeRing meeting (near Philadelphia) threw Philadelphia's hat into the ring for the annual Congress in 2009. By custom, the event is held in Northern California in even-numbered years. -- MN 6/22/06

A guest commentary by Sam Houx, director of counseling at the Schick-Shadel Hospital in Seattle, kicks off the new LifeRing Blog section added to unhooked.com by LifeRing convenor Mark Leone of Walnut Creek CA. Additional material by LifeRing CEO Marty N., including two earlier posts published under the "In My Personal Opinion" heading, also appears in the new blogs section. Additional blog contributors are sought. 

The site now also features RSS feeds for Bulletin Board items (this column).  Clicking on the logos for Google, Yahoo, MSN or AOL (on the Start Page or above) will set up an automatic link whereby new LifeRing news items will be "pushed" to the user's home page provided by those respective online services. 

Also featured will be a short three-part audio series about LifeRing professionally produced by Christopher Springmann, producer of the Life, Love and Health series (www.lifeloveandhealth.com) and broadcast on XM Satellite Radio.  Each 90-second segment contains excerpts from Springmann's interviews with LifeRing members. The segment with LifeRing CEO Marty N. will air in June and is now available on unhooked.com.  Segments featuring former LifeRing Board Member and Secretary Gillian Ellenby and new LifeRing member and chat host John G. will follow in a few weeks.  -- MN 6/22/06

The www.unhooked.com website celebrated ten years on the web on June 9, 2006.  The site began as a one-page news bulletin serving the handful of meetings of LifeRing's predecessor organization in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area.  The original news items can still be viewed at the bottom of the 1996 Bulletin Board page.  The site was one of the earliest recovery sites on the web, and it quickly found an echo. Thanks largely to the email list Tom Shelley had started the year before,
people from cities outside the Bay Area picked up on it and started sending in items, and it became an online meeting place and rallying point for secular recovery activists all over the country and abroad. 

Today, www.unhooked.com is something of a monster: 178 MB large, consisting of 4,486 files, of which 1,703 are pictures. There are 17,034 hyperlinks, of which 2,596 lead to external pages. Hundreds of people have contributed material or updates to www.unhooked.com; you can read many of their names at http://unhooked.com/thanks.htm. The site has been a constant work in progress, with many hundreds of updates. An approximate update log is posted at http://unhooked.com/update.htm  and for the earlier years at  http://unhooked.com/site/update_log_archives.htm.  Unhooked.com today receives an average of 20,000 hits per day, and is in the front rank of recovery portals. Unhooked.com is for most people the gateway to all of LifeRing online, and for many people it is the gateway to recovery generally.

"On this ten-year anniversary, I'd like to get the broadest possible user input toward a major overhaul and redesign for unhooked.com," said webmaster Marty N. in an email message on the anniversary. "You're seeing some of the new stuff already; thanks to Mark Leone's tech-savvy intervention, unhooked.com now has a blog and RSS feeds, among other innovations. But it's time also for a major upgrade in content and in the look and feel." -- MN 6/9/06

The LifeRing Service Center in Oakland CA began a new series of mailings to treatment professionals on May 20 with a mailing to licensed treatment centers in the Denver area and to counselors in San Mateo County CA.  Each of the mail pieces featured the local meeting(s) in the area and encouraged treatment professionals to refer their clients/patients to the meeting.  For details, click here. 

• light data entry
• bank deposits and donation receipts
• paying bills and issuing checks (rent, telephone, etc.)
• filing

This requires about 2-3 hours of time per month up to as much time you would like to spend helping out in the Service Center.

If you're new to LifeRing and just beginning your recovery, this is a great way to get acquainted with LifeRing and meet new people. This can also boost your job skills and you can put it on your resume.

This will free up our accountant’s time from the routine tasks and will enable her to explore more fundraising and grant application opportunities for LifeRing.

If you're interested, please contact Carola Z. at cziermann@comcast.net or contact the Service Center Tel. 1-800-811-4142.  -- ML 5/20/2006

The volunteer forums at www.unhooked.com/forums provide another way for meeting convenors and other volunteers to share ideas and build a community. Thinking of volunteering?  Stop by and say hello! 
-- ML 5/12/2006

There is another LifeRing Group now in Vancouver.  It is Fridays from 6:30-7:30 pm. at Three Bridges Community Health Centre, 1290 Hornby St, Rm. 310. phone contact 604-714-3480. -- ML 5/11/2006

Scott M. will be starting a new meeting in Aurora, Colorado starting May 2nd (Tuesday). It will be held every Tuesday 6pm-7pm at the Aurora Central Public Library, 14949 E. Alameda Pkwy.  Contact Scott by email for more information. -- ML 4/24/06

Craig W. has created a new Yahoo e-mail group and is looking for LifeRingers to join it. It's called LSRemailpal and is intended to bring together in one place members willing to provide one-to-one support to people who seek it by writing to Craig from the unhooked.com website. Craig is seeking volunteers with several months of sobriety to provide support.  Contact Craig by email if you're interested. -- ML 4/15/06

The 2006 LifeRing Congress concluded Sunday March 26 with the election of four new members to an expanded Board of Directors. The delegates also voted unanimously to establish a Professional Advisory Board. The votes capped a morning of reports and discussion, and followed a full day of presentations and workshops keynoted by Catherine Trestrail, founder of A Positive Alternative in Seattle. The workshops and reports focused on the common theme of encouraging more LifeRing members to become convenors and to start additional meetings.  Reflecting the growth of the organization, the delegates voted unanimously to amend the LifeRing Bylaws to expand the Board of Directors to nine from seven members. Incumbent director Chet Gardiner was elected to another three-year term. Convenors Owen Poole of Concord CA and Deanna Hall of Benicia CA were elected to three-year terms. Convenor Mark Leone of Walnut Creek CA was elected to a two-year term. More detailed reports on the Congress, held in Berkeley CA, will appear in coming days.  -- MN 3/27/06

LifeRing Press this week issued LifeRing 101 -- the CD.  The first LifeRing Press audio-visual offering, this CD contains a 45-minute slide show talk by LifeRing author Marty N outlining the basic LifeRing meeting format, the fundamental tenets of LifeRing philosophy, the healing process at work in LifeRing meetings, and what LifeRing contributes to the recovery community.  Presented before a live audience of recovering people and treatment professionals at the 2002 LifeRing Congress, the talk was previously available only as two separate files: the slide show without the sound track, and the sound track without the slides. LifeRing convenor Jill T. in Western Australia engineered the two parts into one integrated sound-plus-slides presentation and produced this CD-Rom, which runs on any Windows PC using the widely available Real Player software (included on the disk).  The disk should be useful in graduate or undergraduate courses in addiction counseling, in treatment programs for their recovery film/tape hours, and in LifeRing meetings as a change of pace and for convenor training or as an introduction for newcomers.  The CD is available free to LifeRing Pioneers -- people starting new meetings.  It's included as a free bonus with every online full registration for the 2006 Congress.  Others pay $10 & S/H; order online using Visa/MC via LifeRing Press. 

The sixth and last in a series of LifeRing Service Center mailings aimed at licensed treatment facilities in support of the Los Angeles/Hollywood LifeRing meeting went to the Post Office this week.  The series consists of two-page flyers with a progressive set of messages to treatment professionals describing important features of the LifeRing approach.  Testimonials from local LifeRing participants form an important element of the messages.  A series of six mailings spaced out over three months was performed because direct-mail specialists say that it takes at least five mail pieces to begin to establish name recognition.  To view the complete set of flyers, click here (PDFs).  The LifeRing Service Center's nonprofit bulk mail permit, its new USPS-compliant mailing software, its dual duplex laser printers, and its folding and tabbing machines, all operated by volunteer labor (with special credit to Katie Frohmberg) produced the mail series. The Service Center plans to do a similar series of mailings in the Denver area and in the Seattle area in coming weeks, and is prepared to do the same for any LifeRing meeting in a metropolitan area containing more than 150 licensed facilities (the minimum required for a nonprofit bulk mailing).  -- 3/11/06

LifeRing convenors Jamie Spurgeon (San Francisco) and Marty Nicolaus (Oakland) presented LifeRing to a group of 12-17 year old residents of the Canyon Oaks Youth Center in Redwood City CA on Friday March 10.  It was the first LifeRing presentation at that facility, which is a highly structured residential program for teens with multiple psychiatric diagnoses who typically have failed in other treatment environments.  They seemed like perfectly nice kids to us and paid close attention to our stories, asked good questions, and showed keen interest in our literature. An AA speaker had been present the previous week.  Canyon Oaks staffer Jamie Matter, who also works in the addiction program at the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic in San Francisco, hosted the session. Matter remarked afterward that hearing the same message about the need for abstinence from drugs and alcohol from speakers with different philosophies such as AA and LifeRing probably made a stronger impression on the kids than hearing it from one angle alone. Canyon Oaks is the only county-run home of its kind in the State of California. It has beds for 12 residents.  Redwood City is a suburb approximately 25 miles south of San Francisco. -- M.N.  3/11/06

On February 6, the President released his FY 2007 budget request. In it, he recommended the elimination of the State Grants portion of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) program.  Eliminating this program would effectively remove federal funding for substance abuse prevention and intervention in the vast majority of the nation’s school systems. In FY 2006, the State Grants portion of the SDFSC program received an appropriation of $346.5 million. CADCA’s Public Policy Department is actively advocating for restoration of the $400 million, which was the House-passed level for FY 2006. -- From  CADCA Coalitions Online 3/2/06

A new LifeRing People's Calendar Page is now available on this website for online LifeRing participants to record their personal sobriety dates or other calendar information.  The idea for an online calendar page came from a group of LifeRing chat room participants, and LifeRing chat host Lisa M. stepped forward and volunteered to be Calendar Coordinator.  The new page is here.  To add, change, or delete items, email Lisa M.  -- 3/1/06

Should you have any questions, need additional information, or wish to volunteer, please don't hesitate to contact me at 603-313-8229.  -- Sarah, H., Convenor.  [3/1/06]

A new page on this web site features the beginnings of a collection of testimonials by LifeRing participants about their experience with the LifeRing approach. Testimonials are important in helping new people overcome their initial hesitation about becoming involved with something new.  If you would like to add your positive experiences with LifeRing to the new page, you can do so directly by typing into a form on the page.  Click to go there.  -- [Webmaster, 2/27/06]

Three proposals for consideration by Delegates at the upcoming LifeRing Congress have been posted on the Delegate's Page.  The proposals would (A) expand the Board of Directors from seven to nine members, (b) establish a Professional Advisory Board, and (c) require Delegates to have six months clean and sober.  Each of the motions requires a two-thirds majority of the Delegates.  LifeRing people having additional motions they wish to put before the Congress are asked to forward them as soon as possible to service@lifering.org       -- 2/26/06

I'm writing to let you know that I have gotten a space and that I have scheduled weekly meetings on Fridays from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, the beautiful facility of an open and affirming congregation at 906 Main St. in the center of Williamstown.  I am planning to hold the first meeting next week, on Friday, February 24. -- Steve D.  Please contact csdew2@aol.com. (413) 458-5171.

LifeRing is one of the recovery groups featured in the Jan. 18 issue of the East Bay Express, a San Francisco Bay Area free weekly newspaper. Under the headline "Recovery for the Rest of Us" on page 26, Express staffer Anneli Rufus writes, "Despite all assurances that 'higher power' can mean anything they want it to mean, some still find the twelve-step language chillingly churchy."  The article continues with a string of quotes from LifeRing CEO Marty N. outlining some aspects of the basic LifeRing approach.  In a sidebar on the following page, the newspaper describes LifeRing as "a non-twelve step program based on cooperative positive reinforcement with no religious dimension and with dozens of weekly local meetings."  An online version of the item is available; click here.  For a printer-friendly PDF download, click here. 

The first LifeRing meeting in Toronto (Ontario, Canada) is under construction.  Founding convenor Mark K. invites people interested in participating in the effort to please contact him.  Suggestions for suitable meeting locations are welcome.  Mark is available to give presentations about LifeRing to interested recovery audiences.  Please contact Mark at 905-235-0257 or markkarppinen@rogers.com. 

Hello, I've started a new LifeRing Website in Illinois, it's in the beginning stages, but have plenty of room to work. I'm also building a new road through the Kankakee River Valley Area and will eventually make it through the state. There is a large fork in the road here now, only one is marked, it says, That Way, the other "soon" to be marked will say, The LifeRing Way. Too many good people are getting lost traveling along the road to That Way. Drop in to the new site at www.liferingofillinois.org if you're in the Illinois area or not. You can attend meetings beginning Saturday, January 21st 7-9 pm (CST), using Flashchat, and every Saturday at the same time thereafter. There are a few signs up already, just look for the ones that say,"Sobriety", "Secularity" and "Self-Help" and I guarantee you will not get lost. You can E-Mail me if you like at webmaster@liferingofillinois.org  or call me at (815) 918-4460 Skype number, I'm Rodney S (if no answer please leave your name and number, I will call you back). I may be out working on the road and putting up signs. Hope to hear from you and will be getting face to face meetings started soon. Anyone in the area that has knowledge of roadwork contact me soon. Thank-You.  -- 1/13/06 

An article on LifeRing now appears in the Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that is the most heavily accessed site on the Internet. The article consists of the text and illustrations of the LifeRing brochure "Welcome to LifeRing."  LifeRing convenor Noe I., head of the LifeRing information office in Europe, took the initiative to post the article and illustrations on the WikiPedia web site. LifeRing participant Martin M. of Guelph, Ontario, installed links to the new article in the Wikipedia article on Alcoholism.  Click for the LifeRing article.  Click for the Alcoholism article.  Wikipedia main page in English.  -- 1/10/06

The new LifeRing Europe website (http://liferingeu.org) has opened up new discussion forums in four languages -- French, German, Italian, and Spanish in addition to English, its webmaster Noe I. has announced. Readers in these languages are invited to register and to participate in the bulletin-board style forum.  -- 1/10/06
 

A third LifeRing meeting has begun in the Denver CO area.  The new group's first meeting was on Wednesday December 21 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lafayette Public Library, 775 W. Baseline Rd., Lafayette.  The group will meet every Wednesday from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at that location.  Ted E. is the founding convenor.  Five people were in attendance on opening night. Lafayette is a northern suburb of Denver. For more information, contact Ted at 303-666-8335 or widbeyhuntertrudi@yahoo.com.  -- Kathleen G. in Denver.  12/22/05 

We now have a Skype Profile on LifeRing Europe, which will enable us to open online recovery and service meetings. Skype is a popular VoIP application (see www.skype.com) which allows users to talk through their internet connection for free if both parties use Skype and for a very small charge from PC to landline. This application allows Instant Messaging and they also recently added Video Conferencing to their services.

We choose this service because it offers a high quality sound, is free and offers several add-ons options such as voicemail, the purchase of a phone n° which is redirected to the Skype Profile, etc.

Our Skype Profile is liferingeu and our new phone n° is +44 20 8123 2039.
Both the Profile and the phone n° can be used for information. The Skype Profile will also be used to set up meetings. Further information on the latest will be published soon at LifeRing Europe.  -- Noe I. 12/20/05

Registration for the 2006 LifeRing Congress, the organization's fifth anniversary as a national body, is now open.  The venue is Berkeley, California.  Registrations can be accepted via Visa or MasterCard online (click for link) or via telephone at 1-800-811-4142.  The Congress begins with a reception on Friday night, March 24, 2006.  Saturday, March 25, will be a full day of presentations and workshops, kicked off by Catherine Trestrail CDP MSW ACSW, founder and director of A Positive Alternative and of Women's Recovery Center in Seattle.  Saturday evening will feature a banquet.  On Sunday morning, March 26, elected delegates from LifeRing meetings around the country will meet in the Delegates' Assembly.  All Congress events except the banquet will take place in the Mafly Conference Center in the basement of Herrick Hospital, 2001 Dwight Way, Berkeley.  For further information, see the '06 Congress pages of this website or contact the LifeRing Service Center 1-800-811-4142 or service@lifering.org. 

-- Noé I. , info@liferingeu.org  12/3/05

Seattle's second LifeRing meeting will begin Wednesday Dec. 7, and will meet every Wednesday thereafter from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Schick Shadel Hospital on Seattle's southwest side.  The hospital, one of the oldest addiction treatment centers in the nation, is located at 121 Ambaum Blvd S.W.  For further information, contact Sam Houx, Director of Counseling, at 1-800-272-8464 or samh@schickshadel.com.

The new meeting joins the Friday night LifeRing meeting, Seattle's first, which continues to meet at the Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., also at 6:30 p.m.  For information on the Friday night meeting, contact Paul at 206.789.0396.  -- 12/3/05