Gilmer area group still meeting, but without a regular location
An Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group that serves the Gilmer County area is searching for a new, and hopefully long-term, place to meet.
The group had been holding meetings at a regular location, which recently became unavailable, said a longtime member of the addiction support group who, in keeping with AA’s recognized traditions, preferred to remain anonymous.
“This is our last week there whether we have a place to meet or not,” he said.
Before then, the group met at different local churches and facilities, but, due the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, several venues that previously offered space for those meetings are not allowing group functions or gatherings.
Prior to the virus prompting closings and subsequent restrictions, at least one AA group meeting was scheduled for each day of the week at multiple venues in the county. During the pandemic, the group has also been hosting some of its meetings virtually with the Zoom teleconferencing app.
Holding virtual meetings has helped some who need to attend and have health issues that keep them homebound, but having a set, regular meeting place generally helps encourage fellowship and sharing, both of which are important components of recovery, confirmed the longtime member.
“It’s much better that way,” he added. “In the Zoom meetings, we do see and talk to one another, but, with everybody being in their living rooms, it loses something. We’ve also been meeting down at Harrison Park and will continue to do that.”
The local AA group does use safety measures including wearing facemasks and distancing during meetings, he noted.
“We try to keep the meetings smaller now than we used to,” the member said.
AA groups are required to pay rent for their meeting space, but they often depend on landlords who offer reasonable, affordable rates. Meetings are typically around an hour long and they can be scheduled around the needs and requirements of host venues.
The local group welcomes input from anyone who owns a building or meeting space they are willing to rent for a nominal fee.
“It could also be a community-minded person who’s associated with a church, a school or the county or just anyone who supports this kind of activity,” the member said.
“They used to have basement rooms in the old courthouse and lot of (AA) groups do meet in courthouse basements, as well as church basements. That’s been a trademark of AA since the very beginning,” he added.
The longtime member who is fielding the task of trying to secure a new home for the local group meetings said he’s sought support through those meetings since 1989 here and since 1984 in total. AA meetings have been held in the county for much longer than that, since the 1970s, he added.
“AA was started by a guy named Bill Wilson and a doctor from Ohio named Bob Schmidt way back in the ‘30s. There was a writer who wrote for the Saturday Evening Post and he wrote an article about AA that was a big factor in it spreading all over,” he said.
“In AA, there’s nobody in charge or senior to anybody else. We’re not organized in the traditional sense with a CEO at the top. It’s an upside-down organization. You flip that classic pyramid and we, the members, are at the top. The only requirement is a desire to stop drinking. If someone has that desire, they are welcome to come to the meetings. Older members sponsor the newcomers.”
He fears the longer the group goes without a stable, indoor meeting place, the more difficulties will increase for those who depend on the meetings to curb their addiction.
“AA considers it (alcoholism) a terminal disease. If we don’t get help, we will die from the disease,” he said.
Property owners and interested parties who would like to discuss the possibility of renting a location for Gilmer County Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or anyone who would like to provide details about a potential meeting place can do so by calling 706-276-3765 or emailing
rvs@ellijay.com.