Dear Savannah Faith Leaders,
You are receiving this e-newsletter because we have designed it for you. This is our sixth edition.

If you are not a faith leader, you are probably in the helping professions and you asked to be included in this mailing. Welcome!
  

SAVE THIS DATE  —  PLEASE JOIN US:
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 16

for our first in-person luncheon and educational forum in many months at Congregation Mickve Israel, 20 East Gordon Street, Savannah. 
Registration 11:00 to 11:30, lunch and program follows: How to Speak About Addiction and Recovery From the Pulpit: a panel discussion by Savannah Faith Leaders. The program is free. In-person participants must be vaccinated. The program will also be live-streamed.
 

HAPPY, JOYOUS, AND FREE, continued    

    I grew up in an alcoholic family. For years, I did not seek any help, mainly because I didn’t know that I needed help. In my early 40’s, I began attending Al-Anon meetings.  Al-Anon is for all those who have been impacted by another’s substance abuse, usually drinking or drugs. A participant may be a parent, a child, a spouse, a friend. The program is life-changing whether the addict is still using or not. Al-Anon helped me come to terms with my mother’s disease, even though she had died years before. Through All-Anon, I was able to forgive my mother and understand that she could not give me love because she hadn’t received it herself. Al-Anon helped me gain a new perspective: my mother did the best she could with what she had. She was not a bad person; she was a person with a bad disease.

     I later discovered that ACA would better meet my needs because it deals with issues that come out of being raised in a dysfunctional family of neglect, any type of abuse ( verbal, emotional, substance, sexual), hypercritical parent(s), abandonment, and more. Al-Anon does not necessarily dig deep into childhood experiences, but that is the whole purpose of ACA.  People in ACA examine their childhood and identify the ways that we have been damaged. Because of that damage, we have developed coping strategies to help us get through life.

The Laundry List:

1.  We became isolated and afraid of people and authority figures.
2. We became approval-seekers and lost our identity in the process.
3. We are frightened by angry people and /or any personal criticism
4. We become alcoholics ourselves, marry one, or both, or find another compulsive personality to fulfill our sick abandonment issues.
5. We live life from the viewpoint of victims, and we are attracted to that weakness in our love and friendship relationships.
6. We have an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, and it is easier for us to be concerned with others rather than with ourselves; this enables us not too look too closely to our own faults.
7. We get guilt feelings when we stand up for ourselves instead of giving in to others.
8. We become addicted to excitement.
9. We confuse love and pity and therefore we tend to “Love” people that we can “pity” and “rescue.”
10. We have “stuffed” our feelings from our traumatic childhoods and have lost the ability to feel or express our feelings because it hurts so much. We in ACA call this Denial.
11. We judge ourselves harshly and have a very low sense of self-esteem.
12. We are dependent personalities who are terrified of abandonment and will do anything to hold on to a relationship in order to not experience painful abandonment feelings (which we received from living with sick people who were never there for us emotionally).
13.  Addiction is a family disease, and we became para-addicts, taking on the characteristics even though we did not pick up a drink or a drug.
14. Para-addicts are reactors rather than actors.

 
     If you feel that you are an Adult Child, our ACA group meets on Thursdays at 6:30 PM @ ConneXion Church, Savannah. Look on the website: Adultchildren.org. Find a meeting or more detailed information.

     Our ultimate goal is to live lives that are happy, joyous, and free. All are welcome to join me on the journey !
 

 The descriptive words for newcomers ring true: “In the beginning, many
of us could not recognize or accept that some of our current attitudes or behaviors result from some experience related to alcoholism or dysfunction in our childhood.  We behave as Adult Children, which means we bring self-doubt and fear learned in childhood into our adult interactions.”

       I grew up in an alcoholic family. For years, I did not seek any help, mainly because I didn’t know that I needed help. In my early 40’s, I began attending Al-Anon meetings.  Al-Anon is for all those who have been impacted by another’s substance abuse, usually drinking or drugs. A participant may be a parent, a child, a spouse, a friend. The program is life-changing whether the addict is still using or not. Al-Anon helped me come to terms with my mother’s disease, even though she had died years before. Through All-Anon, I was able to forgive my mother and understand that she could not give me love because she hadn’t received it herself. Al-Anon helped me gain a new perspective: my mother did the best she could with what she had. She was not a bad person; she was a person with a bad disease. 

                     NEW RAPID RESPONSE TEAM LAUNCH THIS FALL

We will soon send to all Faith Leaders who are receiving this newsletter, emergency information and contact names and phone numbers of our team members whom they can call at any time.
  

    My husband and I are both in long term recovery from addiction and alcoholism; we now spend our lives helping others find freedom as well.

     Finally, befriend the recovery fellowships that are out there in the larger community.   A.A. is a huge part of many people’s recovery: offer to have an AA or NA meeting in your church.  We have a heroin anonymous meeting here in Parkersburg, WV  at a faith community building ; the church leaders cook for us once a month and make arrangements to host a small meet-and-greet. The group is held every Monday with a regular attendance of over 100. We are so thankful for that church and the part they have played in a countless number of peoples’ lives. Could your faith community replicate this?

 
FOLLOW THIS LINK TO OUR VALUABLE PRESENTATION:

https://fb.watch/8idwRAFhFA/

In September, Carol Pine and Susan Becker of the Interfaith Addiction and Recovery Coalition were invited to make a presentation to the congregation of First African Baptist Church in Savannah. The presentation and discussion was lively, informative and helpful.

       Rebecca Burkhart is a PreK-8th grade School Counselor in Savannah Chatham County Public School System. Serving as state Elementary Liaison for Georgia School CounselorAssociation, she is passionate about best practices for students. She is the proud mother to an elementary school student of her own.

Local Help With Childhood Trauma

      In our last newsletter edition, we learned more about childhood trauma and how it can lead to addiction. We now know that health conditions, unemployment, addictions, and alcoholism in adulthood can be linked to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs for short). People with a higher ACE score are more at risk for several health and social problems throughout their lifespan (Iniguez & Strankowski, 2016). To determine a generalized ACE score, there is a 10 question checklist. An online version can be found at www.stopabusecampaign.org by clicking on the link “Check Your ACE Score.” See the infographic provided to get an overview of ACEs. 

Frederick Douglas said “It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken adults.” In Savannah, we are fortunate to have many amazing local resources to help in that task of developing children of all ages. The list below are some of the excellent resources in our community:

• Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council– provides Prevent Suicide Today workshops, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) trainings,  and Mindful Self Compassion classes, connects families to healthy resources- www.chathamsafetynet.org
•  
• Gateway’s Georgia Apex Program– increases access to mental health services for school-aged youth- https://dbhdd.georgia.gov 
•  
• Georgia Crisis & Access Line– immediate crisis help 24/7- 1-800-715-4225- can link to local therapists
•  
• Greenbriar Children’s Center– emergency shelter for children and adolescents, also provides affordable childcare- www.greenbriarchildrenscenter.org 
•  
• Girls on the Run– girl empowerment school programs- www.girlsontherun.org
•  
• HERO- Health Effective Resource Organization Database– partnered with St. Joseph’s/Candler African American Health Information & Resource Center- www.herohelpme.com
•  
• Hospice Savannah Full Circle– grant funded grief support for children and adults, individuals and groups, survivors of suicide support groups. Camp Aloha- weekend camp for children dealing with a loss, “We the Living” support group for children affected by gun violence. www.hospicesavannah.com/fullcircle
•  
• Loop It Up Savannah– an organization which brings art and creativity to Savannah’s youth- https://www.loopitupsavannah.com 
•  
• Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire– parent/teen mediation, parenting workshops, peer mediation training, BRAVE programming for children- Building Relationships And Voicing Emotions- https://mediationsavannah.com 
•  
• Parent University– community collaborative with the Savannah Chamber to support families through workshops and family events- www.parentuniversitysav.org
•  
• Park Place Outreach- temporary residential program for youth, Street Outreach Program for homeless youth, awareness education- www.parkplaceyes.org 
•  
• Prevention by RCC, Rape Crisis Center of the Coastal Empire– excellent prevention educators can provide grant funded lessons/workshops for youth and families on various topics related to personal safety, friendships, bully prevention, and more. 
•  
• Social Apostolate of Savannah– employment services (good for struggling parents to get back on their feet), grocery assistance, school uniform vouchers, soup kitchen, thrift store- https://socialapostolate.org 
•  
• The Front Porch– community counseling for youth, support services for families- https://www.facebook.com/TFPSavannah/ 
•  
• 100 Black Men of Savannah– mentoring for boys- https://100blackmensav.org/ 

The above infographic is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a network increasing awareness and understanding of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the need to develop innovative interventions. 
https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/infographics/the-truth-about-aces.html 

Source:
Iniguez, K. C., & Stankowski,, R. v. (2016). Adverse Childhood Experiences and Health in Adulthood in a Rural Population-Based Sample. https://doi.org/10.3121/cmr.2016.1306 

       “THINKING is difficult; that’s why most peope judge.”  Carl Jung.

LET’S    ELIMINATE    THE    STIGMA !

        They love the best who love with compassion.

                                                                                                      ~ Ellen Anne Hill

Lucky indeed is the person who is loved by those with compassion. Hard indeed is the lot of those loved by rigid boundaries, quick judgments, and a small sense of humanity.

I am aware that life is difficult for everyone. Today, I will be especially sensitive and kind.
 
Today’s Gift Book       
Today’s reading is from the book Days of Healing, Days of Joy, Daily Meditations for Adult Children

WE SEEK YOUR INPUT: —  LET US KNOW  

A topic I’d like to hear more about in the IARC Newsletter is:
____________________________________________________________________

Send your response to:  ardra.kh@gmail.com  or  Carol@Pineandpartners.com 

IF YOU APPRECIATE OUR WORK….
          Please consider a tax-deductible donation to the Interfaith Addiction and Recovery Coalition. We are a totally volunteer-run organization, and we have been granted our official 501c3 charitable designation by the State of Georgia and the U.S. Federal government. 

          If you wish to make a donation, please mail a check to the Interfaith Addiction and Recovery Coalition, care of our Secretary/Treasurer Susan Becker, 211 Grist Mill Drive, East Acworth, GA 30101

          We thank you.