Updated letter from DRA's founder to the Fellowship 11/2001

Today, our Fellowship continues to grow. We recognize that more people have joined our Fellowship and started meetings. We also recognize that more people want to learn about DRA and attend or start new meetings. Clearly, the growth of our Fellowship will continue to be an ongoing process. Developing our Network for Unity and Service will be an important part of that process.

Unity means uniting for a common purpose: To help one another achieve dual recovery and to prevent relapse.

Service means DRA Service Work: We carry our message and provide support to
other people who experience dual disorders.

Network means connecting: We are connecting or drawing together DRA members
and Groups to develop the working structure of DRA.

Vision of DRA members, forming Groups to provide Service Work.

Vision of Groups, helping members learn how to form and maintain active Groups.

Vision of our Fellowship, members and Groups, working together to coordinate and provide activities and Service Work at the community, state and national levels.

DRA GROUPS AND GROUP CONSCIENCE: Principles To Build On

DRA Groups: Our Groups provide a way for us to work in unity as a team. Our Steps and Traditions help us as we form and maintain active Groups. Our Steps help us identify and strengthen our personal assets. Our assets are our positive abilities, experiences and skills, which we learn to use in our dual recovery. In recovery, we have opportunities to use our assets to help other people. Our Traditions also help us. They help us recognize that we are all equal partners in dual recovery. As equal partners, we share in the process of forming and maintaining active Groups. We share in the opportunity to volunteer, perhaps serving as a Group Officer or in another service position. We may volunteer to organize and participate in Group activities. We share in the opportunity to participate with the Group and in Service Work.

Group Conscience: Our Group activities and Service Work are guided by the principles of our Fellowship (Preamble, Steps and Traditions) and our Group Conscience. They help us in practical ways and in our planning, problem solving and decision-making. Equally important, they help us develop and maintain Group unity. The foundation for Groups to remain active and focused.

Group Service Work: There are many types of Group Service Work, and they all have one thing in common. They benefit Group members, newcomers, and the Fellowship as a whole. Service Work includes all activities to enhance Group unity, to carry the message of recovery, and to provide support. DRA meetings are only one example.

• DRA Meetings: Group members volunteer to start and provide meetings. The Group is an important resource for meetings. Over time, concerns and challenges may occur within a meeting. The Group offers an opportunity for members to work together to develop positive ways to address concerns, as concerns begin to arise. The Group provides a resource to help the meetings maintain a positive focus and unity.

• DRA Hospital and Institution (H&I) Meetings: H&I meetings are provided by Groups or Intergroups. The meetings are provided to people who are currently in hospitals, treatment centers, correctional facilities or other institutional settings. Groups may form an H&I Committee, with several members participating to provide meetings. An H&I meeting may provide the first introduction to DRA for people who are currently in an institutional setting. The Group will need to learn the regulations and guidelines their members will need to follow to provide an H&I meeting in a particular facility. Clearly, H&I meetings are important. They require the special attention of a Group in order to establish and maintain a positive working relationship with each institution. For those reasons, H&I meetings should always be arranged, coordinated and provided through a DRA Group or Area Intergroup.

• DRA Sponsorship Principles and Suggestions: DRA Sponsorship is the process of helping another person who has expressed a desire to recover within our Fellowship. An important Sponsorship principle is helping another person develop his or her own program for dual recovery "…the one that is most meaningful." (Preamble). Perhaps Sponsorship is similar to coaching another person in dual recovery. We provide opportunities to help them personally learn about DRA’s "tools" for recovery. Those "tools" include our Steps, meetings, and friendships in our Fellowship. As they begin to learn about the DRA "tools", we provide support as they develop their "skills" to use their "tools", in their own dual recovery. Sponsorship provides an important opportunity to help another person who is in the process of finding and following their own path to dual recovery within our Fellowship.

Group Activities: Groups may decide to organize and provide activities. Activities may include: parties, dances, outings, picnics, potluck dinners, DRA Conferences, etc. A Group may also decide to produce their own newsletter, which may begin as a single page, and include personal stories, poems, letters, artwork, and meeting information.

DEVELOPING OUR NETWORK: Fellowship Opportunities

Our Group Information Exchange and Information Support will be important steps in developing our Fellowship’s Network for Unity and Service.

Unity & Growth: Networking will provide a way to help members and Groups, within the same state or region, to contact one another. Through our Network, members and Groups will be able to work together.

Service and Support: Networking will help us expand our opportunities to provide Service Work. As newcomers contact us, we will provide start up packets. Their calls will initially be returned by our DRA Call Response Group. This Group will help newcomers connect with the DRA Group in their local community or region. The local Group will connect with the newcomer and provide the information and support that newcomers need, especially if they wish to form a Group and begin a meeting.

Today, the Network for Unity and Service is a personal Vision and Hope. It is a Vision of opening new opportunities for our Fellowship to join together. We will join together to build the working structure for DRA. We will join together to support one another. We will join together and celebrate our dual recovery. The Vision is expanding our ability to help more people through Group Service Work. The Hope is knowing that it is believable and achievable.

Yours in Dual Recovery,

Tim Hamilton
DRA