Bridging The Gap Volunteer

This is a service of Alcoholics Anonymous and is not connected with any treatment facility or institution.

Welcome
Volunteer

Dear AA Member,

One way that you can be of service to Alcoholics Anonymous is to become a volunteer for the Bridging the Gap program. Do Twelfth Step work for another alcoholic who is reaching out.

The Bridging the Gap program (BTG) volunteer helps connect a newcomer to Alcoholics Anonymous. When someone contacts A.A. for help we match that person to a temporary contact. The temporary contact volunteer arranges to attend a variety of A.A. meetings with this newcomer introducing him/her to other A.A. members. This temporary support can sometimes make all the difference in attracting the newcomer to what A.A. in our area has to offer.

As the volunteer you extend your hand and carry the A.A. message to a newcomer (or a member that has relapsed).

Into Action

Temporary Contact Suggestions

Volunteer Guidelines

Volunteer Form

Please help with this important Twelve Step work.

Thank you for your service to
Alcoholics Anonymous

Questions, comments, or to request more information, please contact us at: Bridging@District32aa.org

Prefer putting pen to paper? Mail to:

BTG District 32
PO BOX 4722
Federal Way, WA 98063

Into Action

  1. Fill out the volunteer form enclosed. That information will go to the Bridging the Gap (BTG) coordinator.
  2. The BTG coordinator will use your information to pair you (the volunteer) with a newcomer who has asked for an A.A. member to help them connect to A.A. meetings. The BTG coordinator will give you basic information about the newcomer. Make initial contact as soon as possible. The shared information will give you a preferred method of contact (phone call, text, email).
  3. Make arrangements for the first meeting. If meeting online, share the meeting entry information accurately. For an in-person meeting, be explicit about where to meet (parking lot, inside, picking them up). Experience suggests that it is best to have another A.A. member come with you if you offer to drive someone to a meeting.
  4. At the meeting introduce the newcomer to as many A.A. members as possible and help them get phone numbers.
  5. Invite and attend with them the fellowship before/after the meeting.
  6. Answer any questions they may have based on your experience. Help them with meeting and online etiquette.
  7. Make sure the new member knows how to find meeting information, and A.A. literature.
  8. Arrange to attend additional meetings together. Encourage the newcomer to choose the meetings, and to find a sponsor and home group. Attend a variety of meetings.
  9. Please reach out for any help you may need: Bridging@District32aa.org

Temporary Contact Suggestions

  • Share your experience, strength, and hope with the newcomer. Be friendly, interested and relaxed. Your role is to share our fellowship rather than to “sell it”. Attraction rather than promotion.
  • Be explicit that your time with them is temporary. You can use good recovery related judgment about when to end the contact. Attempt to attend between 2 and 3 meetings in the first two-weeks, and up to 6 or 7 meetings total. Contact can also end once the new member has found a temporary or long-term sponsor. You can then choose to be a temporary contact for another person.
  • Alcoholics Anonymous and you are not responsible to provide housing, food, clothing, jobs, transportation, money, online devices or other welfare or social services. If you do offer any of these is it strictly your choice.
  • Do not give any advice that can be taken as medical, therapeutic, religious, or vocational counseling.
  • If the newcomer has a relapse, you are not to blame. You cannot keep another alcoholic sober, only yourself. Stay the course of your recovery and make a program-based decision about whether to maintain further contact.
  • Some newcomers might want to attend meetings in their community of residence which may be outside of the district. The BTG coordinator can help you find those meetings.

Volunteer Guidelines

  • Bridging the Gap is not to be confused with sponsorship. The intent is to provide the newcomer with your support for a limited time.
  • Remember that you are representing A.A. How you look, act, and talk is a reflection of our fellowship.
  • Respect the anonymity of the newcomer.
  • Keep the general conversation limited to A.A. related matters, avoiding any criticism or opinions about the newcomer’s situation. Volunteers need to adhere to any rules that apply to the newcomer’s housing requirements.
  • A.A. experience suggests that men work with men, women work with women.
  • It is suggested that volunteers have one year of continuous sobriety and/or have completed the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
  • In all contacts it is extremely important to be on time.

Greater Seattle Intergroup

Call (206) 567-2838, 24-hours a day to talk to a sober alcoholic

To help, contact: NightWatch@SeattleAA.org