The purpose of our Intergroup is to more effectively reach the sex addict in the Orange County area who still suffers. We meet the second Thursday of each month from 7:15-8:30 p.m. in the Albright Room at the First Methodist Church of Costa Mesa, 420 W. 19th St., located at the end of the 55 Freeway across from Triangle Square. All SAA members are welcome to participate. If you can’t make it, meeting minutes are published on our website. We want your ideas!
6th Bi-Annual Retreat
The 6th bi-annual retreat will be held at Mary & Joseph Retreat Center in Rancho Palos Verdes on Sunday August 30th, 2015 from 9am to 5pm. Details are on under the Upcoming Retreat tab but for ease they will also be posted here.
As we approach the retreat we eagerly await the chance to meet and form new bonds as well as embrace the fellowships we have already established. We find comfort within our fellowships and know there are others whom have faced this disease and battled to find sobriety which brings hope to many of us. The retreats allow us to further our recovery and give us one more day of sobriety. Please mark your calendars and join the hope and strength and fellowship on August 30th.
Where: Mary & Joseph Retreat Center
5300 Crest Road, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
When: SUNDAY, August 30th, 2015
Time: 9:00am to 5:00pm
Cost: $20 (Lunch NOT Provided)
Capacity: *** Limited to 50 People. First 50 people to pay will get the spots ****
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My Share
Each month, we publish a personal but anonymous story of recovery. It can be either an autobiography or about a subject important to your recovery. Stories should be written in the first person (“I”) and speak from your experience, strength, and hope. Please submit your story to ocisaa.newsletter@gmail.com. We may edit submissions for reasons of space, clarity, and appropriate language. Here is this month’s story:
HOPE
What do we seek to find in recovery? What is it that brings us back?
Hope…hope is what we find bringing us back. Hope is what brings us out of the shadows. We find others in recovery with sobriety that give us hope that we too, can overcome this disease. We find hope through others stories and gain a new understanding of ourselves in the process. Let us find find hope through the steps and through fellowship. Share your hope to encourage others…thats what brought me back again and again. That hope I felt is why I am on the road to recovery and can say I am a recovering sex addict.
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Intergroup Project Updates
Retaining Newcomers
Anyone who has attended SAA groups for very long knows that some members are in for the long term, but too many others attend a few meetings and leave. It makes sense that if someone keeps attending meetings, he or she is more likely to make progress in recovering from their sex addiction. The Orange County Intergroup solicited suggestions from the SAA fellowship to encourage newcomers to keep returning. The resulting list was published in the March 2015 SAA Newsletter, available elsewhere on this website. Intergroup representatives were also given copies to distribute at their home meetings. If you think of more ways to “keep ’em coming back,” please let us know.
Spanish-Speaking Outreach
We added a Spanish translation of the “12 & 12″ to our website and we now have a location for a Spanish-speaking meeting, details to follow. We welcome your suggestions.
Internet Keyword Search Optimization
We are working toward directing certain Internet searches to our website, using key words and phrases to do so. Examples are “massage parlor reviews” and “can’t stop watching porn.” In addition, we are working on inserting key words into recovery stories to help addicts find our program. Google has approved our search terms and keywords. Since May 2015 there have been 36,000 impressions and 360 click throughs. In other words, it has been successful and we will be moving ahead with this and implementing a spending cap.
Craigslist
The responses continue to ads we placed for SAA on the Orange County Craigslist website. Sex addicts going there to act out are being presented with an opportunity for recovery, and for some of them, it’s working!
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Announcements & Newsnotes
August Retreat
The August retreat as mentioned above is Sunday August 30th, 2015 from 9am to 5pm at Mary and Joseph Retreat Center in Rancho Palos Verdes. See Upcoming Retreat tab on OCISAA.org for details.
Costa Mesa Meetings to End
As you may or may not be aware we will be losing our meeting space at the First Methodist Church of Costa Mesa where we hold our monthly intergroup meetings and several daily and weekly meetings. This is due to the church deciding to add more parking and most of the groups, not just ours, will have to find other locations. Several locations are being finalized and a full list will available in the upcoming August newsletter as well as on the main site.
A Message for Sponsors
We suggest you consider stressing to your sponsees the importance of service work such as volunteering for positions at their meetings. Early in recovery, service work gives recovering sex addicts something to feel good about when they need it most. Later on, it becomes Step 12 work, a very healthy activity and again a builder of self-esteem. Some sponsors we know feel so strongly about it that they advise their sponsees either to fill a service position or find another sponsor!
Intergroup Vacancies
Our Intergroup has four vacant positions and a need for website contributors. These are great opportunities to be of service, and they generally require little or no special expertise.
► The Vice Chair works with the Chair to coordinate the Intergroup’s overall activities such as preparing the monthly agenda and helping with surveys. It’s estimated that Vice Chair duties take about 2-4 hours per month, plus the monthly Intergroup meeting.
► The Inreach Coordinator handles Intergroup activities involving the existing SAA framework, as opposed to Outreach, which works to bring in newcomers. The Inreach Coordinator’s duties require two (sometimes more) hours per month, plus the monthly Intergroup meeting.
► The Vice Treasurer works with the Treasurer to manage Intergroup funds. The duties generally occupy minimal time – just an hour most months. Attendance at the monthly Intergroup meeting is encouraged. This position requires one year of abstinence.
► We are looking for people with website experience of any kind, including those who are willing to learn.
Treasurer and Secretary will be coming due in the next few months so if you are feeling the urge to fulfill the 12th tradition…If you are interested in any of these positions and want to learn more, please contact Ron R. at ocisaa.chair@gmail.com. Or, you may attend the next monthly Intergroup meeting on August 13th.
Needed: Intergroup Representatives
Only 25% of our meetings have an intergroup rep. The commitment is approximately an hour a month for the intergroup meeting and then a report at least once a month to the group being represented. If your meeting still lacks an Intergroup rep, please tell your secretary that you need one. For more information, contact us at ocisaa.inreach@gmail.com. We highly recommend you find someone to fill this service position. We also suggest if possible, that your group allocate a percentage of its donations to the Intergroup for its activities, which benefit all SAA groups in the region.
Thanks for Your Donations!
We are grateful for the support we receive from the Orange County area SAA meetings. As you can see from our activities listed in this newsletter, we are putting your donations to good use. We encourage you to attend our monthly meetings and voice your ideas.
A Note to Event Promoters and Organizers: For those requesting announcements to run in our newsletter, please use the following format – and order – as much as possible:
Who: Are you a committee (of the Intergroup, for example), or an individual SAA meeting group, or another type of organization or individual?
What: Is this a workshop, breakfast, retreat, or another type of event?
Title: What is the name of your event?
When: Give the date and starting and ending times of your event.
Cost: What – if anything – is the suggested contribution, or is it a set fee, or is no one turned away for lack of funds?
Description: In a sentence, or several sentences, say what is unique or especially appealing about your event.
Where: Event address, along with any cross-street info or parking tips you think are important.
More Info: Whom to call for more information? List a telephone number, email address, and/or website.
Please give us as much lead time as possible, and note that submissions are subject to editing for clarity and space.
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SAA Meeting News
New Meetings:
Wednesday, 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Men only/Closed
Pines Park, 34941 Camino Capistrano, CA 92624
Directions: From the 5 Freeway head south on Camino De Estrella towards Coast Highway, turn right on to Camino Capistrano. Parking will be on the street on Camino Capistrano…….the meeting is held at the upper Park at the south end.
For more information call (949) 547-4498.
Wednesday, 5:00-6:00pm
Closed, men only
1900 E. 4th St., Conference Room 2A, Santa Ana 92705
Free parking in structure
Contact Frank P. (949) 842-3454
Thursday, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Closed, men only
707 E. Chapman, Orange 92866
Building is close to Orange Traffic Circle, white with green trim, no suite number; parking lot adjacent to building
Contact Chris B. (949) 278-3642
Friday, noon-1:00 p.m.
Closed, men only
St. Matthew’s Church
1111 W. Town & Country Rd., Unit 14, Orange 92868
In the Town & Country Business Center North (look for “Gondola Subs”), around the back
Contact Casey (323) 375-7322
Tuesday, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Closed, mixed
Book study/Check-in
First Southern Baptist Church, Dining Room
6801 Western Ave., Buena Park, CA 90621 (just north of Orangethorpe Ave.)
Contact Maurice B. (714) 683-8663/motrago@hotmail.com
Changes:
The Monday evening women’s book study meeting has relocated. Please call 714-485-3655 or email womeninsaa@gmail.com for more details.
The Tuesday morning 6:30 a.m. meeting at the First Methodist Church in Costa Mesa has been canceled.
The Friday morning meeting at the Alano Club has been canceled.
The Monday and Friday Long Beach meetings are no longer at Kaiser Permanente, 3900 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach. The new meeting times and locations are:
—Monday, 7:30-8:30 pm, Mixed/Closed/Step/Tradition/Topic
Unitarian Church, 5450 Atherton St., Long Beach (just West of Bellflower Blvd.), in the Chalice Room
Contact Carole B., 562-841-4348, or e-mail CAROLEMARY@NETZERO.COM
—Friday, 6:30-7:30 pm, Mixed/Closed/Step/Tradition/Topic
Unitarian Church, 5450 Atherton St., Long Beach (just West of Bellflower Blvd.), in the Chalice Room
Contact Carole B., 562-841-4348, or e-mail CAROLEMARY@NETZERO.COM
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Orange County Intergroup Officers and Committee Chairs
Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern. — Tradition 2
Chair: Ron R., ocisaa.chair@gmail.com
Vice Chair: Vacant, ocisaa.vicechair@gmail.com
Digital Communications: Neal B., ocisaa.digicom1@gmail.com (Assistant: Reza B., ocisaa.digicom2@gmail.com)
Inreach: Vacant, ocisaa.inreach@gmail.com
Outreach: Maurice B., ocisaa.outreach@gmail.com
Literature: Ron C., ocisaa.literature@gmail.com
Treasurer: Brian A. (Vice Treasurer: Vacant), ocisaa.treasurer@gmail.com
Secretary: Earl Q., ocisaa.secretary@gmail.com
Newsletter Editor: Mark D., ocisaa.newsletter@gmail.com
Parliamentarian: Vacant
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Website
If you have ideas or suggestions for the website, please contact our Webmaster, Neal B., at ocisaa.digicom1@gmail.com.
OC Intergroup of SAA 