ALTON - “Al-Anon saved my life.”
These are the words of Shirley S., an outreach coordinator for a local Al-Anon group who hopes to bring a new Al-Anon chapter to Alton through OSF St. Anthony’s Health Center.
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Starting this summer, Shirley will host “How Al-Anon Works” meetings from 10–11:15 a.m. on Thursday mornings at OSF Saint Anthony’s. The program will run from June 22 to Sept. 28. Participants can learn about Al-Anon and how it could benefit them and the community. If there’s enough interest, the group will register with the Al-Anon World Service and become an official Al-Anon group with regular meetings at OSF St. Anthony’s.
Al-Anon and Alateen are support groups for people who are worried about someone with a drinking problem, according to the organization’s website. Staci Knox, the manager of psychological services at OSF St. Anthony’s, approached Shirley about hosting “How Al-Anon Works” meetings to gauge Alton’s interest in an Al-Anon group that would meet at the health center.
“The purpose of these meetings is to establish an interest base that would allow us to have a permanent meeting here,” Knox said. “I definitely think this is a resource that would be very valuable to the community.”
As a therapist, Knox has seen the effects of substance use firsthand.
“I got to know the community,” Knox said. “I got to see the individuals and the families that had been so impacted by not just alcohol, but substance abuse in general, and I realized it would be very helpful to provide another level of support for these people.”
Shirley, who uses a pseudonym due to the organization’s anonymous nature, has been involved with Al-Anon for years. She explained that she didn’t know what alcoholism was or that her husband was a problem drinker at first; all she knew was that she was “miserable.”
“I got involved in Al-Anon and started working on myself and learning more about who I am and what I can and can’t control. I can’t control people, places and things, but I can control my attitude and not get sucked into situations,” Shirley said.
She added that alcoholism is “a family disease” that affected her children as well as herself. Through Al-Anon, Shirley learned skills that helped her throughout her marriage and her husband’s recent passing due to alcohol-related complications.
Al-Anon and outreach have become passions of Shirley’s. She hopes that the “How Al-Anon Works” informational meetings will engage community members and lead to an official Al-Anon meeting at OSF St. Anthony’s. Shirley encourages anyone who thinks they might benefit from Al-Anon or Alateen to “just try it.”
“You can learn about yourself and how to take care of yourself, because it’s all about us surviving,” she said.
In addition to hosting the Al-Anon meetings, Knox said that St. Anthony’s has recently introduced the New Visions detox unit, an inpatient program to help adults with substance dependence to “safely, medically detox.” You can visit OSF St. Anthony’s website or call their main number to be directed to these services.
Knox noted the benefits of new Al-Anon meetings and other local services offered by Saint Anthony’s and people like Shirley. She said they are reflective of the community itself.
“It just speaks to the community in Alton that seems to really look after its community members and look to identify needs that aren’t being met,” Knox said. “It’s an amazing group of people in the Riverbend area, and I think this is just one more resource.”
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