Service and Recovery
The AA triangle represents Unity, Service and Recovery- Three things that are indispensable when seeking wholeness through a spiritual program of action. Unity is found in the fellowship, Service in the recovery process of helping others and Recovery in the Steps.
I often describe alcoholism as a disease of isolation and perception. This illness that I suffer from subtly recommends that I isolate myself from my fellows, while feeding me a constant ticker tape of self-defeating thoughts riddled with distorted perceptions. I have found that the antidote for the loneliness and despair that occur quite naturally within me is the fellowship that has developed around me. The Big Book instructs us to “create the fellowship (we) crave.”
The Birth Of The BRC Recovery Alumni Association
With this thought in mind, the BRC Recovery alumni association was born in earnest. Seeds of hope for the future began to be sown, born out of the experience of the necessity for a strong recovery community. In order to set our residents up for success they would need a safety net of like-minded individuals waiting for them when they commenced from the BRC residential program and began their transition from rehab to recovery. The now famous Wednesday night alumni meetings were formed, the monthly Saturday night speaker meetings began to attract circuit speakers from all over the country, the annual Alumni Reunion was expanded upon, and the first of its kind sober living apartment community in Austin was established for the exclusive use of BRC graduates.
Mark Houston said in his original design manuscript for the recovery center, “A small band of fit individuals can do most anything.” And our Alumni Dept and Executive Leadership Team have proven that to be true over and over again. On a regular basis I receive calls and emails from alumni recounting how the connectivity felt at the various meetings and events, and living in the apartments with fellow BRC sisters and brothers has made all the difference in their journey.
Creating Family and Community
At BRC Recovery, we are more than just a program where you can come for a stint in rehab. We are a family, and our alumni are an extension of that family. We have truly, mindfully and prayerfully created the fellowship we craved, and we invite you to join us on this amazing ride of permanent sobriety and a life of abundance.