Service

The membership is the foundation of the SIA structure. The basic unit of membership is the SIA group, represented by its Group Service Representative. A functioning World Service Conference ensures a healthy SIA fellowship.

Your energy is needed and welcomed. Do you feel that SIA has helped you? Do you want to give back some of what you have received? Have you reached that grateful place in your recovery that calls you to service to your fellowship? By working our steps, many of us in SIA have come to understand that “in order to keep it, we have to give it away.” This principle is what keeps our fellowship vibrant. We continue to grow and heal through service.

SIA is a 12-step fellowship; We grow by giving back through service. In 12 Step fellowships, we don’t think of it as volunteering in the traditional sense, but rather “carrying the message” by working Step 12: “Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to other survivors and to practice these principles in all our endeavors.”

There are many opportunities to serve at the group level by setting out literature, making coffee, or facilitating a meeting. In time, a member could serve as a treasurer for their group or a Group Service Representative for their local intergroup or at the World Service Conference. Members may use their special skills to serve SIA at the World Service Office or join a World Service Conference Committee.

Ways To Do Service

1. Start a Meeting or Do Service in a Meeting
An SIA meeting is a unique tool to use during recovery. The caring support from other survivors makes our meetings what they are – a safe place to come together and share. Many of our meetings were started by survivors who had never been to an SIA meeting. There is no one “correct” way to lead a meeting, and formats differ from one group to another. You can find examples in the shop. If you’re considering starting a meeting, we’ve made these available specifically for you.

a) Start a meeting
b) Rotate into service as chairperson, facilitator, or host.
c) Be a GSR, secretary, or treasurer for your meeting.

2. Stay Informed
Do you want to receive all the latest SIA news and updates? Subscribe to the newsletter at the bottom of the page.

3. Serve on a WSC or Intergroup Committee.
a) Join a committee, attend scheduled meetings, and do things that further the fellowship.
b) Serve on a committee to organize an SIA event in your area.
c) Chair a workshop at an SIA event.
d) Host a virtual event on Zoom.
e) Serve on a WSC Committee (add link)
f) Assist in WSC Gathering planning.

4. Write and Edit-join the Literature Committee
a) Tell your survivor story
b) Write or edit literature.
c) Help with the newsletter, journal, or events blog.

5. Do Service at the WSO
a) Respond to emails for your state.
b) In recovery for an extended period, have worked the steps, and wish to make a long-term service commitment to serving SIA? Inquire about joining the SIA WSO Board of Trustees.

6. Carry the Message
a) Carry the message to those interested in our website for their support or that of a loved one. Remember the Tradition of “attraction, rather than promotion.”
b) Serve on the WSC Outreach Committee.
c) Become a penpal to survivors who cannot attend phone or internet meetings.