Welcome newcomers! Here are some helpful suggestions for you along with notes about where they come from.
AVOID PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS
Basic Text Page 15: “Old friends, places, and ideas are often a threat to our recovery. We need to change our playmates, playgrounds and playthings.”
COME EARLY AND STAY LATE
Basic Text page 252: “We were into service work…setting up and cleaning up meeting halls. We would get there early and leave late…”
Join virtual or in person meetings early and stay late, if possible. In a virtual meeting, we suggest you ask or type into the chat for the meeting to stay open later. This will give you a chance to make connections. Introduce yourself as a newcomer to NA and ask for phone numbers or email addresses from members at the meeting to begin to build a network of people to support your recovery.
DON’T USE… GO TO A MEETING
Basic Text page 10: “…we suggest that newcomers keep coming back and come back clean.” IP 23 “Staying Clean on the Outside”: Instead of picking up that first drug, we do the following: * Don’t use, no matter what
* Go to an NA meeting
GET AND USE A SPONSOR
Basic Text Page 55: “We have found it helpful to have a sponsor and to use this sponsor”
IP # 16 “For the Newcomer”: “We suggest that you look for a sponsor as soon as you become acquainted with members in your area.”
If you need a sponsor and are in a virtual meeting, please let the meeting know. You can ask directly or type it into the chat. If you are at an in person meeting, you can share about it or talk to someone directly after the meeting.
GET A HOMEGROUP
Basic Text Page 54: “We find our place in the Fellowship, and we join a group whose meetings help us in our recovery.”
Find a virtual or in person meeting on the main page calendar and show up or log in. When you find a meeting you feel comfortable in, make that meeting your homegroup by asking a member to join.
Basic Text page 95: “Attending our home group provides encouragement from the people that we get to know.”
KEEP COMING BACK, IT WORKS!
Basic Text Page 9: “We have learned from our group experience that those who keep coming to our meetings regularly stay clean.”
Basic Text page 148: “Keep coming back, it works.”
IP #22 “Welcome to Narcotics Anonymous”: “KEEP COMING BACK ‐ IT WORKS!”
90 MEETINGS IN 90 DAYS
Basic Text Page 53: “A meeting a day for at least the first ninety days of recovery is a good idea.
USE THE PHONE
Basic Text Page 54: “…get and use telephone numbers…”
BUY AND READ OUR LITERATURE
You can buy NA literature here: https://cart-us.na.org/.
Information modified from Narcotics Anonymous World Services by Lane County Area Public Relations Committee. The original document can be found at: https://www.na.org/admin/include/spaw2/uploads/pdf/FTP/English/Forms,%20Guides,%20and%20Miscellaneous/Group%20Newcomer%20Suggestions%20-%20Black%20Keys%20Group%20-%202017.pdf