Shining Model in Walnut Creek CA

Carola Z. writes:

Just a quick note with some good  news:  The meeting we started at Kaiser CDRP in Walnut Creek [California] celebrated its first anniversary today.

The meeting is every Wednesday from 12:15 to 1:15 pm in Room 3D at 710 Broadway 3rd floor.  It's still going strong and we had a nice large group of regulars and newcomers today.

 I had made a commitment to convene this meeting for a year, and I am especially happy to be able to announce that I handed it over today to two very capable members of that meeting as the new convenors.

Way to go, Carola!  Starting a new meeting and then passing on the convenor role to other members of the meeting is a shining model of how LifeRing takes root and expands.

Carola makes it sound so simple, as if there were nothing to it.  But there's a lot to it.  First, you have to get the room -- sometimes a battle of years with an entrenched and obscure administrative bureaucracy.  Then, you have to create the positive LifeRing atmosphere in the room:  safety, openness, honesty, freedom, humor, caring ... the environment that empowers the sober self, and keeps people coming back.  It's only then that you get regulars who build up sober time and learn the ropes of the LifeRing process.  And it's only when you begin to have such a core group that you have your pool of future convenors to whom you can hand the clipboard and the basket, give a friendly hug, and move on to start another meeting somewhere else.

The core message of the LifeRing convenor handbook (How Was Your Week) is "Pass it on!"  The "it" here is the convenor role.  When convenors remember that message and put it into practice, as Carola has done, then LifeRing thrives and grows.  There are, unfortunately, also some negative examples.  Last week at the monthly convenor workshop at the Service Center, I learned that a certain meeting that I had started fourteen years ago, and passed on long ago, was now without a convenor.  People had gone to the room, sat and waited, and no convenor had showed up. So, I went and acted as pinch-hitter tonight. There were ten participants, and we had a great meeting. A member of the meeting told me that the regular convenor had convened this meeting for more than three years.  No one knew what had happened to him, and we had only sketchy contact information for him in the database at the LifeRing Service Center. I enjoyed pinch hitting and I'll do it again next week; but I shouldn't have to.  Convenors who fail to develop other convenors and pass the meeting on will eventually burn out, and risk taking the whole meeting down with them.  That's not a recipe for a healthy, expanding organization.

So, congratulations and a shining gold star to Carola and the other convenors who "pass it on!"

We Need to Teach the Teachers

I had the distinct pleasure this afternoon of speaking about LifeRing to a group of interns in San Francisco.  These were all students at different colleges, ranging from trade schools and community colleges to UC Berkeley and even an Ivy League school or two.  Some were undergraduates, some were working on a Psy.D. degree or M.F.T. certificate. They were all interning at New Leaf, the major center for counseling services to the LGBT community in San Francisco and the region, and they were a bright lot; you could feel the electricity from their brains crackling in the air.

Just one problem:  almost none of them had heard of LifeRing before.  You'd think, wouldn't you, that their teachers somewhere along the line would have mentioned to them that there are other approaches to substance abuse besides 12-step, and named some names?

In a recent New Yorker article, the writer tried to find out whether professors of economics in the universities had updated their theories in light of the recent economic crash.  The answer was mostly negative.  Most of them got their minds cast in cement a couple of decades ago.  Could it be that something like that is going on with the professors of addiction studies?

I can think of some honorable exceptions: teachers who regularly send their students to check out support group meetings, including LifeRing.  But clearly, judging by the experience of these interns, we have work to do.  We need to educate some educators.

If you are a student in addiction studies and related fields and you have a teacher who has never heard of LifeRing, please forward their contact information to service@lifering.org, and we will undertake to send them some educational materials.  Or, if you prefer, we'll send you the material and you can hand deliver it -- the best way.

And if your class would like to have a live LifeRing lecture, we can probably arrange that, too. Get in touch with the LifeRing Service Center, service@lifering.org or 1-800-811-4142.

P.S.  Pietro Carnini, the New Leaf staff counselor who set up the gig, sent a very nice follow-up letter saying:

The interns found your presentation to be very informative, and they were pleased to hear about an alternative self-help program for those struggling with addiction.  Their knowledge regarding this topic has been increased, and I believe that this is a result of your excellent presentation.  I would welcome you to return next year to provide training on this topic.

And thank you, Pietro, for the invitation.  I look forward to doing it again.

Passing it on: A Model

A basic rule of convenor work is "pass it on" -- recruit someone else to take over the convenor role in the meeting, after a period of time.  At the Service Center, we recently received a letter that's a model of how to handle that transition.

Dear LifeRing:
This is to inform you that my commitment as convenor of the Wednesday San Rafael Kaiser CDS meeting has ended as of December 30.
As my replacement, Caryl K. has volunteered to convene the meeting starting the following Wednesday.  At that time, she will assume responsibility for turning in the basket receipts, ordering pamphlets and books, etc.  Additionally, she has given her consent to be listed as a contact for this meeting; her phone number is [____].
I wish to thank you for the opportunity to be of service to this organization which is a much needed alternative to the non-secular recovery groups.
Sincerely,
Dee S

It's a pleasure to get a communication like this.  It lets us know that the convenor, who had been in this role for about a year, understood the basic message of the How Was Your Week book, namely to "pass it on."  And it allows us to update our database so that we know who is the current convenor of this meeting, and we have an address where we can send brochures, schedules, receipts, and letters, and we have a phone number to which we can refer callers for information.  In short, it keeps alive the connection of that meeting with the rest of the LifeRing network, and with the recovery community as a whole.

You might think, "Well, of course! Isn't that always true?"  Unfortunately, not.  There are cases where convenors pass the baton and don't tell anyone outside the meeting that they've done so.  Sometimes in remote areas convenors even drop the baton and tell no one.  As a result, at the Service Center, we have no idea who is convening that meeting, and sometimes we have the unpleasant surprise of hearing from strangers that they went to the listed meeting and nothing was there.  That happens rarely, but even once is too often, because it undermines the credibility of the whole organization.  It taints the brand, as marketing people say.

Therefore, thank you, Dee S, for showing how it's done right.

New Face, New Look at Service Center

A while back I covered the cleanup and remodeling work underway at the LifeRing Service Center in Oakland.  See blog item.  I promised photos of the "After" condition.  Then something happened to my camera (duh, I fell on it when texting while walking in the park in the dark) and I couldn't follow through.  Now at last I have some snaps to share.  Ta-daa!
Here's Rachaell Castro, our new and great Office Administrator, at work in front of the computers that keep track of your literature orders, your meeting basket contributions, your donations, and much else.  And yes, that's a real orchid in the foreground and a real palm tree in the back.  The big white box in the rear is Fluffy the HP9050 printer.

This is the meeting space, where the monthly convenor workshops meet, as well as the weekly Tuesday eve workbook study meetings, and numerous spontaneous gatherings.  Photo collages of past Congresses line the wall.  And yes, that's a real silk plant in the corner.

This is the business end: the shipping desk, stock shelf, and the mailing machines.  This hasn't changed much, except that it's neater, we're better equipped with packing material, and the worn-out jam-happy folding machine has departed in favor of a newer and bigger model, visible in the left rear.  This is where LifeRing Press books are shipped out, where the Northern California schedules are folded, where mass mailings are folded and tabbed, and much else.  Pictures of the LifeRing Constitutional Congress in 2001 are on the right, under the clock.

If you want to reach the Service Center, the email is service@lifering.org.  If your issue is with LifeRing Press, the direct email line is publisher@lifering.com.  That's "org" for the organization and "com" for the commerce side where we sell books and things. By phone call 800-811-4142.  If you want to talk live to a real person, namely Rachaell (she pronounces it "Rachel") call Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays between 9 am and noon.  Those are also the hours to come to the Service Center to buy books, and to pick up schedules and other supplies for your meeting.  The Center is located in Suite 312 (third floor) of the 1440 Broadway building, just a few steps from the corner of 14th and Broadway and from the Oakland City Center BART station.  See map link.  The Service Center's mission is "Serve the Meetings"  See you there!

Fundraiser Mailing Goes Out

A small handful of dedicated volunteers prepared the annual LifeRing fundraiser mailing on Dec. 9 at the Service Center in Oakland. If you are on the mailing list, you probably will have received the mail piece by now, or will receive it in the next day or two. That is, unless our paper folding machine ate it.

Here's what it took to get this mailing out to you.

First, preparing the mailing list. This means selecting the most likely donors from our database. In this case, we included everyone who had donated to LifeRing within the past four years, plus everyone who had purchased something from LifeRing Press within the past two years. We also added all current or past LifeRing convenors so that the convenors could take the letter to their meetings and encourage meeting participants to pitch in.

Then, the mailing list has to be verified and sorted. For this we use a program called Dazzle Express, which costs $195 a year. Dazzle Express checks each address in the mailing list against Post Office data to make sure the address exists and the zip code is correct. It also checks for duplicate addresses. This year, the Post Office also required us to subscribe to an additional service that keeps track of change-of-address forms, and costs us an additional $250 for 100,000 addresses. The Dazzle Express software also generates traying reports, tray labels, and other paperwork required by the Post Office for our nonprofit mailing permit.

Once the mailing list is done, we convert it into an Excel file, and this becomes the data file for a Microsoft Word MailMerge printing operation. Once that's running -- and this gave us considerable trouble because of Microsoft Office 7 issues -- the job went to Fluffy, our HP 9050 printer. We acquired Fluffy second-hand from a bankrupt auto dealer at a good discount earlier this year, and it has brought much joy. Fluffy not only printed this duplex job in less than half the time it took last year on our small office lasers, it also spit out the finished paper nice and flat, instead of crinkled as in the past.

Then it was time for the folding machine. Our venerable Martin-Yale light duty friction-feed desktop paper folder, already temperamental in its youth, proved irrepressibly cranky in its decline, and indulged in spectacular paper jams that destroyed more than 50 mail pieces. By the end of the run, the rollers were barely turning over, an acrid overheating smell rose from the apparatus, and even liberal doses of 3-in-1 oil on the bearings revived it only briefly. One of the things we will have to do with the funds we raise is to purchase a new and more robust folder.

From the folder, the surviving stack of folded pieces went into the tabber. The tabbing machine, which automatically places little white round gummed stickers on the edges of the paper to keep it closed, was also unhappy at first, but recovered its good form for most of the run after a spray of WD-40 on its feed rollers. Magical stuff, that.

Then the pieces needed to be placed in the proper Post Office trays. The pieces came off the printer in proper sequence, and there were only four trays, and the Dazzle Express software created a list of what pieces go into which trays, so in theory this should have been a simple operation. But due to the problems with the folder, the pieces got quite out of sequence, and didn't seem to match the numbers on the printed list, so that the whole mailing had to be resorted manually before it went into the trays. This took the operation into a second day.

At the Business Bulk Mail Unit in the main Post Office in Oakland the next day, the clerk checked our work briefly, stamped it OK, and sent us on our way. But the next morning came a phone call that there were problems -- the Post Office's Merlin software found things out of order -- and we had to go back to the Post Office, bring more money, and move things from one tray to another before we had the official blessing.

So, when you get this modest mail piece, please give at least a fleeting thought to the people and the processes that brought it to you. And if you didn't get the mailing but would like to get the warm feeling that comes from helping a deserving nonprofit, you can donate online by clicking here, or you can mail a check to LifeRing Service Center, 1440 Broadway Suite 312, Oakland CA 94612. Thank you.

Service Center Gets New Look

Starting Thanksgiving weekend, a handful of volunteers transformed the LifeRing Service Center from a seedy looking chaotic mess into a pleasant, tidy and better organized place to serve the meetings.


(If you don't see the movie, view this in Firefox, Chrome, or any browser other than Internet Explorer.)
The Service Center is a compact (euphemism for tiny) office space with an interior view (on an airshaft).  It houses the computers that (try to) keep track of LifeRing meetings and the printers and other office machinery that put out much of our publicity.  It's located in downtown Oakland CA. The rent is $600 a month.

LifeRing Press books are stored there and your LifeRing book orders are picked, packed, and shipped from there.  It also serves as the meeting place for the monthly LifeRing convenor workshops (second Saturday of each month except August and December) and for a workbook study group (Tuesday evenings).  

The office rehab operation involved moving dozens of boxes of books, reorganizing a big steel shelf, moving two big metal file cabinets, disassembling and removing a custom desk, assembling a brand new L-shaped desk out of the box (in hundreds of pieces), and taking down and reassembling all of the electronics, among other tasks.

Credit for the major makeover goes to David F. from Marin County, Robert S. (LifeRing Treasurer), Jim R. (LifeRing Secretary), and Karen I. (IT guru).  I helped out and took some pictures, see video above.

The job isn't completely done yet -- there will be more decorations on the walls and the main computer will be upgraded -- but it was sufficiently completed by Monday morning to provide a more hospitable welcome and working environment for Rachaell C., our new Office Administrator. I'll post "After" photos when the finishing touches are added.

If you're local to the San Francisco Bay Area, come see the new digs for yourself at our Open House Saturday Dec. 19 from 1-4 pm.

Full house for CAADAC LifeRing Training

The turnout of treatment professionals for my full day LifeRing training yesterday surpassed expectations.  More than 25 people squeezed into the conference room next to the Service Center in Oakland.  Some had come from as far as Sacramento for the six-hour session.  All except three, who were LifeRing convenors, were working in the addiction treatment field.

Peg Miller, a Vice-President of CAADAC and responsible for organizing trainings in CAADAC Region 4, which includes the Bay Area, organized the event, handled logistics, and awarded people their certificates of completion at the end.  LifeRing CFO Robert Stump organized coffee and pastries in the morning and helped set up the room. Service Center volunteer Lou A. assisted with room setup the previous day.

The program took six hours, not counting an hour for lunch.  During five of those hours, I presented a slide show of exactly 200 slides. Here's my outline:

LifeRing
An Introduction for Addiction Professionals
By Martin Nicolaus MA JD
CAADAC Region 4 Training
Sept. 19, 2009

Objectives

• To understand basic facts about LifeRing
• To get how LifeRing works
• To pick up tools that can be used with clients
• To facilitate client involvement with LifeRing

Hour 1: Basic facts about LifeRing

• What is LifeRing?
• Where is LifeRing?
• Who goes to LifeRing?
• How is LifeRing organized?

Hour 2: The Three-S Philosophy

• Sobriety
• Secularity
• Self-Help

Hour 3: How LifeRing Works

• Empower Your Sober Self: A short overview
• In more depth:

o The Divided Self
o Horizontal Synergy
o Confrontation v. Support Strategies

Hour 4: The LifeRing Meeting Format

• Circle seating
• “How was your week?”
• Crosstalk
• Limits
• Aim: Living Room atmosphere
• Closing ritual: Round of applause
• Peer leadership
• Signup sheet -- basket

Hour 5: How people build Personal Recovery Programs (PRP)

Two Pathways to PRP
Through the “How Was Your Week” Meeting Format
“Random access”
Through the Recovery by Choice workbook
• Nine Domains (Work Areas)
• My Decision
o The A-S T-chart
• Domain 1: My Body
• Domain 4: My People
• Relapse Chapter
• Pulling the PRP Together
Result: Diversity of Programs
Pros and Cons of PRP

Closing Thoughts

• LifeRing is a Strength-Based Approach
• The Aim of LifeRing is Choice

o We need more pathways
o Choice should not be controversial

What can providers do?
Choice is good program policy
More choices = more recoveries

For more information:

• www.lifering.org – LifeRing, the organization
• www.lifering.com – LifeRing Press e-commerce store
• LifeRing Service Center, 1440 Broadway, Ste. 312, Oakland 94612
• service@lifering.org
• 1-800-811-4142

P.S.  Today, Monday, Peg Miller kindly sent me the program evaluations (feedback sheets) filled out by participants at the end of the program.  Namely:

WORKSHOP EVALUATION (scale is 0-below satisfactory to 5-above satisfactory)

Your overall rating of subject matter:
•    20 5's
•    2 4's
Your overall rating of the trainer:
•    17 5's
•    5 4's
Your overall rating of the materials'handouts:
•    15 5's
•    4 4's
•    1 2
•    1 0 with comment (needed handouts--powerpoint printouts)
•    1 not marked--"handouts" circled followed by comment:  "sparse  hard to follow"
Your overall rating of the training/workshop: 
•    16 5's
•    6 4's
Your overall rating of the fees:
•    18 5's
•    3 4's
•    1 not marked and with comment:  "two days I went to training in NAPA... cost $75...$10 is nice"

Comments on this page:

Very good TR...affordable in very hard times
Educational, motivational in terms of realizing the need for choice.
Helped solidify what I had gleaned from the web site and publications
It was great!!!
Uncomfortable room
Enjoyed this training...learned a lot
Very interesting!
Excellent presentation   Very worthwhile
I am glad that I had a chance to learn more about the organization.
Most important point missed...we refer less to LR with clients because there are few, and we teach clients to stay connected to others, to stay sober.
I was surprised by how much I learned today.
Difficult to sit in these chairs in small room
Lots of good info... Some areas/topics were too lengthy--redundant.  Good program--Glad to see it growing in availability.

POST TEST INFO:

What did you learn today from Martin A. Nicolaus about LifeRing?

•    Three-S Recovery Philosophy; Strength-Based Sober Self Empowerment engine is positive practice of reinforcement; abstinence only is foundational; Personal Recovery Plans are highly individualized through support mtgs plus workbook; able to combine with variety of the models
•    Choise is best...many different paths
•    LifeRing is truly secular; LifeRing offers a choice other than faith based or 12 step; LifeRing emphasizes empowerment and positive reinforcement of the individual
•    A lot.  Ways I can improve the program I work for by LifeRing tech and beliefs.
•    Many interesting things, among others personal recovery plan, that I found very powerful tool in recovery.
•    The S & A model for recovery and how it works through reinforcement.  That all "personalities" are equally capable to become addicted.
•    It is focused on building on strengths of the individual--provides a choice--Personal Recovery Plan.
•    Lots--the choice factor; the love--feeding the S; forgive me--I'm way too tired and burnt to say more, but I got so much out of it.
•    Philosophy and history of LifeRing.  I am a convenor.
•    How to get treatment programs to mention LifeRing as a group option.
•    That it mirrors my thinking about Treatment Approaches.
•    We have another option
•    Focus on individual treatment.
•    The client is instrumental in his own recovery if given the opportunity.
•    Secular spirituality--support sober self.
•    There is an alternative approach to group support other than NA/AA.
•    Friend.
•    Lots!  I knew nothing of LifeRing.
•    The PRP program.
•    Philosophy...mtg structure.
•    It gives clients more of a choice.

How will you incorporate this information into your practice as a drug and alcohol counselor personally and in the agency you work in?

•    Philosophy and concepts (client choice, strength based, flexible treatment and support options);  Skills--workbook exercises--alt. HWYW support mtg formats.
•    Continue with MET, RET  use LifeRing principles in class, educate staff, talk with LifeRing meetings as Option more.
•    By A--facilitating myself with the visual and cognitive tools and use them in 1 on 1 sessions and groups; B--suggest to agency to use LifeRing possibily in continuing care program.
•    Investigating L.R. for and in my own recovery.  The applying LR to the program.
•    I will use the point that the patient takes responsibility for his own recovery more than I did before.  I would share todays experience with coworkers.
•    The strengthening of each individual will be the focus.  And shifting the focus from flaws to what they are capable of and what they find works for them.
•    Help clients and staff understand the nature of building up the sober self through the interchange bewteen people--focusing on here and now
•    I bought the work book--I'm sure I'll use it next week!
•    My meetings will have an enriched meaning due to the workshop today.
•    Refer
•    I will introduce the information about LifeRing to my director.
•    Gives me encouragement to do more research on the subject.
•    Already do--offer as a choice of support group.
•    I hope to start a group for teens.
•    Present client with choices...give basic info about LifeRing.
•    Working more with clients to focus on a personal service plan.
•    Plan to discuss implementation of LifeRing on the approval by my Program Director.
•    Consider choice.
•    LifeRing used to do presentations at NCADA...can do again.
•    Not in field.
•    I am a convenor.

How can you contribute this material to your fellow counselors?

•    Educate and consult re: LifeRing as resource; inputs to program policy and planning; follow ups to stay current on related research
•    In community meeting; 1 on 1 discuss content
•    Familiarizing myself with the materials and sharing them at staff mtgs.
•    Word of mouth.  Introducing things from work book into our program.
•    Through LifeRing Website.
•    Case conferencing, loaning my materials and discussing the information.
•    Not sure yet.
•    I will discuss the information with other convenors ASAP (any who were not present)
•    Talk about it
•    Sharing interaction.  Communicating presentation ideas.
•    Tell them to check it out.
•    Already do.
•    Do presentation.
•    Share information, go to LifeRing meeting, go to web site; present it in Case Conference.
•    Staff Meeting.
•    Discuss this training with them.
•    Shared information.

To your clients?

•    Client info and materials re: LifeRing; use workbook exercises--ind, and group; Encourage ? families LifeRing
•    Will use stuff from workbooks; agian, refer as much to LR as AA
•    Sharing the ideas learned; by continually recognizing the sober person living inside my clients
•    Introducing things from workbook into our program--word of mouth.
•    Refer them to the closest meeting place and website.
•    The strengthening of each individual will be the focus.  And shifting the focus from flaws to what they are csapable of and what they find works for them.
•    Plan to start a LifeRing group and turn it over to a group member eventually.
•    Pamphlets of where meetings are and the workbook.
•    NA
•    None yet.
•    Continue letting them know there is no one road or treatment towards recovery.
•    Give them another option.
•    Give them choice at intake.
•    Do a presentation.
•    Incorporate LifeRing materials to practice.
•    One on one sessions.
•    Paroles/State prison
•    Consider choice.
•    Shared info.

--------------------------------------------------------

P.S. 9/28/09:  I've posted the PowerPoint at http://www.unhooked.com/trxpro/CAADAC workshop.ppt -- just the slides, no sound track.  When I get time I hope to create a sound track and make a Flash video (or a series of them) based on this presentation. -- MN

What If There Were LifeRing Treatment?

Quite a few recovering people in various treatment programs have expressed the wish that LifeRing filled more than an hour in their week.  The desire for "more LifeRing" is especially strongly felt in programs where the other hours consist of heavy-duty 12-step lectures and meetings. 

Of course, there is no such thing as a LifeRing treatment program, and there probably oughtn't to be.  We are a peer-to-peer support group, and should always remain that.  So much of our fundamental approach is premised on horizontal support dynamics that the introduction of vertical relationships -- inevitable in today's insurance-dominated treatment settings -- would bring about wrenching distortions.  Still, wouldn't it be liberating if today's treatment professionals saw their role as not only facilitating 12-step involvement but also facilitating LifeRing involvement?  Whatever works best for the client?

For treatment professionals in Northern California, an opportunity to learn the basics of LifeRing is coming on Saturday, Sept. 19.  Thanks to sponsorship by CAADAC, the California association of addiction professionals, I'll be presenting an all-day workshop at the LifeRing Service Center in downtown Oakland.  I'll be selecting material from Empowering Your Sober Self (my new book), from the Recovery by Choice workbook, from How Was Your Week (our convenor handbook) and from other sources.  This six-hour program is aimed at treatment professionals, and six hours of Continuing Education credit, plus an hour of Professional Development credit, are offered.  However, space permitting, any interested person, including of course any LifeRing participant, is welcome to take part.  It only costs $10.

Here's a page with details about the venue, parking, meals, etc.  Hope to see you there!

Another Professional Seeks LifeRing

Received yesterday at the LifeRing Service Center:

This is ___________ the owner of [Treatment Program]. I have space and would like to have an onsite LifeRing meeting on Friday evenings at our site. The ideal time frame for this meeting to start would be at 6pm and end at whatever the typical time frame is for meetings. We can however be flexible about the time if something else works better.

So, I need a facilitator and help getting it set up and listed. I will do anything you want me to do to help with this process. People being treated at our program would be encouraged to attend as well as it being open to the public. There would be no charge for the use of the space, we just want to offer the support group to our clients and the community.

Our only request would be that the room is cleaned up, materials put away, and that the building is locked up when finished.

Please let me know if this is doable and what are next steps. Thank you advance for considering us to provide this important service.

[Signed]

LifeRing Service Center, Press, Move to New Office

A Place Of Our Own
Marjorie posts temporary door sign on our new home.	Gillian gets high on the ladder to brighten up the ceiling.	Chet makes like Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence.
Chet and Marjorie assembling the rubber-like steel shelving.	Ta-daa! Ready to hold boxes of LifeRing Press books.	Syl fights off the great white cardboard box shark.
Lloyd, George and Ellen get down with the shipping desk.	It got pretty chaotic sometimes but, heck, we're used to that!	Chet prepares to tape Mark.
Lloyd, George, Marty (in rear), Chet pile the wagons high.	Laurie and Mark ham for the camera..	Marylou helps put things back together the next day.
	During the week of April 7-13 '03, LifeRing Press and the LifeRing Service Center moved to new office space. Lots of volunteers made the move short work and a good time. The new space is bigger and more versatile, and more important: it's all our own! Please mark the new mailing address: LifeRing 1440 Broadway Suite 312 Oakland CA 94612-2023 The phone number, fax, and email remain the same: Tel: 510-763-0779 Fax: 510-763-1513 service@lifering.org (Service Center) publisher@lifering.com (Press) Come to the Office Warming Party May 23, 2003
Caroline gets the shipping desk ready for action. She also repaired the supply cabinet.