12-24 Club, Inc.

ORGANIZATION HISTORY

The non-profit organization was incorporated in September of 1993 and originally housed in the old Aero Club on West Yellowstone.  In 1998, the City of Casper selected the 12-24 Club as its new tenant for the former senior center located in the City Park blocks at 8^th & Center Streets.  Initially, the Club hosted only Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA), but after moving to the larger leased facility, the Club has been able to open its doors to any 12-Step group seeking to offer its members recovery from issues causing problems in their lives.  The Club now operates as a 12-Step Community Center. 

THE CLUB’S MISSION

The purpose of the 12-24 Club is to provide a safe, inviting and comfortable center where people in all stages of recovery can find fellowship and support.  The AA and NA meetings draw the most attendance and, because of increasing community awareness of the Club’s existence, more and more “newcomers” walk through our doors every day, seeking help for their alcoholism and/or addiction.  It is the Club’s mission to provide a supportive environment where hundreds of people are literally rebuilding their lives.  The Club is a crossroads of individuals representing every socio-economic level in our community – from the homeless to successful professionals, from the uneducated to the educators.

ACTIVITIES & PROGRAMS

At present, ten different 12-Step groups call the 12-24 Club their home.  They are:  Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon (for family and friends of alcoholics), and Alateen (for teens of alcoholics).  In the past, the Club has been home to Nar-Anon (for loved ones of addicts), Overeaters Anonymous, Eating Disorders Anonymous, Emotions Anonymous (for people struggling with grief, anger, etc.), Dual Recovery Anonymous, Gambler’s Anonymous and Smokers Anonymous.

There are more than 30 scheduled meetings a week, plus dozens of one-on-one meetings between sponsors and sponsorees.  A statewide AA “jamboree” is held at the Club for three days in June; various groups use the facility for holiday events; and, recovery-related organizations regularly rent space for special events and meetings.  On many of the major holidays, the Club provides a large “family” dinner for those who might not have family to visit for the holidays.

On a day-to-day basis, our purpose is to keep our doors open so the suffering addict or alcoholic (or suffering loved one) has a safe haven of support every day of the year.  Depending on the time of year, we have 3,000 to 3,500 patron visits per month.  Our small restaurant feeds people’s bellies while the meetings feed their souls.  The availability of delicious, reasonably-priced, home-cooked meals enables folks in recovery to come to the popular noon AA and NA meetings and get a bite to eat before returning to work.  There are dinner-time meetings, as well as other scheduled meetings throughout the weekend.

The Club also provides the critical service of providing a home to 12-Step meetings which absolutely cannot afford to rent commercial space elsewhere.  While several Casper churches have generously opened their doors to 12-Step meetings over the years, many groups prefer a more “neutral” meeting space where newcomers might feel more comfortable.  The 12-24 Club houses so many different meetings and is usually abuzz with all kinds of activity that many people feel safer coming here.  (Also, because of a lack of understanding about recovery programs, a lot of landlords shy away from renting to groups of addicts and alcoholics.)  The Club also enables fledgling 12-Step groups in Casper – such as Gambler’s Anonymous and Emotions Anonymous – to get their footing in a space they can afford.

The formula for rent that each group pays is based on whether they are an established, registered group with their world service organization.  Registered groups pay 80 percent of the money collected when they “pass the basket” for their 7^th Tradition at each meeting.  Small, non-registered groups pay 100 percent of their collection.  Often times, meeting attendees simply don’t have a dollar to give, but will always be offered a cup of coffee and a seat in the room.

The 12-24 Club’s annual budget is exceeding $135,000.  Our income includes:  Membership dues ($12 per month); kitchen revenues; sales of books and tokens; donations from members and community supporters; monies earned from fundraising events; and, rent paid from the collections at each meeting.  Unfortunately, that income does not cover all of the costs of operating the facility:  Payroll is a large portion, plus utilities and insurance are skyrocketing.  In one year’s time, Club management has cut expenses by $8,500 and increased revenues by $3,000, but that has not mitigated our need for outside sources of revenue.

CASPER’S CENTER OF RECOVERY

The 12-24 Club is not only unique to Casper and Wyoming, but also to the entire U.S. – there is no other facility quite like it.  Visitors from around the country marvel at the Club and rue that their hometown doesn’t have a center of recovery like Casper’s.  No one else does what we do – anywhere! 

All 12-Step groups have a steadfast tradition of not owning property because they believe it will divert them from their “primary purpose.”  Groups throughout the world rely upon the hospitality of others for places to hold their meetings.  Around the country, non-profit organizations have sprung up (often called “Alano” clubs) to serve as landlords for AA and NA groups.  Most are just dark little ramshackle buildings; in bigger communities the groups might be lucky to have vending machines or a small snack bar.  A club such as ours is unheard of – not only because it is so bright, airy and comfortable with a restaurant, but particularly because so many different 12-Step groups live together under its roof.

In addition to the ten different 12-Step groups residing at the facility, the 12-24 Club also has excellent working relationships with the Wyoming Recovery Program, Casper Re-Entry Center, The Women's Heart, Central Wyoming Counseling Center (and its various satellite facilities), the Natrona County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, Wyoming Senior Program, Wyoming Behavioral Institute and Mercer House.  On a daily basis, those entities refer troubled individuals to our facility or actually transport them to meetings.

BOARD MEMBERS, STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS

The Board of Directors (consisting of four officer positions and eleven at-large board members) meets on the third Tuesday of every month.  The board represents many facets of our community. 

Staff -- The Club employs one full-time position of Executive Director; one part-time bookkeeper; six part-time kitchen personnel and one part-time “caretaker” who handles cleaning and maintenance tasks.  (At present, several employees work as few as 6-10 hours per week to accommodate their school schedules, family responsibilities or health limitations.)

The Club helps people rebuild their lives, including its employees and volunteers.  The kitchen staff is comprised primarily of folks in early recovery who need a safe, supportive work environment where they can learn skills, build successful relationships with co-workers and develop a work history.  The goal is for the employees to “graduate” to better job opportunities. 

Volunteers -- The 12-24 Club is blessed with a broad slate of individuals who volunteer their time and talents to the facility.  Their efforts range from plant watering and lawn-mowing to equipment maintenance and repair.  Some folks work one hour or one day; others come back month after month.  In a year’s time there are easily 100 people who come through the doors as volunteers.  

Many of the Club’s volunteers are homeless and/or unemployed.  They come to meetings hungry and it is Club practice to feed anyone who wishes to do some meaningful work around the building. We don’t hand out anything for free, but we generously allow people to earn what they need.  Over the years, many people on the lowest rungs of society’s ladder have gotten a foothold as volunteers at the Club and are now employed and productive members of the community with their own homes.

Also, many individuals who are on probation and/or court-ordered to 12-Step meetings choose to fulfill their community service obligation at the Club.  It’s an ideal opportunity for them to make connections with clean and sober folks who are in recovery and are a positive influence on them.

THE NEED FOR COMMUNITY SUPPORT

The Urgent Need for Recovery

National health experts estimate that one out of ten people have an alcohol or drug problem.  In Natrona County alone that translates to about 6,500 people.  Each one of us – no matter where we live, work, socialize or worship – is affected by someone with an alcohol or drug addiction.  It is one of the most pervasive – and misunderstood – of society’s ills.  There’s been tremendous alarm in recent years regarding our community’s methamphetamine crisis; at times the situation seems hopeless, but it’s not!  At the 12-24 Club, there are dozens of examples of individuals who are successfully recovering from a meth addiction.  

For nearly 70 years, 12-Step programs have helped millions of people get clean and sober when nothing else worked.  Treatment centers are effective at teaching clients about their illness, but even there, patients are told emphatically that they need to continue with a lifelong support program such as AA or NA.  The family and friends of alcoholics and addicts suffer right along with their loved ones; programs such as Al-Anon, Alateen and Nar-Anon are a godsend for them.

More than 100 people walk through the doors of the 12-24 Club every day – that’s over 36,000 patron visits annually!  Some folks come in a local treatment center’s van; others attend meetings under court-order.  The vast majority of individuals who walk through the door are present because they want to stay clean and sober – they have found the solution to their problem at the 12-24 Club.