Corrections Facility Committee (CFC):
Letter-Writing Meetings

Last July, I began serving as the CFC chair for the Los Angeles Intergroup. The mission of SA’s CFC is to carry our message to incarcerated sexaholics, and one way to do this is to participate in CFC’s Sponsor-by-Mail program. So early in my service, I introduced a Prisoner Correspondence Format in one of our groups (see format below). Since then, I’ve recruited six sober sexaholics to sponsor prisoners by mail, and most of them are currently sponsoring an inmate. We also began reading the prisoners’ letters and responding to them in our group.

How does this work? First, a member of the group becomes a Sponsor-by-Mail for an incarcerated sexaholic. The sponsor then gets permission to share his or her sponsees’ letters at a meeting, and the group conscience decides whether to “adopt” this particular prisoner as a member.

Our group averages two to three letter-writing meetings per month, sometimes from two different inmates. During the meeting, we first propose a topic, and members are invited to write on the proposed topic for a limited amount of time, with the option to read their written responses to the group and send them to the prisoner. We choose a topic for writing (instead of members responding directly to the prisoner’s letter) in order to give the prisoner a true experience of participating in a meeting.

We’ve had as many as 12 people writing responses at once, with many members choosing to share their letters during subsequent sharing, while others prefer to share on a different topic. After the meeting, the prisoners’ sponsors can collect the letters and mail them to the sponsee. We have an alternative format on hand for days when no prisoner’s letter has been received.

In our experience, both the prisoner and the participating members benefit greatly from this exchange. The jailed sexaholic gets the benefit of group sharing, and the group members take part in carrying the SA message to those who are less fortunate. This has been a positive experience for us, with many members looking forward to these meetings and prisoners expressing gratitude for the support they receive.

For more information, please contact me at mottelnnn@gmail.com.

In service,

Sample Prisoner Correspondence Meeting Format

Read regular format until after the serenity prayer.

[This meeting has two formats: (a) book study and (b) prisoner correspondence meeting. Does any member have prisoner correspondence to share?]

Would someone please read either the Twelve Steps on page 208 of the White Book or the first page of the chapter “Working with Others” from AA, 89.

During this meeting, we will share correspondence from those who are incarcerated or going into prison, and carry the SA message of recovery to them by sending our written shares through the prisoner’s sponsor and/or doing Step writing in the meeting and sharing it with the prisoner. Prisoner correspondence often relates to the prisoner’s Step work with an SA sponsor, who is a member of this group. Reading the correspondence at this meeting permits the prisoner to share, passing the message of his or her recovery to our group, and vice versa.

If you are interested in being of service by sponsoring or corresponding with a prisoner, please see me after the meeting.

Member shares the prisoner’s correspondence.

After the reading is completed: Would someone like to propose a topic on which to write?

In participation: Members write on the topic for ten minutes (plus one minute to sum up), with an option to read their written share in this meeting and/or have it sent to the prisoner. In writing, members share their experience, strength, and hope with the prisoner(s), avoiding feedback (with the exception of Step One reading), following normal meeting protocols. No cross-talk please. To avoid cross-talk, we do not comment on another member’s share or directly address the prisoner’s letter. We stick to the proposed topic, sharing in “I,” not “you” or “we,” giving our correspondent the benefit of participation in a group sharing. We avoid topics that can lead to dissension or distraction. We also avoid explicit sexual descriptions and sexually abusive language. The emphasis is on honesty, recovery, and healing—how to apply the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions in our daily lives.

At the end of ten minutes, members may share their writing with the group. Ask, ‘Who would like to begin?’

Read the guidelines for sharing from the regular format. At 9:40 p.m., refer to the regular format for the Seventh Tradition and secretary’s announcements, after which the meeting will re-open for sharing.

Corrections Facility Committee—Call to Serve

SA’s Sponsor-by-Mail program, sponsored by SA’s Correctional Facilities Committee (CFC), is our primary means of carrying the SA message to prisoners. Local, Intergroup and Regional Corrections Committee Chairs are needed in order for us to support local prisoners, so that we can reach areas not currently carrying the message to prisoners. We need your help. If you are willing to serve as a Corrections Committee Chair of your group, Intergroup, or region, we will help you get started. We also need editorial help for developing a new draft CFC pamphlet. For more information, or if you would like to volunteer to help those less fortunate than us who are trying to work the Steps while incarcerated, please contact me at sacfc1@gmail.com.

In love and service,