SPEAKER_04 0:00

Good morning. My name is Nora.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

So Zisla a volám sa Nora.

SPEAKER_04 0:17

My clean date is February February 15, 1986.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

A mojistý datum is 15. Februara 1986.

SPEAKER_04 0:36

So I just celebrated 40 years. You know, HI was not a big part of my story for a long time.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

A vlastně NAZ nebylo sučást mojego průběhu velmi dlouhou dobu. A prvníkrát co jsem robil nějakou NAZ službu, tak jsem mala takovou znepokojú nepokojoucí zážitek. A vlastně mala jsem na starosti jako panel takového domu na pol cesty pre ženy.

SPEAKER_04 1:41

And I shared my experience, strength, and hope as I had at that time. I only had about 18 months.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Oh, sorry. Go ahead, go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 2:29

And I okay, go ahead. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

Sorry. Thanks. Uh, and I had such little experience at that time in my recovery.

SPEAKER_04 2:50

I just got really sad and upset, and I cried, and I swore I would never do HI again.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

And I didn't for a long time.

SPEAKER_04 3:36

And Art has been very much into HI since the very beginning of his recovery.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

I put on the presued 20 rock dopredu, because I mala svatbu to drug speaker's artum.

SPEAKER_04 3:55

Okay. And uh he it took a few it took a while, but he wore me down. I had about 20 years clean at that point. And um I'd gotten more mature in my recovery. And I um realized that you know I've not been to jail, I've never been arrested, I uh have never been in a detox institution. That's true. However, I knew how to stay clean. And they didn't. Yeah, so I definitely had something they did not. Um so art and I started doing some HI together. And we've done quite a bit together. Okay. We were living in California at that time in the San Francisco Bay Area.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

After we San Francisco, California.

SPEAKER_04 6:05

Okay, and um we started doing service together in our local area, and um I got I like really enjoyed our service. We Santa Clara County is a little unique, or at least at that time, that they would allow men and women to go in together to the jail, either at the men's side or the woman's side. You know, they've had male speakers with women and female speakers with men, and uh which in my experience has been very unique. Normally they don't like the men and women to mix at all. Okay. So we would do that. We would go into the jails and institutions in Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, which was the county just north of uh Santa Clara, and at the uh fire camps, which is where they where inmates uh like are out in the woods and they they help fight fires. And we uh I speaking for myself became much more comfortable doing HI what after doing those things, speaking at the jails, speaking at the fire camps, etc.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Um priorities I have to camp.

SPEAKER_04 9:35

Yes. And um we got busy with uh HI and uh Riverside County, which is where we were living. And um then COVID hit. Yeah, but if you were big if you were in NA at that time, you'll remember how much things changed.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

I could simply NA was TDA call COVID.

SPEAKER_04 10:23

One of the things we had had been doing before COVID was participating in a program called PACT, PACT. And it was oh, sorry, go ahead. And uh we would go monthly to these meetings of many different community groups, and we were one of them uh talking to people who were freshly paroled and um gave them information about NA. After COVID, there weren't any more pact meetings. So what happened was this excuse me, some folks in in Southern California put together this virtual meeting for parolees and um you know in excuse me, and we it was uh twice a week on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons or evenings rather sorry. Six years later that meeting is still going on and it is really uh has evolved into something very significant.

unknown 12:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 12:54

We have approximately between the two meetings, we have approximately two hundred parolees per week, um, give or take a few, who attend our meetings. And um it's been an incredible experience. We have people again people on parole. Usually they come to the meeting at first when they're freshly out of prison. And uh we have two 20-minute speakers followed by open sharing for the uh parolees. And um they've uh we've got people who've been coming the entire six years, even though they don't have to notice the air quotes, don't have to come anymore. Um and uh we are not in cooperation with parole. The only connection that we have with parole is the way they verify their attendance is we give them a code word at the end of the meeting, uh, which they in turn give to their uh agent, and that verifies that they were there that week. Um, and like I said, this meeting's been going on for six years. We've got people who started coming because they were on parole and they had to go to X number of meetings. And um who have now turned into trusted servants at the meeting. So we have a couple of folks who are ex-parolees.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

I was made urgent meeting, they must be pressed, stali says two of these.

SPEAKER_04 16:24

And they asked me to speak at the World Convention about staying clean on the outside. I you could have knocked me over with a feather. I was saying, like, what? Are you sure you want me? I've never been to jail. I've never been to prison, I've never been in any kind of institution whatsoever. What do I have to say to people about staying clean on the outside? Well, guess what I do?

SPEAKER_00 16:56

A ty, že jsem bylo tak zapojené do těchto meetingů času na poněky, tak ma oslovilo potom vlastně načkové svetové world services. Ano, tak ty oslovili vlastně, že ti chce na zjazdě být speaker.

SPEAKER_02 17:30

Ale to bylo svetový zjazd in Washington DC, no, yeah? This world service. To bylo svetový zjazd, že se teda odhral rok dozadu v Washington DC.

SPEAKER_05 17:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:45

I was blown away because I'm the kind of member I kind of fly under the radar. I don't get asked to speak a whole lot. And this just, you could have. And I didn't let's put it this way: I didn't fall over, and neither did the lectern. So I think everything was fine.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

A já jsem si myslel, já jsem si tak hoil a mám prostě speaker on takému. Ale vlastně, že dopadlo to podle mě dobré. Takže podle mě to dopadlo dobré.

SPEAKER_04 18:42

So I was able to show about the pro league meeting at World. After the World Convention, not long after, Art and I made a decision to move up to Oregon from Southern California. It was too hot and too expensive. So we moved up here. So if you're ever out visiting in Oregon, please uh look up Narcotics Anonymous because we're we're real good people here. Um and of course we immediately got involved in HI up here in Oregon because that's what we do. You know, my husband in particular is an HI lawyer, and um I you know the first time I going to HI with them semi-reluctantly, but now it's not reluctant. I'm very enthusiastic.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

A vlastně potom jsme se přeslali do orgonu, tak jsme se tam hněd zamilovali a je to i na společenstvo. Prostě když přijde do orgonu, tak určitě zvykláte, máme to krásné společenstvo. A když jsme se vrhli do NAZ do NAZU. A začátku já jsem tu Nazadku Naz službu nebylo nějak entuziastické, ale potom jsem se tak do toho zaběhla a našel jsem tam takový ten entuziasmus tomu.

SPEAKER_04 20:43

So two quick things and then I'm done. I have become the coordinator for the women's jail here in Lane County. And I bring panels into the women's jail every other week.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Okay, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_04 21:17

Okay. It's been very satisfying. But the last story I want to tell is about Oregon State Prison, which is a very much a maximum security. Lifers are there. It looks like an old castle.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Aha, and poslední príběh, which chce zazdělat, is vlastně z Oregonské státní věznice, která je velmi vysoko strážená. Vyzerá to prostě jako nějaký starých hrad obrněný.

SPEAKER_04 22:05

Art and I had the privilege of being invited. They have a group called the Hole in the Wall game. NA in prison. Art will tell you more about that. But we had the privilege of being invited to their Christmas party last year. And um so we were at this party, it was in a great big huge room, and there were a couple hundred men there, and they were all like beefy guys working out in the in the yard and scary looking. And this one guy goes, She's you're not scared of us. And I said, No. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, uh with that, I am going to pass the remainder of the time to my dear husband and best friend and partner in HI art.

SPEAKER_03 24:40

Thank you, Nora. Thank you very much. You can have everybody and uh say thank you to Nora for sharing with us. Okay, and art stage is yours.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Hello everyone. My name is Art and I'm an addict. I am grateful to be clean today and grateful to be in this meeting of narcotics. I know that Narcotics Anonymous has saved my life. So I have 23 years clean in narcotics. In a row. I became the secretary of a meeting. I became the treasurer of a meeting. I became the group service representative, the GSR of a meeting. Not at once, but all in a row. So in other words, find out what I enjoyed the most, but what the best service I could be to others. But once I started doing it within three minutes, I felt at home. I felt at home inside the jail with 64 men locked into a room with them. And it says Michael Radwood City. So hello Michael. We've done a lot of service together since then and still do. I thought it would be something that she would enjoy and get a lot out of personal satisfaction while helping other people, people who were locked up on the inside. Then she got cleared, and we were both able to go into the jail. I think she mentioned that we started going into the jail together. So we were doing meetings for women, we were doing meetings for men, and one of the things I remember the most from going into that jail is on a Mother's Day one year, it was Mother's Day, and we went into the jail, the two of us, and the men were very touched because they wanted to be with their mothers. But they realized if they had been clean and didn't go to jail, they would have been able to be with their moms at day. And that is where we teach each other to get better and different ways of being of service in hospitals and institutions as well as public relations.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

I too same amazing, nemocenic voices attack.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

And I'm very happy to say that I've done service with our friend Tom, Tom Kay, who was on the meeting, and I've done service with him still up till today. As well as the other rehabs and mental facilities, and youth facilities, and facilities for mothers with children. And as Norris said, when COVID hit, we went online on the Zoom where we were able to produce a meeting on Zoom for parolees who had been recently released from prison. And Nora raised her hand and said, I'll do it. So now Nora is the coordinator for the parole meetings, and it's a big job. It's a big job.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

Mal som to šťastie, že som mohlo 4 roky byť ako koordinátorom týchto meetingov pre podmienky. A keď už vlastne prišel ten čas, že by sa mal odzdávat službu, tak nikto tú službu nechcel zobrať. Nonec sa Nora prihlásila povedala, že ona to zoberia, a odvstady to vlastne mal na nastarosti a teda velká služba toto.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

What I've personally gotten that from that, besides the satisfaction, is I've actually met numerous of the parolees. And one of the parolees from that meeting, who served 30 31 years. He was a life termer who got out, is now a sponsee of mine, and I am working the steps with him. Peter, please stick around and talk to us after we have finished. Boy, what else has happened since COVID? We as a group figured out how to put our narcotics anonymous literature onto the electronic tablets that the prisons have inside of the prisons. But we managed to get our literature, our narcotics anonymous literature, onto every tablet that's 95,000 tablets. Okay, in California alone 95,000 tablets.

SPEAKER_00 41:40

Okay, takže vlastně my jsme potom v Californii, in naše skupine, našou společnost v Californii sme spravili jsme spravili na komisiu, z ktorej jsme se tomuto venovali. Dali jsme se do kontaktu s oddělením čo má na starosti vesnice v Californii. A za v prebuhu trochę rokov všetky vesnice, všetky ty tablety, tabulech dali našu literaturu a to je 95 tisíc týchto tabul do copy v celé California.

SPEAKER_02 42:15

Is it just California?

SPEAKER_01 42:16

Was it a California, Arizona, and right now they are in um Ohio, Illinois, Arizona, and California. Okay. Now in Oregon, the state is just getting the tablet, and we have a small committee, and we're gonna see what we can do to get our narcotics anonymous literature on every tablet here in Oregon as well. I am quite sure we will be successful with this. So something else that we've done up here is we've been able to go into Argon State Penitentiary with the Whole in the Wall group that Nora mentioned. And we bring eight to nine meetings into the whole in the wall group, which is primarily my first. The Oregon State Penitentiary has been going since 1986. Actually, the same year that NOAA got clean. So they've been doing this for 40 years. And we're fortunate enough to go in with them. Now I'm gonna screen share a few things. Here is the meeting schedule for the Oregon State Penitentiary. They have meetings Thursday, Friday, I'm sorry, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, another one on Friday, and a meeting on Saturday. And these meetings you actually have to sign up to be able to go to inside of the prison because they only allow, if you look at the top here, 50 members in one of the meetings, 30 members in another one. On Friday, 150 members. So there's a waiting list of people who are allowed to go to these meetings, and they really want to go. There's a waiting list of people wanting to go to these meetings. And uh for the hole in the wall group. Um can everybody see that? Yes. Okay, great. And this is their logo. And if you look closely, there's a man standing in the hole in the wall holding a narcotics anonymous basic text. They all dream that someday they'll get out, and they know the way they're gonna get out is by being good members of Narcotics Anonymous and being able to get out of prison. Most of them are there for life.

SPEAKER_00 47:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 48:05

It was two years after Nori got clean. These medallions that they give to each other after they have a year clean and they get the holdness. Let me see. There we go. I can enlarge that. There we go.

SPEAKER_00 48:23

Oni vlastne pracujú so svými rukami and dialničky, kde vyrabajú také vesničky a vyrobajú medailony, keď majú rok jistoty, je to je vlastne napisan, že the meeting začal v roku 1988, takže som sa tak split all dva roky, takže that so sprawne.

SPEAKER_01 48:45

Okay, and I did want to screen share one more thing. Uh if I can find it, I have it here. Boy, I had it right here. Well, you know what? I can't locate it at this moment, forgive me. I was gonna show you an example of some of the leather work they do. I actually had them, I had them, and I paid for that. They made a special purse for Nora, and it was hand engraved, and it is a beautiful leather purse for her. They do beautiful work there.

SPEAKER_00 49:30

Oh, there it is. Nora's got it. She's holding it up.

SPEAKER_01 49:35

Hold it a little higher. There we go, Nora. Thank you. That is the purse. Hopefully, everybody can see it.

SPEAKER_00 49:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 49:55

Now I know that I am out of time, but I just wanted to mention one more thing. I am part of another group called Preserving the Message. And here's a great access that you can learn more about the Holanwall group as well as lots of other history of narcotics anonymous. And it is preservingthemessage.org. And uh I suggest when you have a chance, take a look at it. You can learn a lot there. At any rate.

SPEAKER_00 50:39

Uh uh let me translate while the the page is still fresh.org.

SPEAKER_01 51:06

It's an honor to be here today. Andrea, thank you so much for asking me and Nora to chair our experience, strength and hope, with hospitals and institutions. And this service work is saving our lives as well as the lives of others, as well as the lives of the men and women in jails and prisons and mental hospitals and other facilities we go into. Thank you very much.