POCATELLO — Al-Anon is not Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a program and support group for family and friends of alcoholics, and we protect your anonymity. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions. Alcoholism/addiction is a disease. In Al-Anon, we learn to address our needs, our behaviors and our choices in relation to our loved ones and their disease.

This program began in the kitchen of Lois W. with the wives of alcoholics. While their husbands were meeting in the living room with Bill W. (Lois’s husband), the wives gathered in the kitchen for coffee and conversation. Eventually, they realized their need for support and change. The Al-Anon program grew from this awareness and realization.

It has spread throughout the United States, as well as worldwide. Each Al-Anon Family Group has but one purpose: to help families of alcoholics. We do this by practicing the 12 steps of AA ourselves by encouraging and understanding our alcoholic relatives, and by welcoming and giving comfort to families of alcoholics. We, too, are a 12-step program of our own recovery and our own return to sanity.

“Progress begins when we stop trying to control the uncontrollable and when we go on to correct what we have the right to change,” from “One Day at a Time” — March 26.

We welcome you into our program and to visit a meeting. We realize the trepidation of entering our doors for the first time. Each of us went to a first meeting also. Bring a friend if you like. We invite you to experience, with us, the opportunity to grow and to experience the awareness that the program can provide.

We have various meetings at noon and in the evenings at different locations or through Zoom meetings. Below is a schedule of the current meetings.

If you have any questions, you may call the hotline at 208-232-2692.

Monday — Noon at the Bru House coffee shop on 502 W. Main St. in Pocatello. 7 p.m. Zoom meeting available. Contact our local information line at 208-232-2692.

Wednesday — 6:30 p.m. Zoom meeting available. Contact our local information line at 208-232-2692.

Friday — Noon at Family Alliance Services, 355 S. Arthur Ave. (door furthest east), in Pocatello.

Sunday — 7:00 p.m. at Western Real Estate, 1179 Parkway Drive, Suite B, in Blackfoot.

Additional resources: Idaho Area 13 Al-Anon — Alateen website at al-anon-idaho.org

Al-Anon mobile app is available at al-anon.org (includes a list of daily Zoom meetings).