Basic Documents
Below are the main documents members and meetings will need.
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Personal Recovery
If you'd like to improve your personal recovery, try any or all of the following:
- Get an abstinent sponsor to guide you as you work the 12 steps. Please see https://oa.org/faqs/categories/sponsorship for further information.
Greater Pittsburgh Intergroup does not maintain a list of members available to sponsor. In addition to the suggestions given above, we suggest that you use the contact numbers on our meeting list or GPI Service Roster to reach out and ask about sponsorship and/or available sponsors at their groups.
- If you are abstinent and have worked at least the first three steps, be a sponsor
- Attend a new meeting
- Attend a Face to Face meeting if you've only been to Telephone or Online meetings, if possible
- Get a home group (a home group is a meeting which you commit to attend regularly and where you get involved in service)
- Sign up for the GPI Email List and bring information back to your group
- Serve as your group's Designated Downloader and bring information back to your group
- Call a newcomer or other member of your group and see how they're doing
- Call someone you haven't seen at meetings in awhile, ask how they're doing, and let them know that you miss them
- If someone you know has trouble getting to Face to Face meetings, offer to drive them if possible
- If you know someone having difficulty with Zoom meetings and you have the skills/ability, set up a phone call or plan to visit with them so you can help them
- Sign up to chair your home group or another meeting you attend
- Take a service position at your home group or another meeting you attend
- Serve on a GPI Committee
- If there are no meetings in your area, start one. See Start a Meeting for information and suggestions.
The following documents offer suggestions to enhance your personal recovery.
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Homebound?
Some OA members go through periods where, for a number of reasons, they are physically unable to go out to meetings. During this time, we miss our Face to Face meetings--the fellowship, lingering after the meeting for hugs and to catch up. With this is mind, the 12th Step Within Committee discussed some ways for us to strengthen our personal connections, and offers the following to help deal with isolation:
- Find a call in/text in buddy for every day connection
- Join or make a texting group that participants can share their ESH (experience, strength, and hope) throughout the day
- Share through text or email a quote from OA/AA literature that helps us (could be a slogan or a tool)
- Attend multiple virtual meetings
- After the meeting is concluded, stay on the line to catch up with others, offer service by answering questions for newcomers, or to talk about sponsorship
- Call, text, or email someone you haven't spoken with in a while
- Offer service to those with mobility issues by calling them or even sending an encouraging note
- Commit your meal plan to another person through text or email each day
- Start a 4th step, 10th step call in group and talk about how we work them
We all miss our personal connections when housebound and need to find other ways to fulfill this vital part of our program. Share your ideas with us at committee_12within@gpioa.org. What helps you?
Also, whether you are dealing with your own declining health or are caring for a loved one, the 12th Step Within Committee of GPI offers help to support members and keep them connected to OA during these difficult times. Contact Linda A at 12within@gpioa.org for more information about volunteering or to ask for help.
In addition to the many virtual meetings available, the following websites with speakers and podcasts may be of assistance:
Don't forget about the 7th Tradition if you're taking advantage of these online resources! It's not free for these groups, intergroups, or regions to maintain these websites and provide this valuable service.
back to Homebound Support
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Strong Groups
Want to make your local group even better? Try any or all of the following:
- Compare your meeting to the Strong Meeting Checklist; how does the group compare and what needs to improve or change?
- If your meeting is a Face to Face meeting, does your meeting have a secretary (who may or may not be the group's contact person), treasurer, literature person, Intergroup representative, designated downloader, and newcomer greeter? If not, are you able to take on one of these positions?
- If your meeting is an Online meeting, does your meeting have a Zoom host/security person, secretary (who may or may not be the group's contact person), treasurer, literature person, Intergroup representative, designated downloader, and newcomer greeter? (While not meeting face to face, some online meetings have chosen to mail newcomers or other members literature and/or recovery coins.) If your group is missing any of these positions, are you able to take on one of these roles?
- If your meeting is a Telephone meeting, does your meeting have a secretary (who may or may not be the group's contact person), treasurer, literature person, Intergroup representative, designated downloader and newcomer greeter? (While not meeting face to face, some Telephone meetings have chosen to mail newcomers or other members literature and/or recovery coins.) If your group is missing any of these positions, are you able to take on one of these roles?
- See if your group would be willing and able to sponsor a workshop on an OA topic
- See if your meeting would be willing and able to sponsor an OA event such as the OA birthday, Unity Day, Sponsorship Day, IDEA Day, or 12th Step Within Day
- Find our when your group was founded and plan a special celebration for your group's anniversary
The following documents offer insights which can improve your local group.
Additional resources are available by selecting "Meeting Resources" at https://oa.org/document-library/.
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Service Documents
These documents are used by GPI chairs and committee members, or anyone interested in an elected position on GPI.
PDF files are viewed with Adobe Reader. If you need Adobe Reader, please download Adobe Reader.
This list is in alphabetical order. Editable versions of all forms have been posted.
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Service Instructions
Below are instructions for GPI's trusted servants to perform common tasks and access secure GPI materials.
Cleaning Out GPI Email Boxes
Each GPI position has at least one email address associated with it in order to provide continuity between elections and anonymity to GPI members as they perform their duties. For a list of emails associated with each position, please see the GPI Roster. Email sent to these addresses automatically forwards to each GPI member's individual mailbox, so there is no need for GPI members to check their box in order to get their messages.
However, these email boxes have size limits, and so each GPI member is responsible for cleaning out these email boxes at least once per month. Reminder emails are sent monthly prior to the GPI meeting and include detailed instructions, but those instructions are repeated below for reference. The email password will be given to each GPI member by the webmaster.
- go to this link: https://rc.webmail.pair.com/
- enter the email address you are responsible for in the username@domain box (remember, you are responsible for not only the chair email; for example, marathon@gpioa.org, but also your committee email address, committee_marathon@gpioa.org.)
- enter the password
- now you're into the email interface; it will resemble MS Outlook. In the bottom left corner is a piechart, with a percent next to it. This is the percent of your mailbox size that you're using. If you hover the mouse over the percent (not the piechart), it'll tell you how much disk space you're currently using, and how big your total mailbox is. Remember, if you go over your size limit, the box closes down and doesn't receive mail.
- To select a message, just click on it, then click the trash can to delete it. You can select one message, and use control click to select other non-contiguous messages, and shift click to click continuous messages. That way, you can delete all at one time. There will be some spam to delete, and you'll want to delete any messages that will not be of use to whomever replaces you in your position down the line. **The goal is to only save emails that will be useful to your successors.**
- once you delete messages, click the "Trash" folder, then re-delete the messages from the Trash like you did in step 5 above. If you don't do this, the files aren't truly deleted and continue to take up space, putting your mailbox at risk of filling up and not receiving mail.
- go back to your inbox and click "Refresh" (it's in the upper left corner with 2 arrows overtop); this checks the mail again, so you can see if you've received any new spam. If you have, repeat steps 5 and 6.
- logout (button is in upper right corner of page)
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Storage Locker
GPI maintains a storage locker at U-Haul Moving & Storage of Oakland (formerly Iron City Self Storage). GPI members and committee members can access this locker as needed.
Please review the following instructions before going to the storage locker to save yourself a wasted trip:
- be sure you have the locker number and combination before going to the storage unit
- you *must* go to the locker during standard hours (when the office is open) from 8a-6p Mon-Sat or 9a-5p Sun; check the website at https://www.uhaul.com/Locations/Truck-Rentals-near-Pittsburgh-PA-15213/809082/ to be sure that these hours haven't changed
- once you arrive at U-Haul, go to the office and get the key for GPI's locker
- let the office worked know that, as a volunteer driven non profit organization, we do not have a fob to turn off the alarm which will go off when the storage locker door opens (so that they don't panic when they hear it going off)
- once you get to GPI's locker, unlock both locks
- be prepared for a loud alarm to go off when the door opens and breaks a security beam, the alarm will last for 30-45 seconds and then stop -- you do not need to do anything so long as you keeo the locker door open the entire time you're at the locker
- the combination lock is a little tricky, you must make sure that the numbers align exactly with the dashes, and once they do you just press on the numbers like a button to release the lock
- to lock the combination lock, you must change the numbers so the proper combination isn't set, otherwise the lock will not engage
- after accessing the locker, you must return the key to the office; failure to return the key will result in you being charged for a new secure lock for GPI's locker
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Archive
Below are all publicly available documents within GPI's Online Archive. This page is a continuing work in progress.
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Past Events
Event flyers and other documents from events hosted by GPI or groups within GPI are available below.
2024
2023
Past GPI Meeting Documents
Below are available documents from past GPI meetings.
2024
2023
2022
Prior Years GPI Representation and 7th Tradition Contributions
GPI stopped sending individual confirmations to groups when they sent in 7th tradition contributions on January 1, 2010. Yearly summaries of group contributions after that date, including details regarding group representation at GPI after January 1, 2016, are available below.
2023 GPI Contributions & Group Representation
2022 GPI Contributions & Group Representation
2021 GPI Contributions & Group Representation
2020 GPI Contributions & Group Representation
2019 GPI Contributions & Group Representation
2018 GPI Contributions & Group Representation
2017 GPI Contributions & Group Representation
2016 GPI Contributions & Group Representation
2015 GPI Contributions
2014 GPI Contributions
2012 GPI Contributions
2011 GPI Contributions
2010 GPI Contributions
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