The Houston Area SAA Intergroup Women’s Outreach contact is Ginny F. (713.419.8498).
International Service Organization of SAA Women’s Outreach contact for Houston is Judy G. (281-384-3034).
For information on the International Women’s Outreach contact list please email grace (at) saa-recovery (dot) org
When: May 26-28, 2012
Where: Vancouver, Canada.
The convention is soon approaching. Be sure to choose and support your delegate.
Remember, to attend you will need a passport (though Canada can seem a lot like the States it is another country). Also for your travel plans you may want to consider flying in to Seattle (plane ticket about 1/2 of that for Vancouver) and driving or taking a train to Vancouver (125 miles).
More information is available on the ISO Service Website, which requires a password. You can obtain the password by calling the ISO at (713) 869-4902.
Going the Distance for Your Recovery
February 24-26
Cross Roads Retreat Center in Caldwell, TX (map)
Cost is $115 (half scholarships are available until Feb 10th).
E-mail houstonsaaretreat@gmail.com for more info!
During the last year, the ISO has developed and implemented an e-mail list for the purpose of making more effective, convenient and financially efficient communications to the SAA Fellowship about ISO news and events. Our list has grown from around 500 people last year to 2,031 members today!
We have found this list to be helpful to the Fellowship in many ways, including:
We will only add someone to the list if they request to be added, but many members are not aware that the list exists. This is where we need your help!
Please print out the ISO Email List sign-up sheet and take it your group. We are grateful for your service!
The Fifth Annual ISO fundraiser is coming up! Please make plans to attend.
WHAT: Annual Giving Thanks Party / Fundraiser
WHEN: Sunday, January 29th, 2012 from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
WHERE: The Royalton, 3333 Allen Parkway, in the community room on ground level (map)
WHY: In accordance with the 7th tradition, SAA must self-fund. The ISO is the officially approved SAA organization tasked with providing SAA recovery literature; worldwide, national and prison outreach; and coordination and representation of SAA recovery programs and goals. To do these jobs takes money.
There will be live music & food at the event, so all in good fellowship.
Update (2012-01-12): Links to the ISO Service Website and the ISO long-range planning efforts have been corrected.
The following is an announcement from the ISO of SAA, Inc., regarding the upcoming 2012 Delegate Conference. Please consider printing these documents and taking them to your group meeting, in case your group does not receive its copies in the mail.
As prescribed in the Bylaws of the International Service Organization of SAA, Inc., the Board of Trustees convenes an annual meeting of the members of the corporation (delegates). Each member group of SAA that is registered with the ISO may elect one delegate to participate as a voting member at the Conference. Groups may also elect an alternate delegate to attend the Conference.
The 2012 ISO Conference will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on May 25-26, 2012. Delegates are encouraged to arrive on Thursday evening, May 24, as the delegate meeting begins early on Friday morning. The meeting will run all day Friday and part of the day on Saturday.
The advance registration fee for the delegate meeting is $50, which covers the cost of the Conference meeting and includes the delegate luncheon on Friday. A delegate certification form and the registration fee must be sent to the ISO by May 1, 2011. The late and onsite registration fee will be $75.
Delegates may pick up their packet of materials or register onsite between 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 24. The registration desk will open at 6:30 a.m. on Friday morning, May 25. The Conference will convene promptly at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, May 25.
Delegates will need three important documents for planning participation in the annual Conference:
To be eligible to send a delegate to the Conference, a group must be registered with the ISO. Please note that groups must re-register annually. If your group has not re-registered for 2012, please complete the enclosed group registration form and mail, fax, or email it to the ISO before March 31, 2012. The signatures of two trusted servants at the top of the form indicate the commitment of your group to the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of SAA, in which we find the SAA program and the principles by which we operate as an organization.
If you are unsure about your group registration status, you may go to the SAA website, click on the “Meetings” tab, go to your state or country page, then click on the “registration status” link in the second paragraph.
This form is self explanatory. A completed form with the $50 registration fee should be sent to the ISO by May 1, 2011. Delegates who register late or onsite will incur the higher registration fee of $75.
These guidelines will aid you in choosing a delegate who has sufficient time in the program and sobriety and who has enough Twelve-Step service experience to represent your group and the fellowship thoughtfully and effectively at the Conference.
Delegate responsibilities: The Conference is a meeting of the members of the corporation, at which time the members (delegates) receive reports of ISO activities for the preceding year, hear plans for the coming year, and consider issues of concern to the SAA fellowship as a whole. Motions may be brought before the Conference by the ISO Board of Trustees, by the ISO Literature Committee, by the Conference Charter Committee, or by member groups or individual delegates. Motions must be submitted on the official Business Motion form, which is available for download from the SAA website under the “Delegates” tab. Motions should include sufficient background information about the issue to allow an informed decision by the delegates. Also, the motion should include a clear statement of the financial and operational impact on the ISO, if the proposal were to be adopted or rejected.
Important notice: The deadline for the receipt of all motions this year is March 31, 2012.
Please note that this deadline was adopted by the delegate Conference last May in order to provide local groups and their delegates sufficient time to study the issues and discuss the motions before coming to the Conference. The motions will be posted on the ISO service website at least one month in advance of the Conference.
All of the information that will be needed by delegates, including the Call to Conference, will be posted on the ISO service website, as it becomes available.
The username and password are the same as the convention website. You can obtain them by calling the ISO at 713-869-4902.
Please read about the ISO’s current long-range planning efforts (available in the January-February 2012 Outer Circle, pp 2-3) in anticipation of receiving additional information about planning for the future at the Vancouver Conference.
On behalf of the ISO, I wish to encourage every eligible group to send a delegate to the Conference in Vancouver. This is a specific way that your voice can be heard and that you can be involved in the guidance of the ISO. Remember the ISO exists for the primary purpose of supporting the members of the fellowship and member groups in carrying the SAA message of recovery.
Thank you in advance for your interest and your participation. We look forward to seeing you at the Conference in Vancouver!
In your service,
Joe H.
ISO Director of Operations
Please pass these on to your groups.
Dear Members of the SAA Fellowship,
It won’t come as a shock to you, but sex addiction is a bad actor! For most of us, addiction to compulsive sexual behavior caused pain to us and those around us. We experienced overwhelming hopelessness, fear, and shame. Many of us lost families and friends or lost jobs and careers. Some of us were incarcerated as a result of our addiction, and some of us died. Sex
addiction destroys many things that are priceless – spirituality, intimacy, relationships, and families.
Our message of recovery – the SAA program – can make a difference. We have seen lives transformed. We have seen hopelessness turned into hope. We have seen relationships restored and new healthy relationships formed. In fact, I think of my own recovery as a miracle.We do make a difference for many who suffer from sex addiction.
The ISO was established by the SAA fellowship to support and enhance the capacity of our members to support each other and to carry the message of SAA to the addict who still suffers. We serve as an important communications and support hub for the fellowship. We register new meetings, develop literature, maintain active websites, and support other vital outreach efforts.
As a member of SAA, you have an opportunity to change the world – one life at a time. Have you experienced the gift of recovery through SAA? Are you grateful for this gift? Do you want others who suffer from sex addiction to be able to learn about our fellowship and to find our meetings? If you could, would you share the gift of freedom with a person still struggling?
As the problem of sex addiction grows in our world, the ISO needs your support to allow us to plan and be ready for growth of the fellowship. None of us can do it alone, but, working together, we can have an enormous positive impact on this serious problem. We need to develop more and better resources to attract the addict who still suffers to our program. We need more literature that carries the SAA message. We need to plan how we will support future growth of the fellowship.
All of these vital activities need your support. We simply do not have the funds or the volunteers to develop and implement many of these plans and projects. By responding to this appeal, you will help underwrite the capacity of the ISO to support initiatives that can change lives for many sex addicts. Please consider giving what you can. For many, your gift will be a gift of life.
As we close 2011, the ISO of SAA wishes to express its gratitude for the many financial gifts it has received and for the many hours given by members in service to the fellowship. Below, you will see a fact sheet that will give you an idea of the scope of ISO outreach activities handled though the ISO office. We ask for your financial contributions today to help us expand our reach to many, many more. Please be generous with your gifts.
You may print and mail the donation form to make a one-time donation, or to sign up for monthly contributions as a LifeLine Partner.
You may also make a contribution online using our secure server.
With best wishes for your recovery,
Joe H.
Director of Operations, ISO of SAA
On behalf of the ISO Board of Trustees
The 2012 HAI Board Members:
We still are looking for an Outreach Chair. The Outreach Chair coordinates all Outreach by the HAI.
The Roles and Responsibilities are in draft and will be finalized in 2012.
The following is an announcement from the ISO of SAA, Inc., regarding the upcoming 2012 Delegate Conference. Please consider printing these documents and taking them to your group meeting, in case your group does not receive its copies in the mail.
Dear Friends in Recovery,
As prescribed in the Bylaws of the International Service Organization of SAA, Inc., the Board of Trustees convenes an annual meeting of the members of the corporation (delegates). Each member group of SAA that is registered with the ISO may elect one delegate to participate as a voting member at the Conference. Groups may also elect an alternate delegate to attend the Conference.
The 2012 ISO Conference will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on May 25-26, 2012. Delegates are encouraged to arrive on Thursday evening, May 24, as the delegate meeting begins early on Friday morning. The meeting will run all day Friday and part of the day on Saturday.
The advance registration fee for the delegate meeting is $50, which covers the cost of the Conference meeting and includes the delegate luncheon on Friday. A delegate certification form (enclosed with this letter) and the registration fee must be sent to the ISO by May 1, 2011. The late and onsite registration fee will be $75.
Delegates may pick up their packet of materials or register onsite between 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 24. The registration desk will open at 6:30 a.m. on Friday morning, May 25. The Conference will convene promptly at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, May 25.
Enclosed are three important documents for planning participation in the annual Conference:
1. Group registration form
To be eligible to send a delegate to the Conference, a group must be registered with the ISO. Please note that groups must re-register annually. If your group has not re-registered for 2012, please complete the enclosed group registration form and mail, fax, or email it to the ISO before March 31, 2012. The signatures of two trusted servants at the top of the form indicate the commitment of your group to the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of SAA, in which we find the SAA program and the principles by which we operate as an organization.
If you are unsure about your group registration status, you may go to the SAA website (www.saa-recovery.org), click on the “Meetings” tab, go to your state or country page, then click on the “registration status” link in the second paragraph.
2. Delegate certification form
This form is self explanatory. A completed form with the $50 registration fee should be sent to the ISO by May 1, 2011. Delegates who register late or onsite will incur the higher registration fee of $75.
3. Guidelines for International Service for delegates
These guidelines will aid you in choosing a delegate who has sufficient time in the program and sobriety and who has enough Twelve-Step service experience to represent your group and the fellowship thoughtfully and effectively at the Conference.
Delegate responsibilities: The Conference is a meeting of the members of the corporation, at which time the members (delegates) receive reports of ISO activities for the preceding year, hear plans for the coming year, and consider issues of concern to the SAA fellowship as a whole. Motions may be brought before the Conference by the ISO Board of Trustees, by the ISO Literature Committee, by the Conference Charter Committee, or by member groups or individual delegates. Motions must be submitted on the official Business Motion form, which is available for download from the SAA website under the “Delegates” tab. Motions should include sufficient background information about the issue to allow an informed decision by the delegates. Also, the motion should include a clear statement of the financial and operational impact on the ISO, if the proposal were to be adopted or rejected.
Important notice: The deadline for the receipt of all motions this year is March 31, 2012.
Please note that this deadline was adopted by the delegate Conference last May in order to provide local groups and their delegates sufficient time to study the issues and discuss the motions before coming to the Conference. The motions will be posted on the ISO service website at least one month in advance of the Conference.
All of the information that will be needed by delegates, including the Call to Conference, will be posted on the ISO service website, as it becomes available. That site may be accessed at www.saa-iso.org.
Also enclosed for your information is an article about current long-range planning efforts within the ISO. Please read it in anticipation of receiving additional information about planning for the future at the Vancouver Conference.
On behalf of the ISO, I wish to encourage every eligible group to send a delegate to the Conference in Vancouver. This is a specific way that your voice can be heard and that you can be involved in the guidance of the ISO. Remember the ISO exists for the primary purpose of supporting the members of the fellowship and member groups in carrying the SAA message of recovery.
Thank you in advance for your interest and your participation. We look forward to seeing you at the Conference in Vancouver!
In your service,
Joe H.
ISO Director of Operations
Enclosures: Group registration form
Delegate certification form
Guidelines for International Service for delegates
ISOS & CCC Letter: “Preparing SAA for the Future”
Home Page: http://saa-recovery.org
Meetings: http://saa-recovery.org/Meetings
7th Tradition: http://saa-store.org/7thTradition
LifeLine Partners: http://saa-recovery.org/LifeLinePartner
ISO Store: http://saa-store.org
New! e-book Available: http://saa-store.org/book
New! mp3 Convention Downloads Available: http://saa-store.org/audio
If there are changes to a local meeting or if you know of an upcoming event and would like it posted here, contact info@houstonsaa.org.