CIR GROWTH 2023

Reaching Souls | I recall a conversation that I had with a woman in North Myrtle Beach, SC after attending their Friday night General Recovery Meeting. We’ll call her Tonya. Tonya shared about finding Overeaters Anonymous (OA) and Al-Anon about 40 years ago while dealing with family addiction challenges and overeating compulsively. It saved her life at the time, however her participation in those fellowships began to take the place of her participation in the Catholic Church.

About 10 years ago, she found herself a bit disillusioned with secular 12-step recovery and slowly stepped away from it. After feeling lost and looking for something different, Tonya made the move to Myrtle Beach about a year-and-a-half ago. Shortly after, a friend referred her to a Catholic radio show in which I was a guest and she went online to find a Catholic in Recovery group in her new community. Since then, Tonya has returned to fully participating in the Catholic Church, is active in her local Catholic in Recovery group, and has made a return to OA and Al-Anon meetings. Her story is nothing short of miraculous and it was an honor to receive her gratitude for the community we’re building. In whatever way I can, I would like to extend her gratitude to you.

Growth | In 2017, after being offered a contract by Ave Maria Press to write a book titled The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments, I was asked to give a few talks at local parishes in San Diego. From there, we began the first CIR general recovery group at St. Joseph Cathedral. Two more groups began in San Diego that year – one for men seeking recovery from lust addiction and another for family members impacted by a loved one’s addiction. In 2018, groups began in Portland, OR, Albuquerque, NM, and Columbus, OH. As of today, there are over 90 active CIR groups in 30 states across the country as well as six in Canada and two in Mexico. Our first group in Europe is preparing to start before the end of the year.

In 2020 when the pandemic hit, we immediately began virtual meetings—about 5 per week. It provided a means for anyone around the world to connect with the Catholic in Recovery community and has been a place where recovery and new relationships have been born. We now have 50 weekly CIR meetings taking place via Zoom. Over 1,000 people from all corners of the globe participate in Catholic in Recovery virtual meetings every week. Hundreds of people are currently working through the Twelve Steps and integrating the sacraments with the aid of The Catholic in Recovery Workbook (2022) and a sponsor or small workbook group. 

When Catholic in Recovery began, it was just me working out of my spare bedroom and meeting people at coffee shops. Now, in addition to hundreds of volunteers around the world, I have hired three other employees – a Director of Recovery, a Graphic Designer, and an Operations Officer who was volunteering for nine months before being hired. In addition, two contracted workers have valuable positions on our team including a Director of Content and Administrative Assistant. 

We are in an exciting transition where the revenue being generated by CIR+ subscriptions, merchandise sales, and services will contribute to a big percentage of our standard operating expenses within the next twelve months. Since we began, we have relied on the generosity of donors to subsidize most of our operating expenses. As we make this transition, many exciting opportunities are on the horizon such as hosting our first annual convention at Notre Dame next fall, providing additional CIR retreats around North America, adapting our resources into Spanish, printing books and pamphlets that are now only available electronically, and investing in the start of a Catholic in Recovery podcast to share a message of hope and healing to a broader audience. 

$1,000,000 DONATION
puts us in a position to partner with the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend to build a Catholic addiction recovery treatment center accessible to anyone and rooted in a blend between the Twelve Steps and the sacraments
(goal of 1)