AA Meetings in Anchorage

Find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Anchorage today through the Anchorage Area Intergroup at anchorageaa.org, which lists more than 120 meetings a week and answers a local hotline. It is the central office for the Anchorage area. Our meeting finder at /meetings/ searches public AA feeds by day and format.

Call 911 if someone is overdosing, seizing, not breathing, or cannot be woken. For a mental health or suicide crisis, call or text 988.

How to Find AA Meetings Across Anchorage

Anchorage's A.A. central office is the Anchorage Area Intergroup (AAIG). Its meetings page is the local schedule: it says there are 123 meetings each week, marks whether a meeting is in person or online, and links each listing to a map. The same page offers a printable list and points to the Alaska Area 02 statewide meetings page for the rest of Alaska.

The Intergroup answers a local hotline at (907) 272-2312, and its mailing address is 615 East 82nd Avenue, Suite B-8, Anchorage, AK 99518. Groups also keep the list current themselves, so a meeting you saw last month may have moved; check the directory, then confirm the time and entrance with the group.

A.A.'s national site at aa.org is not a meeting finder. A.A. points people to a local resource — here, the Intergroup — and names the free Meeting Guide app and the Online Intergroup for phone and online meetings. The how-to-find guide walks through both paths. This site is a third door: our meeting finder searches public A.A. and N.A. feeds by day, time, fellowship, and format, including online meetings.

Anchorage Meeting Hubs & Communities

Anchorage meetings are spread across the bowl and out to Eagle River, so it helps to know the recurring locations the schedule uses.

• Spenard and Midtown. The schedule's busiest single location is the Alano Club at 3103 Spenard Road, which hosts several meetings a day, from early-morning "Eye Openers" to evening groups. Spenard sits just west of Midtown and is easy to reach by bus.
• South Anchorage. The Dry Dock at 8141 Briarwood Street lists morning, noon, and evening meetings, including women's and step-study groups.
• East Anchorage and Muldoon. St. Patrick Church at 2111 Muldoon Road hosts evening discussion meetings in the Muldoon area.
• Tudor Road and the university side. St. Mary's Church at 2222 East Tudor Road lists noon and late-evening meetings, close to the Tudor corridor.
• Eagle River. Meetings such as the Star Group meet at Eagle River Presbyterian Church, 12836 Old Glenn Highway, in the Eagle River community northeast of the city.

District 7 holds its monthly business meeting at the Alano Club on Spenard Road, and the Intergroup's own business meeting is open to members.

Common Meeting Formats & What to Expect

A.A. sorts meetings into open and closed. An open meeting is open to anyone interested in A.A.'s program, and nonalcoholics may attend as observers. A closed meeting is for A.A. members, or for people who have a drinking problem and want to stop drinking. When in doubt, start with an open meeting.

The Anchorage directory labels each listing by format so you can choose before you go:

• Newcomer or beginner meetings, aimed at people who are new to recovery.
• Discussion: members share on a topic; the most common style.
• 12 Steps & 12 Traditions and step study: working through A.A.'s Steps and Traditions.
• Big Book: reading and discussing A.A.'s basic text.
• Speaker: one or two members tell their story.
• Men's, women's, child-friendly, and wheelchair-accessible groups are marked the same way, and online meetings are flagged.

Every meeting is free. A.A. says there are no dues or fees for membership and that you do not have to pay anything to attend; a basket may be passed for voluntary contributions and passing it on is fine. And you never have to speak — A.A.'s newcomer page says you can sit and listen. Anonymity means what you hear in the room stays there. The first-meeting guide walks through a typical hour.

Transportation & Virtual Meetings

If a car is not an option, People Mover, the Municipality of Anchorage's bus system, runs fixed routes across the Anchorage bowl from the Downtown Transit Center out to the neighborhoods above. Its downtown hub is the natural transfer point for meetings on the Spenard, Tudor, and Muldoon corridors. Plan a trip at peoplemover.org.

Meetings are not only in person. A.A. says meetings can be in person, online, or by phone, and the Intergroup's directory includes online listings next to its in-person ones. The Online Intergroup lists phone and video meetings worldwide, and our meeting finder also shows online and hybrid meetings. The online A.A. meetings guide explains how they work, including that you can keep your camera off and stay silent if you prefer.

Peer Support vs. Medical Care

An A.A. meeting is peer support, not clinical treatment. NIDA explains that mutual-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous are peer-led and not led by healthcare professionals, so they are not the same as treatment — though NIDA notes they are free, not time-limited, and useful to many people on their own or alongside professional care.

Some situations call for a doctor, not a meeting. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life threatening when people who drink heavily over time stop suddenly, rather than cutting back gradually or stopping with medical support. If you have been drinking heavily and want to stop, talk with a clinician first.

For help beyond a meeting:

• Emergency: call 911 for an overdose, a seizure, trouble breathing, or someone who cannot be woken.
• Crisis: call or text 988 for a mental health or suicide crisis.
• Treatment: search FindTreatment.gov, SAMHSA's treatment locator, or call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) — a free, confidential line available 24/7 in English and Spanish.
• Referral help: call or text (800) 653-9376 and we can help you sort out a level of care. SmarterRecovery is a referral helpline, not the Anchorage Area Intergroup and not SMART Recovery; calling is free to you because treatment providers pay for the referral service.

Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help finding treatment. If what you need tonight is a meeting, start with the meeting finder or the Intergroup directory and confirm the listing. If this is an emergency or a suicide crisis, call 911 or 988 first.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

• Anchorage Area Intergroup (anchorageaa.org)
• Anchorage Area Intergroup: Contact Us (hotline, mailing address)
• Anchorage Area Intergroup: Meetings (123 weekly meetings, recurring locations, online status)
• Alaska Area 02, Alcoholics Anonymous: Statewide meetings
• Municipality of Anchorage: People Mover public transit
• A.A.: Find A.A. Near You (regional and online meeting information)
• A.A.: Need help with a drinking problem? (what to expect at a first meeting)
• A.A.: What to Expect at an A.A. Meeting (open and closed meetings, meeting types)
• A.A.: A.A. and Anonymity
• A.A.: Meeting Guide app
• Online Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous (online and phone meetings)
• NIDA: Treatment (mutual-help groups are peer-led, not clinical treatment)
• NIAAA Core Resource on Alcohol: Alcohol Use Disorder, From Risk to Diagnosis to Recovery
• SAMHSA National Helpline
• SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• SmarterRecovery meeting finder (public meeting search; listings are not verified by this site)
• SmarterRecovery about page (referral disclosure)

Common Questions