AA Meetings in Spokane

Find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Spokane through Spokane Central Office at aaspokane.org, which answers (509) 624-1442 around the clock from inside the Alano Club at 1700 W. 7th Avenue and serves A.A. Districts 2, 3, 13, and 17 in Washington East Area 92. 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 in Spokane

Start with Spokane Central Office, the service center for A.A. groups in the Spokane area. Its website's greeting is direct: if you think you might have a drinking problem, call (509) 624-1442, 24/7. That single number works as the office line, the 24-hour answering service, and — as A.A.'s national directory lists it — the helpline for Spokane.

The office itself is unusual: it sits inside the Alano Club at 1700 W. 7th Avenue, Suite 100, Spokane, WA 99204, so the place that answers your call is also a building full of meetings. Central Office and its bookstore serve A.A. groups and meetings in Districts 2, 3, 13, and 17, within Washington East Area 92 — the eastern half of the state's A.A. service structure. Printed meeting schedules on 8.5x14 paper are published and distributed from the office.

Beyond the local office, Area 92's site lists district answering services across eastern Washington, so a caller headed to Walla Walla, the Tri-Cities, or the Okanogan can find the right local line. Nationally, Alcoholics Anonymous says that aa.org is not a meeting finder: for a local list it points people to a local resource such as the central office above, and it names the free Meeting Guide app and the Online Intergroup for phone and online meetings. The A.A. how-to-find guide walks through both. 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. Whichever door you use, confirm the day and place with the group or the office before you go.

Spokane Meeting Hubs & Communities

• The Alano Club on West 7th Avenue. This is the anchor of the Spokane A.A. scene — the club hosts meetings, and the Central Office and bookstore share the building at Suite 100. If you are new and want one address that always has a meeting going, this is it. The club is on the west side of downtown, close to the transit corridors that serve it.
• Church halls and community rooms across the districts. The central office serves four A.A. districts spanning the city and its neighbors, and most meetings outside the club happen in rented church and community rooms. The printed schedule from Central Office is the reliable map; our meeting finder shows the same rooms by day.
• The wider Inland Northwest. Area 92 lists answering services for towns across eastern Washington, and A.A.'s national directory lists separate local resources for North Idaho including Coeur d'Alene. If you are on the Idaho side of the state line, check the find-aa page for the Idaho listing that matches your county.

Common Meeting Formats & What to Expect

A.A.'s meeting page sorts meetings into open and closed. An open meeting is available to anyone interested in A.A.'s program of recovery, 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. If you are not sure which is right for you, start with an open meeting.

Meeting directories label listings by format, so you can choose before you go:

• Newcomer (sometimes called a beginner meeting): 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, then the meeting opens up.
• Men's, women's, Spanish, and wheelchair-accessible meetings are filtered the same way.

Two things are true of every A.A. meeting in Spokane and everywhere else. First, it 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 that support the group, and passing it on is fine. Second, you do not have to speak. A.A.'s newcomer page says you can just sit and listen or share, whichever you choose. Anonymity is a founding principle of the fellowship, not a form you sign, so what you hear in the room stays there. The first-meeting guide walks through a typical hour step by step.

Transportation & Virtual Meetings

If a car is not an option, Spokane Transit Authority (STA) runs the region's buses and the City Line rapid transit service, with park-and-ride lots around the system and a customer line at 509-328-RIDE (7433). Routes connect Spokane's neighborhoods and activity centers, which keeps the Alano Club and other regular meeting spots reachable without a car.

Not every meeting happens in a room. A.A. says meetings can be in person, online, or by phone, and local directories include online listings alongside in-person ones. Our finder also shows online and hybrid meetings from public feeds. The online A.A. meetings guide explains how video and phone meetings 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 are not led by healthcare professionals, so they are not the same as treatment. That said, NIDA notes they are free, not time-limited, and many people find them useful 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. Up to half of people with alcohol use disorder have some withdrawal symptoms, and a small proportion need a few days of medical detox to manage symptoms that can be dangerous. 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 Spokane Central Office and not A.A.; 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 aaspokane.org 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:

• Spokane Area Intergroup Association (Spokane Central Office)
• Spokane Area Intergroup: Meetings page (central office address, printed schedules)
• Washington East Area 92: Contact Us (Spokane Central Office address and 24-hour answering service)
• A.A.: Find A.A. Near You (North America) — Spokane Central Office listing
• 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.: Find A.A. Near You (regional and online meeting information)
• A.A.: Meeting Guide app
• 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
• Spokane Transit Authority (buses, City Line rapid transit, Park & Ride)
• SmarterRecovery meeting finder (public meeting search; listings are not verified by this site)
• SmarterRecovery about page (referral disclosure)

Common Questions