Your Town and the Community Folder

Key takeaway

You live where it feels too small, and someone handed you pamphlet P-31, A.A. in Your Community. It explains how A.A. can work in any community, for groups, central offices, and public-information committees. It is not proof your town has a meeting. aa.org is not a finder. You do not have to start a group tonight.

Last updated: Tue Oct 06 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

You live where it feels too small to say the drinking out loud. One familiar face in a doorway would be enough to send you back to the car. Someone gave you P-31, A.A. in Your Community, and it landed like a folder with your town's name already on the tab. You have not decided you can sit in a room. You are already tired of being explained.

The pamphlet explains how A.A. can work in any community. It was prepared to help groups, central offices, and public-information committees interpret A.A. to the people around them. That is a job for folks who are trying to say, in public, what the Fellowship is. It is not a roll call of your street, and it is not proof that a meeting exists where you live.

Written for the people who explain A.A.

Public-information committees are part of that audience, along with groups and central offices. People in that work sometimes call it P.I. The pamphlet is there so they have something prepared when a town asks what A.A. is. You do not have to join them to be allowed to want help.

If a central office is the thing you were hoping for, a person who might know where meetings are listed, that job is described in what an A.A. intergroup does. A place that feels small may not have that office. P-31 does not invent one, and it does not hand you a phone number. Guessing a number wastes the night you could have used to look somewhere real.

aa.org is not a meeting finder. The national site will not produce a list with your town printed on it. It tells people to contact local A.A. resources for a meeting list, where those resources exist, and it points toward online meetings. A pamphlet about any community is not evidence that your community has a listed meeting this week.

Your town is not on trial

If someone told you the pamphlet proves a group meets at the library on a certain night, they added a detail the catalog description does not contain. You are allowed to want a room without pretending a piece of literature surveyed your county.

What you can do is look, and treat a miss as a miss. Meetings, where groups hold them, are in person, online, or by phone. Online can be video on, video off, or a dial-in. A phone meeting does not ask your street to be big enough for a church basement. An online meeting does not need a sign on a door you drive past every day. The Meeting Guide app only shows what local entities send. If your area sent nothing, the app will not invent a meeting. That silence is about a feed, not about whether you belong.

The meetings search on this site is another place to scan. Listings there are not verified, so confirm anything you might actually attend. How to find a meeting is the longer walk through that search. Confirming a time is ordinary. It is not you being difficult.

There are no dues or fees. You can sit and listen. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. You are welcome regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, income, or profession. A town's size is not an extra line on that welcome. Introducing yourself is not mandatory, which matters when you are afraid the person across the table already knows your family. You need not join a prayer. Talk after the meeting is optional. You can leave while the parking lot is still full.

You are not required to found the room

Here is the sentence that gets misused when a place feels empty. The long form of Tradition Three says any two or three alcoholics gathered for sobriety may call themselves a group if, as a group, they have no other affiliation. That is permission for people who want to gather and who are not hanging another organization's name on the meeting. It is not an assignment.

You do not have to start a group tonight. The guide you do not have to start a group is the longer version of that relief. If two or three people in your county eventually want to gather, the tradition describes what they may call themselves. Tonight you are allowed to be one person who is scared and looking. Founding something would make the secret louder. You can refuse that job and still want to stop drinking.

If you do find a chair, what to expect at a first meeting is the doorway, not the community pamphlet. People share what drinking did, what they did to stop, and how they live now. The purpose is experience, strength, and hope. Closed meetings are for members, or for people with a drinking problem and a desire to stop. Open meetings are for anyone interested, and nonalcoholics may attend as observers. If being seen is the fear, a video-off meeting is still a meeting. You do not owe your town a public story before you listen to someone else's.

If your body is in trouble

A pamphlet about the community cannot watch your body. Call 911 if you are sick, confused, or cannot breathe. Call or text 988 if you are in a mental health crisis. Alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. That warning is from NIAAA. NIDA says mutual-help groups such as A.A. are peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment. A meeting is not detox.

FindTreatment.gov lists programs. SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is free, confidential, and available 24/7 in English and Spanish.

Tonight

Look for a meeting you can actually reach. If walking into a local room feels impossible, try a phone meeting or a video-off meeting, and confirm the listing before you count on it. Leave P-31 with the people whose work is explaining A.A. to a community. You do not have to start a group before morning, and you do not have to prove the town is big enough to deserve you sober.

Call (800) 653-9376 if you need treatment; the call is free to you, treatment providers pay for the referral, the line is not an intergroup, and the line is not A.A., and it is not SMART Recovery.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

Common Questions

Does this pamphlet mean my town has a meeting?

No. P-31, A.A. in Your Community, explains how A.A. can work in any community. It was prepared to help groups, central offices, and public-information committees interpret A.A. It does not name your town or prove a meeting is nearby. aa.org is not a meeting finder. You can look for an online or phone meeting and confirm the listing, because a result can be stale. The pamphlet helps people explain A.A. It is not a roll call of your street.

Do I have to start a group because the town feels empty?

You do not have to start one tonight. The long form of Tradition Three says two or three alcoholics gathered for sobriety may call themselves a group if, as a group, they have no other affiliation. That is permission for people who want to gather. It is not a job with your name on it. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees.

Who was this pamphlet actually written for?

Groups, central offices, and public-information committees. It was prepared so those people can interpret A.A. to the community. You can be brand new and skip that work. You do not have to join a committee or speak for anybody. If what you wanted was an office that keeps a meeting list, that role is an intergroup or central office, and a small place may not have one. The pamphlet does not invent the office.

What if I am afraid of being seen?

A familiar face can feel huge. Meetings can be in person, online, or by phone, and online can be video on, video off, or dial-in. You can sit and listen. Introducing yourself is not mandatory, and you need not join a prayer. Closed meetings are for members, or for people with a drinking problem and a desire to stop. Open meetings are for anyone interested. Fear of the doorway is not an extra requirement.

What if I am sick and the pamphlet is all I have?

Put the pamphlet down and get medical help. Call 911 if you are sick, confused, or cannot breathe. Call or text 988 if you are in a mental health crisis. Alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. A meeting cannot detox you. Mutual-help groups such as A.A. are peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment. FindTreatment.gov lists programs.