An alcoholics anonymous group could start up in Ignace as early as next week.
Heather N, who didn’t want to use her last name, posted on a Facebook discussion group on Wednesday asking if there would be interest in having an AA group in Ignace.
She said three people have reached out so far.
“There's a huge issue with people having a hard time and turning to alcohol as their crutch,” she said. “I'm almost 23 years sober and I've lived in Ignace for about seven years now.”
She said, to her knowledge, there hasn’t been an AA group in Ignace for the time she’s been there.
“I previously was in Thunder Bay and I attended AA meetings on a regular basis,” she said, adding that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s waited until now to pursue the idea of creating a group.
“I've tried in the past two other times to get a group started here. I didn't have much interest,” she said.
She said she got sober using AA and would like to attend meetings herself, but also wanted to give the opportunities to others.
“If I don't stand up and help other alcoholics, then what am I really doing?” she said.
“I'm going to benefit as much as the other person [from these meetings] will because it will remind me of my own sobriety and its value.”
She said she’s already looking at two possible locations to hold the meetings.
Heather said anonymity is the foundation of the program.
“That's why I don't want my full name posted, except that I did post it online just to get initial membership,” she said.
“The principle of anonymity is just that we don't want to grow egos individually. I don't have any more power or control than any other member in the group.”
She said people should keep checking local Facebook discussion boards for more information in the coming weeks.
