Northeast Ohio Debtors Anonymous

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="039f0f21egerdp.jpg"> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="038f2f02egerdp.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="0408a130.png" border=0 width="138" height="275" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>              </div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03bf0f03.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><IMG SRC="03a203c0.jpg" border=0 width="32" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></FONT>Northeast Ohio Debtors Anonymous</div> <div>             <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Is D.A. for You?"><U>Is D.A. for You?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meetings in Ohio Surrounding Areas"><U>Meetings in Ohio & Surrounding Areas</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Sites Online Meetings"><U>Related Sites & Online Meetings</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Activities, Conferences, Misc."><U>Activities, Conferences, Misc.</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Site updated 11/01/07</B></div> <bR> <div> (This site is not connected in any way with Debtors Anonymous, the General Service Board of Debtors Anonymous, or any Debtors Anonymous meeting or service board, or any other organization, none of which are responsible for its contents.  It is maintained privately by the D.A. members of Northeast Ohio)</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Preamble of Debtors Anonymous</div> <bR> <div> <B>Debtors Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from compulsive debting. The only requirement for membership is the desire to stop incurring unsecured debt. There are no dues or fees for D.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. D.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stop debting one day at a time and to help other compulsuve debtors to stop incurring unsecured debt.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> The 12 Steps of </div> <div> Debtors Anonymous</div> <bR> <div> 1.</div> <div> We admitted we were powerless over debt - that our lives had become unmanageable.</div> <bR> <div> 2.</div> <div> Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.</div> <bR> <div> 3.</div> <div> Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.</div> <bR> <div> 4.</div> <div> Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.</div> <bR> <div> 5.</div> <div> Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.</div> <bR> <div> 6.</div> <div> Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.</div> <bR> <div> 7.</div> <div> Humbly asked God to remove all our shortcomings.</div> <bR> <div> 8.</div> <div> Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.</div> <bR> <div> 9.</div> <div> Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.</div> <bR> <div> 10.</div> <div> Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.</div> <bR> <div> 11.</div> <div> Sought through prayer and mediation to improve our conscious contact with God <I>as we understood God, </I>praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.</div> <bR> <div> 12.</div> <div> Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive debtors, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> The Tools of Debtors Anonymous</div> <bR> <div> 1. </div> <div> <B><U>Abstinence</U></B> - We practice abstinence by not incurring compulsive unsecured debt one day at a time. (Unsecured debt is any debt that is not backed up by some form of collateral, such as a car, house, etc.)</div> <bR> <div> 2.</div> <div> <B><U>Meetings</U></B> - We attend meetings at which we can share our experience, strength and hope with one another. Unless we give to newcomers what we have received from D.A., we cannot keep it ourselves.</div> <bR> <div> 3.</div> <div> <B><U>Record Maintenance</U></B> - We maintain records of our daily expenses and of the retirement of any portions of our outstanding debts.</div> <bR> <div> 4.</div> <div> <B><U>Anonymity</U></B> - We practice anonymity, which allows us freedom of expression by assuring us that what we say at meetings or to other D.A. members at any time will not be repeated.</div> <bR> <div> 5.</div> <div> <B><U>The Telephone</U></B> - We maintain constant contact with other D.A. members by exchanging telephone numbers. We make a point of talking to other D.A. members before and after taking difficult steps in our recovery. (Bookending)</div> <bR> <div> 6.</div> <div> <B><U>Pressure Relief Groups and Pressure Relief Meetings</U></B> - After we have gained some familiarity with the D.A. program, we organize Pressure Relief Groups consisting of ourselves and two other persons from the group who have been abstinent from debting for three months, and who usually have more experience in the program. The group meets in a series of Pressure Relief Meetings to review our financial situation.</div> <bR> <div> 7.</div> <div> <B><U>Spending Plan</U></B> - The Pressure Relief Meeting usually results in the formulation of a Spending Plan, which puts our needs first, and an action plan, for resolving our debts and taking the first steps toward solvency.</div> <bR> <div> 8.</div> <div> <B><U>Sponsors</U></B> - Many of us find it extremely helpful to select a sponsor. A sponsor is an abstinent member of D.A. who is usually more experienced in working the Twelve Steps. The sponsor aids us in implementing our Action Plan and in working the Steps.</div> <bR> <div> 9.</div> <div> <B><U>Attend Business Meetings</U></B> - We attend business meetings that are held monthly. Many of us have long harbored feelings that "business" was not a part of our lives, but for "others" more qualified. Yet participation in running our own program teaches us how our organization operates, and also helps us to become responsible for our own recovery.</div> <bR> <div> 10.</div> <div> <B><U>A.A. Literature</U></B> - We study A.A. literature to strengthen our understanding of compulsive disease. We can identify with many of the situations described therein by substituting the words "compulsive debt" for "alcohol."</div> <bR> <div> 11.</div> <div> <B><U>Awareness</U></B> - We maintain awareness of the danger of compulsive debt by taking note of bank, loan company, and credit card advertising, and by reading news accounts of its effects.</div> <bR> <div> 12.</div> <div> <B><U>Service</U></B> - We perform service at every level: personal, meeting, Intergroup, and World Service. Service is vital to our recovery. Only through service can we give others what we have been so generously given.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> The Twelve Traditions of Debtors Anonymous</div> <bR> <div> 1.</div> <div> Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on D.A. unity.</div> <bR> <div> 2.</div> <div> For our group purpose there is but one untimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.  Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.</div> <bR> <div> 3.</div> <div> The only requirement for D.A. membership is the desire to stop incurring unsecured debt.</div> <bR> <div> 4.</div> <div> Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or D.A. as a whole.</div> <bR> <div> 5.</div> <div> Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the debtor who still suffers.</div> <bR> <div> 6.</div> <div> A D.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the D.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.</div> <bR> <div> 7.</div> <div> Every D.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.</div> <bR> <div> 8.</div> <div> Debtors Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.</div> <bR> <div> 9.</div> <div> D.A., as such, ought never be organized; but may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.</div> <bR> <div> 10.</div> <div> Debtors Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the D.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.</div> <bR> <div> 11.</div> <div> Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.</div> <bR> <div> 12.</div> <div> Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> The Twelve Promises of Debtors Anonymous</div> <bR> <bR> <div> In the program of Debtors Anonymous, we come together to share our experience, strength and hope so that we may recover from the disease of compulsive debting.  When we work D.A.'s Twelve Steps and use the D.A. Tools, we begin to receive thses gifts of the program:</div> <bR> <div> 1.</div> <div> Where once we felt despair, we will experience newfound hope.</div> <bR> <div> 2.</div> <div> Clarity will replace vagueness; we will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.</div> <bR> <div> 3.</div> <div> We will live within our means, yet our means will not defire us.</div> <bR> <div> 4.</div> <div> We will begin to live a prosperous life, unencumbered by fear, worry, resentment, or debt.</div> <bR> <div> 5.</div> <div> We will realize that we are enough; we will value ourselves and our contributions.</div> <bR> <div> 6.</div> <div> Isolation will give way to fellowship; faith will displace fear.</div> <bR> <div> 7.</div> <div> We will recognize that there is enough; our resources will be generous and we will share them with others and with D.A.</div> <bR> <div> 8.</div> <div> We will cease to compare ourselves with others; jealousy and envy will fade.</div> <bR> <div> 9.</div> <div> Acceptance and gratitude will replace regret, self-pity and longing.</div> <bR> <div> 10.</div> <div> We will no longer fear the truth; we will move from hiding in denial to living in realtiy.</div> <bR> <div> 11.</div> <div> Honesty will guide our actions toward a rich life filled with meaning and purpose.</div> <bR> <div> 12.</div> <div> We will recognize a Power Greater than ourselves as the source of our abundance; we realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.</div> <bR> <div> Are these extravagant promises?  We think not; they are well within our means.  When we work this program with integrity and to the best of our ability, one day at a time, a life of prosperity and serenity will be ours.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>