MKE Alano Club Volunteer Alumni

Volunteer contributions are essential to what we do, and have shaped the face of this organization over the past 75 years. Check out some of our volunteer-alumni stories.

I had no money, no phone, no relationships, and absolutely no clue what to do next as I sat in that corner chair. I truly believed it was only a matter of time before I went right back to where I came from. My anxiety was so bad and I had no idea how to talk to people yet, but somewhere I remembered hearing that it was okay to ask for help. I got up and went to the counter to talk to the current manager at the time. Somehow, I convinced her to give me a chance, as I expressed my desire to stay sober and even my fear that I might not.

I started volunteering behind the counter almost daily for nearly six months. Because of this, everything in my life started to fall into place, mainly in ways that I never could imagine for someone like me. My recovery began to truly blossom. I was able to heal and rekindle my relationship with my mother. I made my first friendships in sobriety while being a counter volunteer. I gained insight, wisdom, and hope every day from those who would buy a coffee and take the time to sit with me. At the time, there was only a handful of counter volunteers, and sometimes I would stay from open to close. This time at the club provided me the opportunity to continue meeting with my sponsor, making sure I attended my meetings, and to stay safe and sober in a place where the people inside truly cared about my well-being.

In October of 2015 the Alano Club manager left for a new job. Not thinking much about it, I turned in my resume (littered with some couple month stints at various restaurants and a strip club) because I really had nothing to lose. I then left to attend my first out of state conference of young people in AA, financially supported for me by a few members of the Club. I sat on a mountain in Arkansas praying, meditating, reflecting, and being overwhelmingly grateful for everything that was happening in my life, and especially the Alano Club. I looked over that mountain ledge and realized that the desire to jump was completely gone. I was sober, I was alive, I was happy… but even more than that I truly wanted to be. 

I returned to Milwaukee and the Board of Directors asked me when I could start. This was ridiculous, somebody had hired me. Then I realized that it was the place that saved my life. What I didn’t know is how much this place would continue to save me, time and time again. Even more humbling than that, is that I would get to see firsthand the countless others whose lives also became saved while walking through these doors. Whether they walked in five minutes before close one night, and stayed for hours to be talked out of an attempted suicide, or maybe they had their first meeting here one morning and heard exactly what they needed to hear and decided to come back. When they continued to come back and be consistent in their search for recovery I witnessed time and again the miracle of spiritual growth in each of these deserving human beings. The truth is simple; the Alano Club is there for each person in its own individual way, each way equally powerful and impactful.

For me, the Alano Club was the stepping stone for all of the important lessons and beautiful memories of my new way of living in sobriety. The club was the first place I met with my sponsor, and the first place I was able to sponsor someone and take them through the same work. It was where I made my first true friend in sobriety, and is the place that continued to provide a safe and sober environment for my continued friendships throughout these years. It was the first place I truly laughed again, you know that heart wrenching laugh that comes from the pit of your stomach and you laugh so hard you cry? It was the first place I picked up my well-earned one year coin, and the place I have continued to celebrate all of my sobriety birthdays. The Alano Club was my first service commitment, from making coffee to being voted Hotel Chair for a conference of young people. I became a meeting secretary, a treasurer, and I even had the privilege of starting a new meeting. It was the first place I was able to have $20 handed to me and not spend it on dope. It was the first place I was given the opportunity to become financially responsible and to hold myself accountable. I had my first kiss in sobriety here and my first real heartbreak. It was here that I got through my first holiday sober, and where I learned how to cook for 50 people at once. It was the first place I ever watched our Wisconsin sports’ teams without drinking alcohol, and the first place that got me to a Brewers game sober. The Alano Club sponsored and encouraged my passion to organize and play sports again, joining various teams with other people in recovery. It has been the place I centered myself and leaned on friends while I made living amends to my family, renewing the relationships that otherwise would have been lost if I hadn’t made it through the doors and decided to stay. The Alano Club was my first place of employment where I held a job for more than a year, proving my ability to be a good employee and take this evidence into my professional life and succeed in the workforce of my choosing without fear. It was here at the club when I bought my first plane ticket out of the country. It was the first place in the world I found somebody I truly looked up to, and the first time somebody told me they looked up to me. In this clubhouse I found purpose in my life for the first time. The MKE Alano Club was the first place that gave me the opportunity to help others in a variety of different ways; from bringing them to detox, taking them through the steps, getting them out of homelessness, talking them out of suicide, giving them a service commitment, and finally helping them find their own purpose. 

The Alano Club truly has been the place for all of my sober firsts, and continues to provide new opportunities, healthy relationships, and wonderful memories that play such an integral part of my amazing journey in recovery. All of these extraordinary happenings that exist in my life today because of the Alano Club are just small pieces of my journey and continued purpose today. What is important to know is that it provides its own unique safe haven for hundreds of other alcoholics and addicts every year. My journey is important, but I am just one person, and the Alano Club provides for so many more.  I’ve had my own ebbs and flows, but I always find the opportunity to help others and therefore recreate my own balance in my life today. The tools, the support, and the spiritual progress that can be found here is available to anyone who is truly ready to surrender like I have been since coming here that very first time. The Alano Club has been promised to be here for me forever, and I will always do my best to live up to that assurance for anyone else who needs it to exist in their own lives. 

All of the beauty, growth, and positive changes that have happened in my life these past five years, have in some way been influenced by the Alano Club. I will always be more than grateful for that. I will forever be indebted to giving back to the place that has truly given me more of a life than I ever would have had if I did not walk through these doors in May of 2015.

-Jackie B.

Alexandra K.D.

The first time I walked into the Milwaukee Alano Club, I was homeless and sleeping at a shelter nearby. It was a cold April in 2014 and I had nowhere to go to stay warm during the day. I was a week clean off of crack and hoped I could find warmth and recovery at the Alano Club. I walked inside very scared and unsure, but felt a warm welcome by the club manager at the time. Since I had no money, I agreed to clean several days a week in return for membership. For the next several months, I spent nearly every day there. I not only stayed warm and cleaned, but also met many people that taught me a lot about recovery. Sadly to say, I ended up going back out there once more after that.

I came back again at the end of summer of 2015, this time with almost 6 months clean and was given the opportunity to volunteer behind the counter to serve members food and drinks (non alcoholic of course). I thoroughly enjoyed that position. I loved meeting the variety of people coming through those doors. Being able to serve those people and get to know their story every weekend was a blessing. I learned a lot from every person I encountered and understood again, how good it feels to volunteer and give back to others.

Since walking in the doors homeless, broken, and hopeless I have had many opportunities. With hard work and determination, I graduated college, where I had the opportunity to study abroad in Guatemala. The Alano Foundation was an amazing sponsor of that life changing trip. I have excelled in a challenging, yet rewarding career in IT. I have become a landlord and have two rental properties.

I continue to stay active in my recovery working the steps with a sponsor, attending meetings and conventions, and holding a service position at my home group.

I think the most important and meaningful progress I've made has been the internal work though. I have become very resilient and resourceful. I have been able to identify and uphold my values and morals. I've learned what a healthy boundary is and defend my boundaries today. I love and respect myself today and am able to take care of my emotional needs. I've also worked through, and am continuing to work through my childhood trauma. This trauma is what drove me to my self destructive behaviors. Today I am able to face those demons, feel the feelings, and process those memories without using maladaptive coping skills. To me, that has been my greatest accomplishment. 

The Milwaukee Alano Club was where my recovery started and I don't know if I'd be where I am today if it weren't for the people I've met and things I've learned at the club. I'll be forever grateful for the service work and fellowship I've found there.

-Alexandra K.D.

Nicole K.

     "Hi, my name is Nicole and I'm an addict." Do you ever find yourself slipping that into non-recovery related introductions? It's like an invitation for those "normie" folks to ask anything they want about me, and lets face it, I'm not that interesting. 

THEM: How long have you been sober?

ME: By the Grace of God I ended the insanity on November, 20th 2015. 

THEM:

ME:

THEM: "We'll good for you! That's nothing to be ashamed of!"

Thanks, lady who always asks for a manager, your approval of my narrow escapes from cotton fever was just what I needed for my recovery to come full circle (as you can see, sobriety has done nothing for my witty cynicism). 

      This is not my first recovery, unlike my husband, we call him a high bottom addict (when I say "we" I mean me). In fact, I'd be the the picture above Webster's definition of insanity, but I was too hungover to show up. With each attempt, I gained new tools for my Recovery Toolbox. And with each attempt, one place was always there, the Alano Club. From the Old Timer always willing to buy me a hot cup of coffee imparted with infinite wisdom, to the honing of my jailhouse Spade's skills, the Alano Club is where I got sober and stayed sober. It is where I met my foundation, where I was scolded (rightfully so) for dating my now husband two weeks into my current sobriety. You know your reputation precedes you when club members warn the year plus sober counter volunteer about the mayhem and destruction that is me (I'd be offended, but heroin is a hell of a drug). Yet here we are, an Alano fairy-tale, four and half years and two kids later.** These are the gifts I was given with step work and a place to call mine; a place where my home group had stayed through the many years of in and out. I may not have been constant, but the Alano Club always was. 

As a volunteer, not only was I able to help others who had lost their way, I was able to help myself. I was able to build a life free from thy bondage of self. I was able to form a healthy relationship, become a mother, and genuinely love the person I wake up with every day. It was a long time before I could even stand to look her in the eye. Where as some would still call me insane (anyone follow me on Facebook?), I have choices today. Choices that allow me to be free. Choices that allow me to be a good wife, a great mother, and a reliable human being. And where as in the House of Corrections (I wish you could hear me laughing....Corrections???) may be missing its favorite resident, I've been fortunate enough to be on the outs long enough to no longer crave them jailhouse hook-ups, and I plan to keep it that way.

**THE CONTENTS OF THIS ARTICLE ARE INFORMATIVE ONLY. PLEASE DON'T DATE TWO WEEKS INTO YOUR SOBRIETY. WE CAN'T ALL BE ALANO CLUB MIRACLES.

-Nicole K.

Daniel W.

The Milwaukee Alano Club is one of the essential components of my foundation, as it perfectly captures the three pillars that are the cornerstones of sobriety – service, recovery, and unity. Early on I was taught the importance of maintaining a service commitment that would hold me accountable, and my time spent volunteering at the club was the perfect action to fulfill this need. Volunteering allowed me to not only solidify my own place in recovery, but also to give back to the community that had offered so much to me. I was able to constantly engage and learn from so many different individuals - be it in my time spent watching the counter at the café, or attending one of the many regular meetings. The evidence of unity within the Milwaukee/East-Side recovery community is on display in so many ways at the club – whether it is between two people talking on the porch, a group attending the daily 7am meeting around the 1st floor table, or a large gathering on the 3rd floor to celebrate a holiday or event. I am grateful for my time spent volunteering at the Milwaukee Alano Club, and will always look back at the opportunity with joy and happiness. The club provided me the foundation to grow into the person I’ve always strived to be, and to finally embrace and enjoy life.

-Daniel W.

Andrew F.

A seemingly old building filled with the youth and life that comes with the spirit of recovery, the Milwaukee Alano Club has been an integral part of my recovery and I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to have attended it. When I first began coming to the club, it was a place that welcomed me with open arms and showed me that people like myself could be full of life once again. The spirit of the Alano Club lies within the people who attend and the volunteers. My time spent as a volunteer for two years showed me the importance of service to ones community, and the connection that comes along with it. After two years of volunteering I saw many things that could be done with the club and sought a position on the Board of Directors. I served on the Board of Directors for a year and half, and gained insight into what it takes to run such a beautiful place for recovery. I was able to organize events and give input into macro decisions made by the club. I was able to help provide a safe place for people to recover which allowed me to step outside of my own life through volunteering. While serving the club, I learned the importance of community growth and wellness. Although I do not serve for the club any longer, the Milwaukee Alano Club remains an important part of my recovery that I am proud to be apart of and grateful to have experienced.

-Andrew F.

Brad K.

As a volunteer I was given the opportunity to meet new people, find fellowship, and work on myself. Given this structure and responsibility, I began to feel useful and passionate about helping our community. The club is the perfect place to be myself and discover my talents and dreams of the future.

-Brad K.

The Milwaukee Alano Club relies on its staff of volunteers to keep our doors open and provide an atmosphere of recovery for all those who enter them. All of our volunteers and board members are unpaid and are vital to our cause.