Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention
Meeting Wednesdays July 10, 17, 24 & 31
From 3-5pm in the Loft
Denise Gour has provided mindfulness-based addiction recovery programs for Volunteers of America Oregon since 2004. She was trained by the original researchers who developed this course, She is also a certified facilitator for mindfulness courses addressing depression, stress reduction, and self-compassion. Her mindfulness courses are offered throughout the year in the Portland community.
Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention
Meeting Wednesdays July 10, 17, 24 & 31
From 3-5pm in the Loft
Denise Gour has provided mindfulness-based addiction recovery programs for Volunteers of America Oregon since 2004. She was trained by the original researchers who developed this course, She is also a certified facilitator for mindfulness courses addressing depression, stress reduction, and self-compassion. Her mindfulness courses are offered throughout the year in the Portland community.
Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention
Meeting Wednesdays July 10, 17, 24 & 31
From 3-5pm in the Loft
Denise Gour has provided mindfulness-based addiction recovery programs for Volunteers of America Oregon since 2004. She was trained by the original researchers who developed this course, She is also a certified facilitator for mindfulness courses addressing depression, stress reduction, and self-compassion. Her mindfulness courses are offered throughout the year in the Portland community.
Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Plates for the People
Plates for the People is a series of free, monthly cooking classes for people in or seeking recovery, taught by award winning chefs in recovery. The Alano Club of Portland and the Portland chapter of Ben’s Friends have partnered with Cookshop and some of the country’s best chefs—including Gregory Gourdet, Tommy Habetz, Patrick McKee, Marcus Oliver, Gabriel Rucker and more—to bring the recovery community free, accessible classes where students learn about budgeting, meal planning, and how to cooking delicious, healthy dinners they can repurpose for multiple meals to feed themselves and others. Each class begins with the visiting chef sharing about their own journey with cooking and recovery, and concludes with the chef and students sharing a meal, and their stories, with each other. Free follow-up classes will be offered by Feed the Mass, the only non-profit cooking school in Portland.
This season of Plates for the People will be led by Chef Patrick McKee from Dame, as well as some special guest chefs!
Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention
Meeting Wednesdays July 10, 17, 24 & 31
From 3-5pm in the Loft
Denise Gour has provided mindfulness-based addiction recovery programs for Volunteers of America Oregon since 2004. She was trained by the original researchers who developed this course, She is also a certified facilitator for mindfulness courses addressing depression, stress reduction, and self-compassion. Her mindfulness courses are offered throughout the year in the Portland community.
Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Plates for the People
Plates for the People is a series of free, monthly cooking classes for people in or seeking recovery, taught by award winning chefs in recovery. The Alano Club of Portland and the Portland chapter of Ben’s Friends have partnered with Cookshop and some of the country’s best chefs—including Gregory Gourdet, Tommy Habetz, Patrick McKee, Marcus Oliver, Gabriel Rucker and more—to bring the recovery community free, accessible classes where students learn about budgeting, meal planning, and how to cooking delicious, healthy dinners they can repurpose for multiple meals to feed themselves and others. Each class begins with the visiting chef sharing about their own journey with cooking and recovery, and concludes with the chef and students sharing a meal, and their stories, with each other. Free follow-up classes will be offered by Feed the Mass, the only non-profit cooking school in Portland.
This season of Plates for the People will be led by Chef Patrick McKee from Dame, as well as some special guest chefs!
Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Open House
Join us for an evening of community and fellow ship as we welcome in spring, kick off our annual membership drive, and share a bit about our programming at our annual Open House event! We’ll have free food from Olympia Provisions and Petunia’s, free non-alcoholic drinks prepared by members of Portland’s Ben’s Friends chapter, and canned non-alcoholic beverages from For Bitter for Worse! We can’t wait to see you!
No One Heals Alone: 2024 Membership Drive
More than ever before in our lifetime, our social fabric has been stretched to its limit. From the ongoing and unprecedented addiction and mental health crisis left in the long wake of COVID, to the daunting effects of economic and racial inequality driving our houseless crisis, we’re being tested on multiple fronts.
While the state of our current addiction epidemic is harrowing, it simply can’t be ignored
From 2019-2023, the overdose death rate in Oregon grew by 353%. And Oregon continues to rank DEAD LAST when it comes to access to treatment and recovery services in the US, according to the most recent federal study of drug use and treatment access in the US. And with rising levels of homelessness unseen in recent history, more of our most vulnerable neighbors are suffering from addiction and mental health disorders, with far too few resources for support and assistance.
Put bluntly, for people facing addiction in our community, everyday life has never been tougher.
In spite of these heart-wrenching circumstances, I’m struck by the true compassion of the Alano Club community—your compassion—that drives our every effort to offer loving support to those in crisis no matter what. We do this together. And now you have an opportunity to rise with us once again when lives are hanging in the balance by taking one immediate, heartfelt step now:
Please make a generous gift in support of our No One Heals Alone —2024 Membership Drive.
Your donation, if received by May 31st, will provide twice the lifesaving help to individuals and families in recovery, as each dollar you give will be matched up to $2,500, thanks to a generous fellow donor.
Since COVID hit 4 years ago, your essential generosity has enabled us to assemble and lead the largest digital recovery support collaborative in the entire nation. In that time, your continued giving has helped us reach more than 867,000 people through digital recovery supports and services that create pathways to renewal—all at no cost for those in need.
Greg can speak to your impact firsthand. “I came to the Alano Club thinking I’d give recovery one more try, but I wasn’t feeling optimistic. Within minutes of walking through the front door, my life changed,” he says. “Two years later—most of that time amid a pandemic—I’m still in recovery and I owe it to the community I found at the Club.”
We owe it to you, too, because our crucial work couldn’t happen without you. Your matched gift today will provide twice the life-saving support for Greg and many others in this moment of urgent need.
Please rise with us today by giving a gift worth double to support the most vulnerable among us on their journey to recovery... so they can survive, thrive and be their healthiest selves just like Greg.
When Greg first discovered the incredible variety of transformative services and supports that you make possible, he’d never experienced anything like it. Stringing together weeks, let alone years, of continuous recovery had been a challenge for him—with little success until now. He shares:
“From virtual meetings to in-person AA groups to cooking classes to exercise and yoga, to Zoom events where I got to hear some of my favorite artists discuss their recovery, the Alano Club has made my own recovery feel like a full body, mind and heart transformation. I’m so grateful.”
For people suffering from addiction, this is the world of difference you help create right here at home. Because of the match, each dollar you give will go even further to strengthen our essential services that offer recovering individuals and their families a helping hand when it’s needed the most.
This means in person and digital AA meetings, family support groups, and peer mentoring. It means innovative models of movement-based programming like Peak Recovery and The Recovery Gym. It also means confronting the overdose crisis head-on in Oregon through our new program, Project RED. And through a local partnership, it means the delivery of healthy meals and recovery support to the growing number of unsheltered people in our community who are facing addiction... all thanks to you.
Please stand with us today by rushing a special gift to our 2024 Membership Drive. Your support really matters—because Portland needs recovery, and we need you!
Then show that you stand with those seeking a life free from the pain of addiction by sharing our No One Heals Alone campaign with a friend, family member or neighbor, and let them know their gift is worth double, if received by May 31.
In this time of tremendous challenge, your generosity is as important as ever. More lives will be saved, and more hope given when you donate today. By rebuilding a stronger, healthier community together, we all stand to benefit. No one heals alone. And with your support, we’ll help ensure that no one struggling with addiction in our community has to again.
Ben's Friends
Founded in 2016, the mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction. By coming together, starting a dialogue, and acknowledging that substance abuse cannot be overcome by isolation and willpower alone, Ben’s Friends hopes to write a new chapter in the lives of food and beverage professionals across the country.”
Due to the recent covid surge, Ben's Friends Portland will not meet in person for the month of January, but we will instead meet online on Tuesdays at 10AM PST, joining the Ben's Friends national meeting on Zoom ID 119-860-355. We'll post updates on IG @bensfriendsportland and @bensfriendsnational, and on Facebook at Ben's Friends - National
Ben's Friends has online meetings every day at 10AM PST, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings at 8PM PST, and there are men's and women's meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM PST. You can find all the links to meetings at bensfriendshope.com/meetings.
Recovery in Restaurants: A Community Conversation with Ben's Friends
Join us at The Recovery Gym’s Portland location for a conversation about recovery in the food and beverage industry — how recovery fits into that work, that culture, and those communities! This conversation will feature members of the Portland chapter of Ben’s Friends and be moderated by Alano Club Program Coordinator and Ben’s Friends Board Member Hailey Hosler!
This event is FREE and open to all!