Casa Grande ALLIANCE PAL Facilitator

The flagship program of the organization offers weekly meetings at no cost to participants, led by trained peer volunteer facilitators who have experienced the addiction of a loved one. Using a parents-helping-parents model, the educational component includes nine core lessons, supplemental lessons, and occasional guest speakers. These meetings cover various topics related to addiction and recovery, aiming to build the behavioral and communication tools families need to handle the stressful situations they face when their adult child suffers from addiction. Individuals can attend for as long as they need support and wish to offer support to other families.

PAL’s dedicated volunteers are available to speak at local service organizations, participate in trade shows, and attend local events to spread awareness about the hope PAL offers. Volunteers also staff a phone line from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mountain Time for those seeking information. Parents interested in starting PAL groups in their community can attend an in-depth online training program to learn the necessary skills for facilitating meetings. These parents do not need to be experts or have their lives perfectly in order—just a willingness to serve.

 In addition to free weekly meetings, PAL offers free training opportunities for the public, from in-person seminars with experts in the treatment and recovery field to Facebook Live events that can be viewed real-time when participants can ask questions of the presenters. The Facebook events can also be watched anytime afterwards at the viewer’s convenience. Topics covered include mental health, dealing with the holidays, suicide, finding joy, letting go of guilt, alternative medicines, how to help your family heal and more. Most presentations can be found on the PAL Facebook page or on our YouTube channel.