What Does Triad AIS Do?

This page provides specific information about what is going on at the Triad Information Service meetings and the ongoing activity provided by Triad AIS. You can learn about specific service positions available within Triad AIS here. If you are new to AIS, skip down to the Quick Start section.

  • AIS Quick Start

    If Al-Anon Information Service (AIS) is totally new to you, here’s some tips to get you started. Many newcomers find their way to Al-Anon through our efforts. If your group doesn’t currently have an AIS Rep, please join us!

    • Triad AIS meets the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6:15 pm via Zoom. The Zoom login information is above.
    • You do not need to be an AIS rep to attend the meetings. Any member of Al-Anon can attend the meetings. We’ll welcome you!
    • If you aren’t sure what AIS reps do, feel free to come and just listen and report back to your meeting.
    • You don’t need to volunteer to do any other service until you are ready. The following list are some of the things AIS provides to our meetings. If later on something strikes your fancy, let the chairperson know.
    • In the meantime, thank you for showing up!
  • Triad Al-Anon Information Services: Outreach Activities

    Never Walk Alone Event

    Sept. 16th at Bailey Park in Winston Salem sponsored by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Dept,and others.Several members participated in this large outreach event. We hosted a table where we used our new tablecover and banner, spoke to and networked with multiple other agencies, and we distributed over 50 Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism Magazines, lots of bookmarks and much more literature.

    Resource fair at the Comprehensive Treatment Center, Winston Salem

    We distributed literature on Wednesday and Thursday Sept. 20 and 21 to professionals and clients at the Comprehensive Treatment Center on Hawthorne Ave. in Winston Salem.

    These are photos from the YOUTH MATTERS event on Oct. 23, 2023 at Southeastern Stokes Middle School . Over 100 people participated, along with dozens of agencies. We distributed a lot of literature, including the new District 4 Meeting Schedules! 

  • Online Content

    During the pandemic, we figured out some ways to use technology to reach out to our members and support newcomers. The first thing we had to decide about was how to handle the fall event we normally did in person (formerly known as Octoberfest).

    Gratitude Festival 2020

    Gratitude Festival 2020
    Click to listen

    Our first experience with hosting a fall festival electronically was in October 2020. The theme was (re)Discovering Al-Anon and included seven speakers talking about their experience. It went so well, we did a special re-recording in early 2021 with five of our speakers. Each speaker was from one of the following groups: 1) a newcomer; 2) the spouse of a qualifier; 3) the child of a qualifier; 4) a long-time Al-Anon member; and 5) a returning member. Links to the entire YouTube video or starting at any of the individual speakers is available under the Newcomers tab of the website.

    AIS PSA About Service

    Service PSA
    Click to listen

    Five members of AIS recorded a short (under 15 minutes) video sharing their experiences of service in Al-Anon. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to hold a service position in Al-Anon and how it can help your recovery, you’ll want to watch this short video.

    Newcomers Podcast

    Since we weren’t been able to host newcomer meetings in person during the pandemic, some of our members recorded an example newcomer meeting that can be accessed from our website. This 22-minute podcast will give anyone who is unfamiliar with Al-Anon a great understanding of what Al-Anon is all about and what happens at an Al-Anon meeting. You can listen to the newcomer podcast [ here ].

    Triad Al-Anon Website

    We continue to add content to our website to help members and newcomers access all of the great benefits of Al-Anon. If there’s something you think would be helpful to be added, please email us at triadaisd4@gmail.com.

  • 1-800 Call Service

    Volunteers answer calls coming into our 1-800 support number. We currently have 22 volunteers sharing the load. We rotate the names on the list monthly so volunteers are not always on the front line of service. We’d love to add more volunteers to help share the load and the message of Al-Anon. We provide information on how to take a call coming in to our service. If you are interested in joining our phone volunteers, please email us at triadaisd4@gmail.com.

  • Outreach Events

    One of the core responsibilities of AIS is to provide information to newcomers and professionals outside of our membership. Some of our other projects listed on this page are part of outreach, but we also participate in the community when information about addiction support is helpful.

    Two of our big outreach events in the last year have been the Never Walk Alone event hosted by the Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Police Departments. Another outreach event is the NC Foundation for Alcohol & Drug Studies Winter School.

    Never Walk Alone (Fall in Winston-Salem)

    This free, family-friendly event is hosted by community stakeholders to:

    • promote RECOVERY from addiction;
    • provide EDUCATION about the disease;
    • offer RESOURCES to both the addicted and their family & friends;
    • impart HOPE to our community;
    • and to HONOR the memories of those we have lost.

    Community providers will be on-site. Join us for an afternoon of food, interactive activities, educational materials, and more!

    You Will Never Walk Alone
    You Will Never Walk Alone – September 2022
    Al-Anon Table
    Al-Anon table

    NC Foundation for Alcohol & Drug Studies (NCFADS) Winter School (February in Greensboro)

    This event is organized by the NCFADS (NC Foundation for Alcohol and Drug Studies) and is designed to educate professionals on recovery resources. We will greet and talk to participants and hand out Al-Anon literature which will be provided. Members can sign up for slots over the four-day event at the website provided.

  • Readers in Free Mini-Libraries

    Another way that AIS is reaching out to our communities is through a project proposed and initiated at the end of 2020. This project was to add Al-Anon daily readers to the free mini-libraries scattered throughout the High Point, Jamestown, and Greensboro area. We’ve continued throughout the intervening years to add readers and other Al-Anon books to the mini-libraries and to date have provided over 100 Al-Anon books to the community. AIS purchased a number of good used copies of books, but we’ve also had books donated to us from members as well. In the coming year we could expand this project to other areas if someone is willing to take on this service project.

    Interested in helping stock mini-libraries outside of Greensboro, High Point, and Jamestown? Contact us at triadaisd4@gmail.com.