Welcoming

Greater New York Metro Intergroup

Welcoming Committee

October 2, 2021

Introduction

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• JP M
• Rebecca B

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• Opinions expressed are not the opinions of Greater New York Metro Intergroup or OA as a whole

Welcoming Committee Purpose

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Statement: The Welcoming Committee is charged with supporting members to welcome all who desire to stop eating compulsively and encourages diversity of races, creeds, nationalities, religions or lack of religion, gender identities, sexual orientations, physical abilities and all other traits.

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Giving Effect to

Unity with Diversity Policy

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Policy

THE FELLOWSHIP of Overeaters Anonymous encourages and promotes acceptance and inclusivity. All are welcome to join OA and are not excluded because of race, creed, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other attribute. We welcome all who share our compulsion. Everyone with the desire to stop eating compulsively is welcome in Overeaters Anonymous....

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Action:

• Inventory. To encourage each member, meeting and Intergroup Committee to take their own inventories on their own ‘welcoming’ actions and create action plans to enhance their Welcoming Activities.
• Blind Spots. To find any blind spots we have as individuals, meetings and committees that impede us in our desire to “extend the hand and heart to those who share our compulsion”
• Change. In order to Unify and Welcome fellows, we believe that we must humbly learn where we are not being welcoming or unifying, so that we can change our behavior

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Not New: Existing Guidance on Welcoming and Retention and Unity in Diversity

• OA Guidelines for Meeting Retention

https://oa.org/app/uploads/2021/09/guidelines-for-membership-retention.pdf

• Membership Retention at Meetings and between Meetings “Ideas that Work”

https://oa.org/app/uploads/2021/08/membership-retention-at-meetings-and-between-meetings.pdf

• Fun and Fellowship Survey (updated 2019)

https://oa.org/app/uploads/2021/09/fun-and-fellowship-survey-results-and-findings.pdf

Our own Experience

• Meetings in NYC are overwhelmingly populated by
• Women
• White people

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HOMOGENEITY: defined as a cultural sameness, can lead to bias and lack of awareness of the bias

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Special Focus Meetings

• “more comfortable meeting with other members who share similar experiences…”

Special Focus Related to Identity and Lived Experience

• Women
• Men
• LGBTQ
• Young
• Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC)

*We honor these spaces and remind ourselves that Tradition 3 welcomes all who share my compulsion.

1998 Inception of Ebony Meetings ebonyoa.org

Current OA.org publication Request

Questions about “Outside Issues”

• The 10th Tradition formerly was that OA does not endorse any particular practice or faith. This doesn’t mean that individual OA members don’t have opinions about outside issues such as weight loss programs, diets, therapy, religion, politics and other 12-Step programs. But when it comes to OA as a whole, that's quite a different matter. 

(10th Tradition research, portion is adapted language from Joe & Charlie tapes)��

• When it comes to personal experiences shared in qualifications (as those experiences relate to the OA program of recovery), the topics raised are not the opinions of OA as a whole and are not necessarily "outside issues" if the person is sharing on their own experience inside the rooms of OA...things like racial bias, body shaming, ableism, etc.�
• Other experiences that are shared in rooms: how I experienced in program ….the pandemic, lock down, being laid off of job, having a child, personal relationships, moving to a new town …

Survey 2020 Responses Received and Reported

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• Three pages published on the home page of OANYC.org

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• CONCLUSION: There are different experiences of welcoming in the rooms and a lack of awareness of the differences.
• As recovering compulsive overeaters, we wish to approach the topic humbly and to remain open and learn about what works for fellows as they work the Steps

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• Accept the information as an opportunity to learn about others’ lived experiences

Action Plan

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• 2020 Quiz for self inventory - Enhance awareness of different experiences of welcoming in OA
• Meeting Scripts
• Literature and IG publications drafted with Inclusion:
• Intergroup’s Sept. Metro Memo https://mailchi.mp/38e53f3a2adb/ny-metro-memo-august-2021?e=[UNIQID]
• Suggestions for other literature: For example, there is no reference to Special Focus meetings in Index to OA 12 & 12
• Share Information: Yes: Publicize availability of Special Focus Meetings. But also a bigger goal: all meetings are safe and welcoming places for any person
• 2021 Strong Meeting Workshop: Role of Chair, safety, interruptions via Speakers and a Skit
• Welcome and Don’t Silence shares about emotions: Considering other means to prevent calls of “Outside Issues!” interrupting a person sharing, if no traditions are broken

Script Change Example:

Monday Women’s Meeting Script

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Welcome to the Monday Women’s Sexuality focus meeting of Overeaters Anonymous based in New York City. My name is __________, and I am your leader for this meeting.

The goal of this meeting is to facilitate a safe and welcoming space for all women and /or non-binary fellows. This meeting supports diversity of voices, races, perspectives, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Chair-persons are asked and encouraged to seek a wide range of people to qualify and fellows are encouraged to volunteer and share suggestions for speakers, lest the group fall victim to unconscious homogeneity, ethnocentricity, or racism. We as a group welcome feedback on language around this statement by people with lived experience.

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followed by: Serenity Prayer, OA Preamble, CrossTalk Statement…

Created a Quiz for oanyc.org

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Multi-choice, anonymous, optional, results only for self

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At the end: Given “correct” answers and encouraged to pause and reflect

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https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdumyc5scWY7HZcjdviy60ASYQXDT_Oeyl8_OiDBCLXP4B1zQ/viewform

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Stated Quiz Introduction on Oanyc.org

• Welcoming ACTION PLAN Quiz
• Building on our recent diversity and inclusion survey, our Welcoming Committee has created this anonymous interactive quiz to help OA members check the extent of our awareness of diversity in the rooms and how we are respecting each other's differences while ensuring the heart and hand of the fellowship reaches all who share our compulsion. This quiz is meant to be a direct reflection of diverse experiences in the OA rooms. This quiz is intended to help us think critically about our responses in the rooms.
• Followed by “Unity in Diversity Statement” and Definition of Microaggressions

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Quiz Question Example

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Welcoming a Person of Color Newcomer

Quiz Question Example

Listen to a Fellow expressing feelings about racism in a meeting

Quiz Question Example

Body size inclusivity

Quiz Question Example

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Responding to fellow’s request about Pronouns and Gender

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Comments on Quiz Results

Thank you!

• Any Questions?