In 2007, Bob Davis and his wife Elisabeth opened Mentor & Recovery (M&R) as a sober living house for men in Austin. Their motto was, “More than a bed and a Big Book.” With that in mind, M&R certainly became much more than just a place to sleep and work on steps, it became a community.
The garage at M&R became home to The Tin Roof, an AA group for young people in recovery. This meeting was unique because it was completely youth driven. From the beginning, the Tin Roof was organized, facilitated and supported by young people in recovery. When people would talk to Bob about the success of the group he would say, “The group was successful because I left the young people alone!”
Long time Tin Roof member John Ingram said when he began his recovery journey he wasn’t comfortable with traditional AA groups settings, “I wasn’t too comfortable in a church basement with a bunch of older guys drinking coffee.” When he found The Tin Roof, he was immediately comfortable with the non-matching chairs, cigarette smoke in the air and graffiti on the walls.
“It was a place that each one of us considered home. We knew we were welcome and were willing to extend the same hand that was extended out to us!” The Tin Roof was made up of five groups: Tin Roof Group, Straight Pepper Diet, Brothers of the Fourth Dimension, Sober Chicks (now at the Center for Students in Recovery) and Birdcage.
With the recent closing of M&R the five groups are transitioning to new locations. Communities for Recovery is honored to be the new home for The Tin Roof Group. The group meets on Thursday nights at 8:00 PM, Friday at 9:00 PM and Sunday at 8:00 PM. Ingram says that The Tin Roof will live on, “Regardless of the location, we intend to keep the same personality and spirit alive as the meeting continues to evolve.
Contributed by Reggie Smith, Communities for Recovery Peer Policy Fellow. See our Calendar for times and dates of all meetings at Communities for Recovery.