“Public information” is the term used by many 12-Step fellowships for approved procedures and literature for outreach work to professionals, institutions, and the public at large. Unlike many other fellowships, CoDA does not currently have a specific Public Information (PI) committee at the international (CoDA, Inc.) level but there are several places where information exists. Our hope is that the ORG will facilitate public information about CoDA, but we acknowledge that this is an area needing development.

Some CoDA Intergroups or Voting Entities have their own Public Information or Outreach committees, and an individual group can choose to appoint a member or committee for this work. To help CoDA members carry the message in their local area, below are some outreach resources drawn from CoDA’s Meeting Handbook and Fellowship Service Manual (FSM). Please refer to the links below.

CoDA sources for public information/outreach: Members may contact one of the following groups or committees for assistance:

• Intergroups or Voting Entities may have a Public Information Coordinator or Public Information or Outreach Committee. These coordinators or committees assist CoDA groups in providing their own public information locally, maintain an up-to-date public information contact list, and facilitate communication between CoDA groups via participation in Intergroup teleconferencing and posting the minutes of Intergroup and Voting Entity meetings.  Upon request from a group, the most geographically relevant Intergroup or Voting Entity structure often can assist in distributing information to community service groups that can assist in passing it on to those who may need it.
• The CoDA Email Team (CET) is a group of CoDA members who do service in answering questions by email.  As part of the world-level Communications Committee, this group helps to educating members and non-members about the CoDA Fellowship and connecting codependents with appropriate resources or meetings worldwide. Please email [email protected] with any questions or concerns.
• The Hospitals and Institutions (H&I) Committee responds to requests for information resources and literature from prisons, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, schools and their libraries. Please email [email protected] for information, free literature, meeting formats, newsetters and other resources.
• The CoDA Outreach Committee (Outreach) provides developed information for fellowship members, local groups, intergroups, world organizations and Voting Entities in their efforts to carry the message. The Outreach Committee is responsible for the ORG webpages. Please see our the Contacts & Information page.
• The World Connections Committee supports the development of CoDA groups and Voting Entities throughout the world. You can contact the committee at [email protected].
• To keep local CoDA groups abreast of developments in outreach work and other matters, the codependents.org website has several different CoDA Announcements. You can sign up for various announcements in four categories, often pertaining to service work: CoDA Announcements, Hospitals and Institutions, Quarterly Service Reports from World CoDA committees, and Weekly Reading Reminders.

CoDA Literature: The resources listed below also include specific public information suggestions for multiple outreach areas. CoDA Resources Publishing, Inc. (CoRe) ((turn this into link?))is the CoDA nonprofit corporation charged with the publication and distribution of CoDA literature.

• Fellowship Service Manual: Specific sections relating to public information are “Announce” (page 5);  “CoDa Group Registration” (page 10); and “How Can We Let People Know About Our Meeting: Guidelines for Developing a CoDA Meeting, Intergroup or Voting Entity (VE) Website” (page 47)
• CoDA Meeting Handbook:  “Attracting Members: Community Outreach’ (page 18) and ‘Press Release: Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) Meeting Information” (page 19)
• “Carrying the Message –  Living the Twelfth Step” (booklet available through CoRE)

Members may also use Conference-approved public information materials (see Meeting Materials for additional meeting information) to distribute to those who may be codependent. These include:

• “Am I Codependent?” (pamphlet available through CoRE)
• “What Is CoDA?” (pamphlet available through CoRE)
• “Recovery From Codependence: A Brief Introduction”
• “Recovery Patterns of Codependence”

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please remember that CoDA does not allow extended quotations from our literature on any website or allow photocopying of literature.

RESOURCES:  Please click on the following areas for additional resources and materials, if available:

FEEDBACK & SUBMISSIONS FOR THIS PAGE:  The Outreach Resource Guide (ORG) is a work in progress which depends on contributions from you, our fellowship members. Please submit suggestions and materials by going to the submissions page for further instructions.