About Us

The Guide to Mutual Aid Resources is a project of Faces & Voices of Recovery. A six-person committee oversees the Guide and Lora Passetti manages the ongoing updates.

Contact Lora Passetti with ideas and suggestions for groups, group updates and activities.

Committee members:

Lora Passetti is a research manager at Chestnut Health System who has studied recovery support groups for young people.

Bill White is a senior research consultant at Chestnut Health Systems/Lighthouse Institute. His writings can be found on Faces & Voices website.

Michael Boyle is the former president and CEO of Fayette Companies.

Ernest Kurtz is the author of Not God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous and other books, as well as numerous articles.

Linda F. Kurtz is professor emeritus at Eastern Michigan University and the author of Self-Help and Support Groups: A Handbook for Practitioners and numerous articles.

Bill Layfield is a founding board member of Faces & Voices, organizer and founding board member of Alabama Voices for Recovery, a member of the Alabama Advocacy Task Force on Substance Abuse, past President of NCADD-AL and serves on several Boards and Committees of Community service organizations.

Pat Taylor is the executive director of Faces & Voices of Recovery.

The Guide has been expanded through the generous support of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Partners for Recovery Initiative.

Faces & Voices of Recovery as an organization does not endorse particular recovery mutual aid groups. Groups listed in the Guide must:

  1. Focus primarily on recovery from alcohol and other drug problems and/or mental health and other issues that may co-occur with such problems
  2. Offer peer support rather than professional services
  3. Honor the principle of "many paths to recovery" and individual choice – they promote what their own approach offers without devaluing alternative approaches
  4. Respect the human rights of their members/participants
  5. Not solicit fees/donations as a condition of participation
  6. Respond within a reasonable time-frame to contacts made via their websites, email addresses, and/or phone

Our History

The Guide to Mutual Aid Resources was developed by Ernest and Linda Kurtz for the Behavioral Health Recovery Management project in 2001. In 2005, the Guide moved to Faces & Voices of Recovery. Ernest Kurtz continued to manage it with the help of committee members Mike Boyle, Linda Kurtz, Pat Taylor and Bill White. In 2009, Lora Passetti and Bill White took over responsibility for working with committee members to update the Guide. In 2009 Faces & Voices of Recovery received funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Partner for Recovery Initiative to enhance the Guide. Email us at info@facesandvoicesofrecovery.org with your ideas and suggestions.

Contact Us

Contact Lora Passetti with ideas and suggestions for groups, group updates and activities.

Contact Faces & Voices of Recovery with any other questions and suggestions.