Westside Club

Located in the heart of Georgetown, the Westside Club is a facility providing space primarily for meetings of 12-Step recovery programs, including Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). Other 12-Step groups are welcome to start meetings and use the space available. Meetings are currently held seven days a week. The club also provides space for recovery related workshops and seminars. The space includes three meeting rooms, a separate smoking room, snack bar, restroom facilities and a pay phone.

The Westside Club was founded in 1981, and has been a home for recovery in Georgetown for 26 years. In addition to providing space for meetings, the Westside Club sponsors a number of annual events. Major events include the annual New Years Eve Party, Talent Show and Founders Day Dinner. Dinner is also served at the club on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Picnics are held on all Summer holidays. In addition to these events, special meetings are scheduled on major holidays.

Statement of Purpose

The West Side Club of Georgetown, Inc., is a private non-profit organization formed to provide a space where groups devoted primarily to the recovery of alcoholics and drug addicts, plus other family groups that relate to the illness of alcoholism and drug addiction, can meet; a place where people with drinking and drug problems can be helped; an educational center for alcoholics, problem drinkers, and drug addicts; and a social environment for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts. In addition, the Club is open to meetings of other 12-Step groups that agree to abide by the rules of anonymity of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The Club and its membership recognize and, as far as possible, subscribe to the principles of the fellowship of AA. The Club shall undertake such activities as are approved by its House Committee, the scope of which shall include the education of recovering alcoholics and drug addicts through literature, meetings, and other activities.

The Westside Club is located in the heart of Georgetown at 1341 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20007. The club is on the second floor of the Bank of America building at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Dumbarton Street. To enter proceed through the alley between the bank and the old Georgetown theater, currently the Jewelry Center, and use the steps to the second floor.

Public Transportation:
Bus: The club is accessible by Metro bus (G2 which runs between Howard University and Upper Georgetown. Double check your schedule here.

Georgetown Connection: this bus connects with Metro system at the Rosslyn and Dupont Circle Metro Stations.

The Circulator: this bus runs between Union Station and upper Georgetown. The exit is Wisconsin and Dumbarton in front of Five Guys (heading north) or the Georgetown Inn (heading south).

In the early spring of 1981, Doug M. asked Victor B. why we did not have a club on the West side of Washington DC. Victor’s answer was “We can do that if we don’t drink.” This came about because DC only had one club, the Metropolis Club. Other clubs had started in both Virginia and Maryland.

Doug and Victor approached Glenn T. who had gotten sober at the Metropolis Club. In the meantime, George T. had been associated with the Men’s Home in Virginia and had some business knowledge necessary for running a Club for Twelve Step recovery. The four of these men met after the 8:30 meeting held at Foxhall on Monday night for about six months.

Others attended and it was decided that $5,000.00 in seed money would be needed to open the doors of a new club in northwest DC. They approached 100 people asking for donations of $50.00 each. When they had collected $2,900.00, they were anxious to start, but someone encouraged them to stick to their original goal for the money needed to start a club.

In October of 1981, these four men signed a lease for $15,000 per year for space in the basement of 2430 Pennsylvania Avenue. The first meeting brought in six dollars. The entrance for this room was through the lobby of a hotel, and the hotel asked the club to find another location. In February of 1983 we moved to the second floor of 1424 Wisconsin Avenue, NW. The original business structure had to be redone.

In January of 1990 we signed a 5-year lease with a 5 year option with the American Security Bank for space on the second floor of 1341 Wisconsin Avenue, NW. There was a three-month construction project to make the club what it is today. Since this is now a part of the real estate, the bank gave us free rent for 27 months. There was a period of time when we were behind in our rent and the bank had issued an eviction notice. Fortunately God had the right people in the right places and we were able to overcome the situation.

The two strong meetings at the Westside Club, Attitudes and Actions at 7:00 a.m. and the Bagel Meeting at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays were both started at this new location at 1431 Wisconsin Avenue.

Like all clubs we live 24 hours at a time.

Alcohol, my most reliable companion, turned on me about a decade ago. I did everything I could to keep my friend. I tried to stop drinking socially because I was getting drunk after the 1st drink. I narrowed my beverages of choice -- which used to be anything in any amount -- to white wine and vodka. I drank alone so “people wouldn’t know;” but that required a number of maneuvers to get time away from family. Finally, visions of my alcoholic father, drug addicted mother, (there is a long lineage) crept into my dreams then into my conscious thinking.

I went to several AA meetings around town. Really, I passed through, ducking anyone who approached. After 2 years, I ran into a group on Wisconsin Ave., talking, laughing and looking healthy – like normal people having a good time. I saw the sign on the gate for the Westside Club and dared to ask what kind of club it was. I didn’t want to say I was new, but the stairs were right there so I said to myself “I’ll just take a look around.” That was April. So, a day at a time, I am walking up to 9 years.

Those were some hard 24 steps (12 & 12 to be exact)! I saw the snack bar and went to get information. There was a meeting starting – an HP coincidence? There were things about the place that made taking that first big step towards sobriety easier for me. Seats in the back helped me feel comfortable; being able to switch groups so I wouldn’t be recognized was also what I needed before I was ready to be visible. Having staff and volunteers behind the snack bar counter meant I always had someone to ask where things were (the bathroom, for example). I could discretely get literature. People were welcoming – as they were in other groups – but having casual space to stand, have coffee and talk made it easier for me to let down my guard. I love plants so I gave myself little job to help me feel more like I belonged. I haven’t had a drink since I walked up those steps.

I gave money in the 1st year not knowing I was becoming a member, just because I was so grateful. I found out I was a member when I got a newsletter and since then I have learned about the Club versus the various, independent meetings; what the meeting donations paid for and what it couldn’t cover.

The Club is a place that offers meetings at all times of the day. It is also a place to hang around sober people, make new friends. The Club helped me by offering so many opportunities to build a sober social life. The Club is open and offers extra meeting times on holidays. It hosts festive holiday meals. There are picnics from spring to fall. There is the annual Talent Show, biannual Art Show and the enormously popular New Year’s Eve dance. There are anniversary celebrations every Saturday – and now on Sunday. Members and nonmembers volunteer to make these happen but it is The Club that makes it financially possible. I came on the days the city was snowed in and the door was open, stairs clear of snow. Our fabulous Manager stayed with a friend then in a hotel, paid for by the Westside Club House Committee, to make sure I would have a place to come to. The Club, for me, represents a place that says ‘there is life after alcohol.’

So, that is why I became a member. I know the many costs of keeping the Club as a place for anyone who wants a sober life. I think of membership as both a benefit to me as well as a service to others (members and non-members). I pay my dues to ensure the 12-n-12 staircase and front door is open to anyone who passes by like I did and says to themselves “Well here it is, why not try?”

Abbey G.