Over the course of a year the Portland, Ore., area experienced a 331% increase in drug-related deaths. Kim Matic, a recovering heroin addict from Portland, admits that she once could have been part of that statistic.

Instead, Matic overcame her addiction and, with other people in recovery, formed the Recovery Association Project (RAP) to successfully seek solutions to problems of common interest to them-such as getting public support from county commissioners to deal with the epidemic. Matic and colleague Ron Williams were recently in Manchester, N.H., training members of the New England Alliance for Addiction Recovery in RAP's methodology.

RAP adopted its strategies from the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), the country's oldest and largest community organizing institution founded by Saul Alinsky more than 50 years ago. Groups using IAF techniques find common ground among individuals in large-scale, broad-based social institutions, build internal capacity to hold public assemblies and negotiate for changes in public opinion and policy.

Individual meetings-intentional conversations with other people that capitalize on the mutual interest of both-are the heart of IAF work. "It's a chance to say `Your issue is something I'm concerned about too'," said Williams. These meetings commonly begin among members of faith-based organizations, schools, and groups concerned with civic, environmental, housing, and health issues.

The individual meetings expand to group sessions, in which members reflect on the common themes and identify how to address them by taking action. Members then meet with key players in the community to find those who can help achieve the desired change, and use public assemblies to get commitments for change. "The pledge for a solution must be public to solidify it," said Matic, "but the process shouldn't be confrontational." Afterwards, groups evaluate the effort, celebrate the victory, and follow up to ensure the changes actually happen.

RAP started when someone familiar with the IAF process introduced it to people in recovery-individuals generally driven to volunteer their time and stories to help people in situations similar to their own. RAP worked with county commissioners to establish a task force to investigate drug-related deaths and provide a plan to address the epidemic. A second RAP action encouraged Multnomah County's HIV/STD clinic to screen people for Hepatitis C, resulting in a task force to look at the occurrence of Hepatitis C in the Portland area and to develop a proposal that will identify the needs and respond to them. Matic also used the RAP methodology to lobby for increased treatment facilities in neighboring Clark County, Washington.

Matic and Williams admit that the process can take months, and can be quite a commitment for the group. Frequently, people need to hold 80 individual meetings to get 20 leaders involved. The process of creating a community map often starts from scratch, and keeping it updated is an ongoing process. RAP members rehearse the assemblies, using practice and coaching to streamline their messages to the audience and issue. However, Williams said, "Those that commit to the process will see results immediately."

Tess Gomes, with Friends of Recovery-New Hampshire and the Demand Treatment! Partnership, recognized that the process takes "a certain amount of legwork" and is not for groups that are impatient. However, she and others at the training think they could use the methodology to recruit and retain new members, identify their passions, and create change.