Good Cause of the Month: The Triangle Club

A nonprofit dedicated to people in recovery from addiction to alcohol, heroin and other substances.

Starting two years go, we’ve been alerting you to events and causes worthy of your time and philanthropic treasure in our Good Cause of the Month series. Keep an eye out for a Good Cause every month here at NHMagazine.com, from charitable events to volunteer opportunities to nonprofits you should get to know — and, by the end of the year, your do-gooder cred will be off the charts.

For this month’s Good Cause, we’d like to introduce you to the Triangle Club on 120 Broadway in Dover, New Hampshire. Since 1984, the Triangle Club has operated as a peer-based addiction recovery center and champions the mission to promote the spiritual, physical and mental health of people in recovery from addiction to alcohol, heroin and other substances.

What They Do

The Triangle Club is a purely philanthropic organization with a peer-based, community foundation, which is unique within the regional rehab and recovery clinics “doctor-patient” set-up. Founded in 1984, the Triangle Club was completely volunteer oriented for its first 33 years of operation, but with the recent onslaught from the heroin and opioid epidemic, particularly in Dover, a transition was made to a more traditional non-profit to fortify its internal capacities to meet the increasing drug problem.

Most, if not all, of the members who volunteer their time and emotional energy to the Triangle Club are themselves recovering alcoholics and addicts who have committed to giving back to the community. Sandra Jalbert, a board member for the Triangle Club, believes that it is this intercommunity coalition that puts the Club in a unique position to connect with the disenfranchised recovery-seekers who so often are pathologized when seeking treatment.

“We are central support for the community, from SOS [Recovery Community Center] to Bonfire [Recovery Services] in Dover. Volunteer hours and get the money raised. The reason we’re successful in doing that because many of us in recovery know to be true,” says Jalbert, herself 8-years sober. “To maintain sobriety is to give back and help others.”

The Club has increased in overall meetings by over 25% in the last 3 years, operating now with 53 meetings per week.

The club also cannot rely on traditional state or federal funding because the money is contingent upon providing on intake and data of those seeking treatment, all of which the Club cannot provide because they uphold a level of anonymity. “They rely on who the people are that you serve, date ages, we can’t provide that funding because we rely on anonymity. We rely on community support and are extremely low staffed.”

Jalbert sees the overall recovery operation growing considerably in the next five to ten years, and will continue to protect and serve those affected by the damage of addiction.

How You Can Help

The Triangle Club has an annual appeal in November and December for the Holidays. “We provide meals for patrons and their families. We usually have 100 people from Christmas and Thanksgiving,” says Jalbert. “So if people want to make food for these people, that would really help.”

“Holidays are really tough for people. We are open 24 hours a day on holidays. And have meetings around the clock for 24 hours. You can go to our website and you can donate. That would be awesome.”

To learn more about The Triangle Club and all the ways you can get involved, visit the website here.

Do you know of an organization or charitable event that would make a great Good Cause of the Month? Send your ideas to Assistant Editor Emily Heidt at eheidt@nhmagazine.com