They're also picking up people from other groups who have not yet organized virtual meetings, she said.
"So our meeting is bigger and more vital than ever. I also think the stressful situation makes people want more AA meetings."
Joelle said she sees this time as "kind of a mixed bag."
One the one hand, she said, social isolation can be really bad for addicts. She predicts that a lot of people will discover during their time of social isolation that they are alcoholics or drug addicts.
"There's going to be people who figure out they're alcoholic during this time because being trapped at home, instead of busy with work and activities, heavy drinkers are very likely going to figure out that there's an issue there," she said. "But how are they going to get ahold of us?"
Because 12-step groups typically happen locally, Joelle said she would encourage those looking for a meeting to do an internet search with the name of their city plus "AA meetings," or whichever recovery group they need.
"You're going to find all kinds of meetings," she said. She encouraged newcomers and those long in recovery to take advantage of extra time at home to connect to even more virtual meetings than they might normally be able to attend in person.
"I would say we need more connection, not less, when there's stress," Joelle said. "So home isolation is really rough for an alcoholic. But being able to attend more meetings because you're sitting at home and so you don't have conflict...in some ways it's more convenient for people now. In other ways, you're still sitting at home by yourself."
Joelle said she thinks this time might pave the way for more virtual meetings in the future for AA, even after the threat of coronavirus has passed.
"AA already has conference call meetings, which I know is kind of old-fashioned, dial-in meetings...but from my perspective, there's plenty of times when you would want to have someone able to Zoom in, because maybe they've got cancer and they're in chemo, and so they're stuck at home, they can't come. I really believe this will be the wave of the future in terms of giving people more options."
The steps at a social distance
While being able to host online meetings has been convenient in many ways, Ian said he still had many concerns about people in recovery programs, particularly those who are in early recovery.
Often, those in early recovery will take part-time jobs as restaurant servers or cashiers so they can focus on their recovery, Ian said, but a "huge influx" of people are losing such jobs in his community, he said.
"We're just having a lot of people not only not have an income, but also not be able to participate both in meetings and fellowship, which is as, if not equally, important as meeting attendance," he said. Fellowship typically involves 40-50 people or so going out for dinner or just hanging out together after meetings. Get-togethers of that size are now banned throughout the country.
Ian said he is also concerned about newcomers who were working the steps for the first time, because, somewhat like the sacraments of the Catholic Church, there is something particularly effective about completing those steps in person.
For example, he said, the fourth step of AA, which is to make "a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves," is typically undertaken in person, with one's sponsor. It is similar to the sacrament of confession, where sins are stated to a priest in person.
"There's something about doing that face to face with someone and seeing someone's face not judging you," he said. "Like someone looking at you and being like, 'He doesn't think I'm a scumbag or a loser.'"
"When you remove that facial component, even through FaceTime, you've obviously diminished the effectiveness or efficacy of that step," he said. "So there's all these other underlying limitations that we're going to tease out over the next few weeks or months potentially."
Staying close to God when Masses are canceled
Another component of recovery that will be challenging for Catholics at this time will be remaining close to God when all public Masses and other liturgical celebrations have been canceled throughout the United States.
Connecting with a higher power is crucial for all 12-step recovery programs, but doing so can be hard for Catholics who can't attend Mass or go to confession regularly due to coronavirus restrictions.
Christine N., a Catholic in recovery in Annapolis, Maryland, said she was "devastated" when Masses were canceled, because she had recently been trying to attend daily Mass as well as Sunday Mass. Now, she said, she's been watching her local parish's livestream of morning Mass, and she said she might watch Bishop Robert Barron's streamed Masses as well.
She encouraged fellow alcoholics and others in recovery to stay the course and to trust God.
"I, and all Catholics, need to continue to pray and have faith that God will never abandon us and that he is with us," she said. "Believe that, and we'll get through it. But it definitely feels like a test."
Dave said that he and his family are part of a movement, started in France, called Teams of Our Lady, which are small faith groups that meet monthly for a shared meal and fellowship, and they also have a rule of life by which they try to live. Their group just had their first online meeting yesterday.
Dave said he encourages Catholics to find virtual ways to connect and share about their faith with other Catholics or Christians.
"I think we have to be willing to share more openly with other people of our faith of what's going on, share the difficulties, and connect (with each other)," he said, adding that he had also heard of stay-at-home virtual retreats being put on by some priests in Maryland.
Joelle said that for the past few weeks, she has been saying a daily rosary and a morning meditation and turning to prayer more often throughout the day. She encouraged Catholics to "stay out of fear" and to look for ways that God is calling them to be of service every day.
"I am constantly looking for the role that God is assigning me right now," she said.
"I want to focus on the present and especially on being in service in the present…for me it means using my cooking skills and time to get meals to people who are shut in, especially to people over 65 or who otherwise have health concerns. To be able to take them a meal and leave it on their doorstep and make sure they're okay, and go grocery shopping for them so they aren't exposed. Those are things that help Catholics and they help alcoholics too."
"Father C" said he thinks it is fitting that Catholics are all experiencing a great spiritual hunger for the sacraments during Lent. He said his advice for Catholics in recovery is similar to his advice for other addicts in recovery: "Keep coming back."
"Stay close, be involved, do service even in the smallest things," he said. "Think of one another and pray for one another. Even with the social distance, there needn't be spiritual distance."
"If God will make the greatest good come forth on the greatest evil, the death of the Son, well, would not God be able and willing to make good come out of this, even those lives that end up being lost to it?" he added.
Correction 3/24 8:31 a.m.: A previous version of this article stated that Father C was in recovery for addiction to alcohol. He is instead in recovery for co-addiction to alcohol.
Mary Farrow worked as a staff writer for Catholic News Agency until 2020. She has a degree in journalism and English education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.