Our Mission Statement
"On-Line Gamers Anonymous is a fellowship of people sharing their experience, strengths and hope to help each other recover and heal from the problems caused by excessive game playing."
NOTE TO MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA: If you wish to post a request for our members to share their stories or other information with you, please post your request on the message board on the top right - "INTERVEW REQUESTS" - here is the link - http://www.olganon.org/?q=forum/144. Please include your full contact details (i.e., name, telephone number, e-mail address and website address) or a contact person at the media outlet to allow the verification of your credentials.
Thank you.
Liz W.
Who We Are:
Welcome to On-Line Gamers Anonymous, AKA OLGA & OLG-Anon.
OLGA/OLG-Anon, founded by Elizabeth Woolley in May of 2002, is an organization dedicated to helping addicted gamers and their families heal and recover from the problems caused by excessive and obsessive on-line gameplay. OLGA/OLG-Anon's official website can be found at www.olganon.org. In July of 2009, OLGA/OLG-Anon obtained the 501(c)(3) Non-Profit corporate status.
OLGA/OLG-Anon is staffed by Elizabeth Woolley, the founder, whose son, Shawn, committed suicide as a direct result of being addicted to one of the on-line games, and by many volunteers, who at one time or another have considered themselves excessive gamers or are family members of excessive gamers:
Ron Jaffe
Maxim Kuschpel
Anna Meenan
John Benfield
John O.
Amy P.
Joyce Protopapas
James W.
Katey W.
Harold W.
Bruce Wright
Diana
Jane
These volunteers are giving their time to maintain the website and moderate the discussion board in an administrative capacity. More detailed information about them can be found on the Meet Our Staff page.
Additional volunteers serve as moderators of the discussion board, monitoring posts and helping guide the topics of discussion, as well as helping develop the content for our recovery programs.
How We Work:
We offer many tools here. Our role is passive, meaning that we do not seek out those who are in need of help. Those who have come to us seeking help with their challenges or who are simply seeking haven, come and go at their discretion.
There are currently no dues or any other requirements or commitments, other than a commitment for the individuals to be honest with themselves and the persons with whom they interact.
Now that we have our 501(c)(3) status, we will soon begin collecting donations and conducting other fund raisers, from within our membership, to help fund this organization.
What We Believe:
The religious and spiritual views of OLGAnon's volunteers are quite diverse, covering a broad range of perspectives. Therefore, we neither claim nor espouse any particular religious view. In this way, we hope to be able to accommodate and help anyone, despite his particular belief.
OLGA/OLG-Anon does not believe that ALL games are inherently bad or evil. We do know, however, that some of the game manufacturers are quite aware of the problems that many of their customers are having with trying to play these games responsibly. It is therefore our belief and intent to someday work closely with the game manufacturers themselves to promote responsible gameplay, while at the same time, supporting their continued development of immersive and fun on-line gaming environments.
Short Term Goals:
We have new short terms goals. The most important is to assist in developing chapters throughout the world. These chapters will assist in getting real face-to-face meetings started. We also continue to provide an extensive list of professional resources for those who want or need help beyond what we can provide, and to continue developing OLGAnon's on-line web presence.
Long Term Goals:
Our long term goals, include a range of resources including on-line and townhall-type meetings, a library of on-line resources as they relate to excessive gaming problems, professional therapists references who will be able to deal with individuals directly and also various meetings around the country and the world, led by those who have a sincere desire to help those in need.
This document will change with some frequency as we develop our course materials, our website and our staff.
OLGA/OLG-Anon contacts:
Elizabeth Woolley, Founder
On-Line Gamers Anonymous World Services
104 Miller Lane
Harrisburg, PA 17110
United States
Hot Line: (612) 245-1115
eMail: olga@olganon.org
Thank you for visiting. Feel free to contact us via our contact methods listed above.
Sincerely,
Liz Woolley
Updated: August 6, 2009