Who We Are:
Welcome to On-Line Gamers Anonymous®.
Our Mission Statement is: "On-Line Gamers Anonymous® is a group of people sharing their experience, strengths and hope to help each other recover from problems resulting from excessive game playing."
On-Line Gamers Anonymous® was founded by Liz Woolley in May of 2002 after her son, Shawn, committed suicide as a direct result of being addicted to an on-line game. Liz was soon joined by Ron Jaffe (Diggo McDiggity), a recovering gamer. They supported each other as the fellowship grew.
The OLGA® and OLG-Anon Recovery Fellowships and Outreach, are divisions of OLGA®/OLG-Anon (On-Line Gamers Anonymous®) World Services, Inc.. OLGA® and OLG-Anon Fellowships are dedicated to offering support to addicted gamers (OLGA), their families (OLG-Anon) so they can heal and recover from problems resulting from the newest "drug of choice" - excessive video game playing. Outreach is our public service division that assists in providing information to educate about the dangers of excessive game playing. The Outreach division assists in providing an extensive list of professional resources who provide services for those affected by excessive video gaming,video gaming addiction or a video gaming disorder. Outreach also helps raise funds to continue our mission.
We offer support. Our community is open to all who seek support. We are not an activist group, nor do we sponsor such organizations. Our message forums are available to all, regardless of bias or opinion. We are here to share our experience, strength and hope and encourage peer-to-peer support. Family and friends are invited to share their experience, compassion, and wisdom. Every day we accumulate and add to our collection of information related to excessive gaming and the issues it creates. Sharing this with our visitors is a primary goal.
In July of 2009, OLGA®/OLG-Anon (On-Line Gamers Anonymous) World Services, Inc. obtained the 501(c)(3) Non-Profit corporate status. All donations are tax deductible. To make a donation to our community, please Donate Here. Without your support, we will not be here.
In 2015, the website was re-created to further separate the 3 divisions of our organization - OLGA® (for recovering gamers), OLG-Anon (for family members) and Outreach (our public service division). This has enabled the members to concentrate on their own healing and recovery, rather then being pulled into the dynamics of the other groups.
Our organization is staffed by many people, who at one time or another have considered themselves excessive gamers or have had their lives affected by an excessive gamer:
Liz Woolley Founder
Ron Jaffe (Diggo McDiggity) Co-Founder, Grandparent
Polga Administrator
Gamersmom Administrator
Mike T Webmaster
John Langel Executive Director of Outreach
These volunteers are giving their time to maintain the website and moderate the forums in an administrative capacity. More detailed information about our staff can be found on the Meet Our Staff page. Additional volunteers serve as moderators of the forums, 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 can collect donations from our members, and conduct other fund raisers, to help fund this organization.
What We Believe:
The religious and spiritual views of the 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:
Our short term goals are to continue to assist in developing chapters throughout the world. These chapters will offer "real" face-to-face meetings. We also continue to provide an extensive list of professional resources for those who want or need help beyond what we can provide. We will carry on with developing OLGA®, OLG-Anon's and the Outreach on-line web presence.
Long Term Goals:
Our long term goals, include proviidng a range of resources including face-to-face and on-line meetings, a library of on-line resources as they relate to excessive gaming problems (fournd in the Outreach section), professional therapists references, who recognize that gaming can be an addiction, and will be able to deal with individuals directly and also support 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 Ln, Harrisburg, PA United States Hot Line: (612) 245-1115 eMail: olga@olganon.org
For more information, you may also want to consult our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and Our News forum.
Thank you for visiting.
Sincerely,
Liz Woolley
Founder of On-Line Gamers Anonymous®
Last updated: November 8, 2019