NCADD believes that all people suffering from alcohol and drug abuse deserve the chance to be helped.

For nearly 70 years, NCADD (www.ncadd.org) has been a valuable resource for millions of people struggling with addiction. NCADD founder, Marty Mann, was a true pioneer. Marty got sober in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). When AA was just getting started in 1935, Marty’s sponsor was AA Co-founder, Bill Wilson. Marty exuded courage and unwavering belief in the dignity of all people. She worked tirelessly to provide education to raise the awareness of addiction across our society.

Marty made two important policy decisions when she first started NCADD:

1. For NCADD to be a credible agent for changing people’s attitude and understanding of alcoholism, it would need the involvement and support of the medical scientific community; and
2. Changing people’s attitude and understanding meant changing people’s behavior, so NCADD must offer professionally trained counseling services at the local level where people live and need help.

Therefore, today NCADD continues to operate on two parallel tracks – the National level and the community level. Today there are almost 100 NCADD Affiliates across the United States.