The Living Clean Podcast

What does it take to help a fellowship grow from the inside out?
In this episode of The Living Clean Podcast, Francis is joined by Kristin D. from St. Louis, Missouri, Brawnyn B. from Berkeley, California, and Travis M. from Chico, California, for an engaging conversation about Fellowship Development in Narcotics Anonymous.
Together, they explore this exciting and evolving area of NA Public Relations, discussing how Fellowship Development strengthens local communities, supports struggling meetings, encourages unity, and helps carry the message of recovery to addicts who still suffer. The conversation highlights practical ways members can build healthier, more connected NA communities through service, mentorship, collaboration, and shared experience.
Whether you're new to Fellowship Development or already involved in service, this episode offers insight, inspiration, and real-world examples of how members are helping NA grow from within—one meeting, one community, and one addict at a time.
Recovery grows when we work together. Join us for a conversation about service, connection, and the future of Narcotics Anonymous.

Francis sits down with Mel Helman for a very special conversation, recorded on July 16, 2026—one month before Mel’s passing.
Mel got clean on October 7, 1968, in Southern California and was a personal friend of Jimmy K., one of the founding members of Narcotics Anonymous. His life in recovery gave him a unique connection to the early days of the fellowship and to the people who helped shape NA into what it is today.
Mel specifically asked that The Living Clean Podcast release this episode on the day he recovered.
We are honored to fulfill that request.
This conversation is more than an interview about NA history. It is Mel sharing his experience, memories, and perspective near the end of his life—a final opportunity to carry the message that had been such an important part of his journey since 1968.
We are grateful to Mel for trusting us with his voice and his story.
We hope you enjoy Mel Helman’s parting message.

This week on The Living Clean Podcast, we sit down with Chris M., an addict in recovery whose personal journey eventually led him to create something that would have a lasting impact on Narcotics Anonymous service around the world: the Basic Meeting List Toolbox, better known as BMLT.
But before we talk about technology, databases, or service, we start with Chris himself.
Chris shares his personal recovery story — where he came from, what brought him to Narcotics Anonymous, and the experiences that shaped his life in recovery. It’s a fascinating story and an important reminder that behind every piece of NA service is an addict who first had to find a way to stay clean.
From there, we get into the story of BMLT.
The Basic Meeting List Toolbox was created to give NA service bodies a stable, secure, and centralized way to maintain meeting information. Instead of Areas, Regions, and other service bodies maintaining separate versions of the same information, BMLT allows meeting data — where a meeting is, when it meets, and its format — to be maintained from a central source and then used across multiple websites and meeting-finding tools.
In other words, when an addict pulls out a phone, visits an NA website, and searches for a meeting, there is a good chance there is much more happening behind that search than they realize.
Chris takes us back to how the idea started, the problem he was trying to solve, how BMLT developed, and how something created to serve a practical need grew into a tool used throughout the NA service structure.
We also talk about what happened when Chris eventually passed the project on to others to continue maintaining and developing it — an incredible example of the spirit of service: build something that helps addicts, give it freely, and allow it to become bigger than the person who started it.
This episode isn't really about software.
It's about what can happen when recovery, experience, talent, and service come together — and how one addict's desire to contribute can quietly help countless other addicts find their way into a meeting.

What happens when recovery takes you halfway around the world and into the driver's seat of one of the most famous cities on earth?
In this episode, Francis and Travis sit down with the unforgettable Bombay Mark—a recovering addict whose journey began in Bombay and eventually led him to the streets of New York City as a nighttime cab driver.
Mark shares the story of finding recovery, building a new life in America, and navigating the endless parade of humanity that climbs into the back seat of a New York City taxi after dark. From moments of danger and heartbreak to unexpected kindness and inspiration, his stories reveal the resilience of the human spirit and the life-changing power of recovery.
This conversation is filled with humor, honesty, and hope as Mark reflects on the lessons he's learned from thousands of passengers and how staying clean has allowed him to witness life through a completely different lens.

What happens when one simple idea grows into a worldwide source of hope and connection?
In this episode of The Living Clean Podcast, we sit down with Camilla, the person whose vision sparked the Loving Our Long-Timers meeting. What began as a way to honor members with decades of continuous recovery has become a place where experience, strength, and hope are shared by some of the fellowship's longest-clean members.
Camilla shares the story behind the meeting, how it got started, the impact it has had on recovering addicts around the world, and why preserving the experience of long-term recovery matters so much. Whether you're brand new to recovery or have decades clean, this conversation is a powerful reminder that recovery truly works.
If you're looking for encouragement, wisdom, and stories from members with 30+ years clean, we highly recommend checking out the meeting.
Loving Our Long-Timers (Zoom Meeting) ❤️ Two meetings every week
Zoom ID: 974 8817 4579 Password: hope
Fridays
5:30 PM Eastern
4:30 PM Central
3:30 PM Mountain
2:30 PM Pacific
Saturdays
11:30 AM Eastern
10:30 AM Central
9:30 AM Mountain
8:30 AM Pacific
The meeting has featured 900+ speakers with more than 28,000 combined years of recovery, and many of those talks are available as free downloads.
Learn more at nalongtimers.org.