How to Get Started

Assessment
Planning
Execution
Reporting

Each Reality Tour program is delivered through a collaborative community effort. Community representatives from law enforcement, health care, addiction treatment, and prevention services all have a place in this program. A dedicated volunteer group is a must for a successful program.

The first step to organize your Reality Tour program is to hold a stakeholder meeting. Community leaders, law enforcement, health care, addiction treatment, and concerned citizens should be invited. CANDLE, Inc. will provide you with all the information you need to present the program to this group and assess their level of interest.

If you are planning to hold a stakeholder meeting please call 724-679-1788 to recieve information for your presentation.

The initial stakeholder meeting is just the start of building your network. The meeting may yield just a few or many individuals that will help you secure the volunteers and community resources needed for your Reality Tour program. These individuals are your action team.

The first step for your action team is to find the startup funding for your program and decide upon an entity to act as a fiscal sponsor. The fiscal sponsor is the entity that purchases the program and is responsible for maintaining financial records. The startup funding may be covered in full through a simple grant application. Contact Us for PA funding opporutunities.

The second step for your action team is to secure a location. Some locations that are currently being utilized are: YMCA/YWCA, County Courthouse, Government Center, Municipal Building, University Union, County Jail, or Church. The most frequent being a courthouse or government center.

The third step for your action team is to find any additional volunteers needed to fill the roles defined in your Program Model materials.

Finally, all the information and tools to market your program and train your volunteers are included in the purchased Program Model materials.

You are just a few weeks away from starting a program once the Reality Tour Program Model arrives. There are only a few last steps before the program is ready for the public.

Once your Reality Tour Directors read the manual and review all the materials. it is time to host a volunteer meeting. During this meeting you will delegate roles and view the 90-minute volunteer training DVD.

Your first Reality Tour program should be offered as a VIP event, inviting community stakeholders. The VIP event is a great way to introduce community leaders to this new program, plus it gives your volunteers a practice session.

The Program Model includes additional information on how to market your program to the general public including a 60 second radio commercial, a media news release, and a location and registration posting on our website.

The Reality Tour program should be offered on a regular basis with frequency depending on the population of your community. Butler, PA now has 3 Reality Tour sites to geographically cover our county's 185,000 residents. It is hosted monthly at two locations and quarterly at a third. In 2008, Butler's program reached 700 self-referred parents and children.

enter Share your success with CANDLE, Inc. after each Reality Tour. Use the reporting form included in the Program Model to let us know how many people you served and measure your program's fidelity.