Hi Kathy,
It might be a violation of the ADA, but you will have to ask either a lawyer with a practice focused upon disability issues, or your local government's antidiscrimination officials.
Even if it is a violation, it seems, probable that the gentleman will have to move because the landlord may not be able to provide reasonable accommodation. That building clearly is not an appropriate place for the gentleman to reside. Again, city officials and housing authority officials may be able to help find and arrange other housing, or pressure the landlord to find another place among the landlord's properties that is handicap accessible.
I am pleased that you have discovered this unfortunate situation and are willing to advocate on his behalf. Thank you!
Dear Mrs. Everitt,
I am so sorry to hear of your difficulties. Unfortunately, your request is not something the Community Toolbox can help you with. We do not handle individual inquiries nor do we help with assisting with finding grants for personal needs.
I would suggest that you find out if there are community-based or faith-based organizations in your communities that provide financial assistance. Since I do not know where you are located I cannot provide any guidance as to where you might look. If you have a local United Way or Community Council they may have information and referral resources.
I am sorry we cannot be of more help and I wish you luck in finding the assistance that you need.
Community Toolbox Advisor
Hello Mr. Montenegro,
It is really great that you want to serve your community, and there are ways to do so that wouldn't take much time or any money.
One avenue I suggest that you explore is possible short-term volunteer opportunities. Sometimes community-based organizations and non-profits need volunteers to help with a single event. It would require a small time investment, but give you an opportunity to perhaps make a significant contribution. For example, find out if a local organization is hosting a 5K race or walk and see if they need people to help with registration or set-up on the day of the event.
Check with local faith-based organizations as well. They may know of some community needs that require a small time investment. Perhaps with the holidays coming up you could help the church to deliver meal packages, or help them to connect with resources for donations for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holiday meals and gifts.
You might see if there are opportunities to help unpack boxes for a couple of hours a week at a local food bank. Sometimes you can find regular volunteer opportunities that do not take a lot of time. You might serve breakfast on Sunday morning at a local soup kitchen, or volunteer on a Habitat for Humanity team and spend a Saturday helping to build a home. Contact your local volunteer center if there is one.
If you have a special skill or talent that might be useful (computer web design, data entry skills) you could offer them to a small, non-profit with a small budget. If there is a specific organization or issue you are interested in, you might even just go there and talk to them and see if there is some way you could offer some help. Sometimes, just bringing in a group to paint some rooms or clean carpets in a local organization can be very uplifting to staff and the people served by the organization. You could organize a group of students to spend one day on a project. You also might think about organizing a group to do a one-day neighborhood clean-up and just go around cleaning up trash. You might hold a coat drive and donate coats and other warm items to a local charity.
Finally, find out if your school offers any type of credit for community service, community service opportunities, or internships for course credits. These will all provide opportunities to contribute to the community while furthering your educational goals.
Hello Howard,
This is a great question, and not necessarily an easy one to answer.
In regard to this exercise, when they mention culture it refers to the groups you belong to that have likely influenced your life, behaviors, values, and beliefs. They are the beliefs, customs, artifacts that are shared by a group. When people talk about culture, they are most often referring to an individual's race, ethnicity, or nationality. However, your culture may also include your religion, socioeconomic status, or even where you live in the U.S.
Identity refers to those groups with whom you identify. They may or may not share beliefs and customs. For example, someone may identify as a parent, but have really different beliefs and practices than other parents in the neighborhood. Some aspects of your identity may incorporate your culture, and others may be affected by your culture. This is not to say that there are differences in beliefs and customs within various cultural groups as well.
In regards to this exercise there are both cultures and identities mixed in. In some cases, items may be both. Each individual might look at the list and determine which represent culture (groups with shared beliefs, customs and artifacts), which are merely identities (e.g., female, parent), and which may be both a culture and a part of one's identity.
If this answer is not clear, or still leaves you wondering, please feel free to write again and I will reach out to more of the advisors and see if we can come up with something clearer.
Dear Ruth, Each of the chapters and sections in the Toolbox were written collaboratively by experts in the field. Each of these experts drew upon years of research and practice experience when writing the chapter/section. If you look at the end of each section there are references for resources. The authors drew on these resources and others when preparing each chapter. Because of the multitude of topics covered, there is no one citation list, but you might explore the references at the end of each section of interest to you. Also, promising approaches and best practices in community health and development have been incorporated into each section.
In summary, yes. The Toolbox is based on scholarly research. Whether it is "evidence-based" would depend on how you are defining "evidence-based." If you mean was the guidance for each section tested via a random controlled trial or other methodologically sound research project, in totality, no they weren't. Did random controlled trials and other empirically sound research influence the development of each chapter -- yes it did.
The Community Toolbox has been used nationally and internationally by individuals and highly respected organizations for training and technical assistance. It is frequently updated to incorporate the latest evidence and knowledge.
Dear Minister Murphy,
Yes! The Community ToolBox team would be delighted if the various sections and chapters were useful for you to use for program development and implementation. We hope you find the guidance to be helpful. Please let us know if you have any difficulties with applying the information.
Thank you for using the Community ToolBox and contacting us with your question.
CTB Advisor
Dear Ms. Berry,
We are so glad you have found the Community Tool Box to be helpful. In summary, our site is Creative Commons "share and share alike" licensed, which means you are free to link to and use Community Tool Box resources for non-commercial purposes. (The site's Use Policy can be found here: /en/use-policy). If you would like to extract materials from the Community Tool Box to include in another publication or on a website, or if you have any questions, please contact us directly at toolbox@ku.edu.
Dear Ms. Kasandi,
The Community Toolbox includes a section on Developing a Strategic Plan and Organizational Structure (see Chapters 8 through 12). You may find Chapter 9 to be especially useful. Each chapter includes tools, examples, and other helpful assistance for creating a new organization. I suggest that you browse through all of those materials and tools as a starting point. There are links to tools from other organizations which may also be useful to you.
Another strategy that might be helpful is to identify successful NGOs in your area or within Kenya and ask if they will provide guidance or share some of their policies or other documents that you can use for guidance. You might check with a local university to see if there are faculty who might want to help you, or provide a student intern who has this skill.
I wish you luck with your project and with developing your organization.
Dear Austin,
This is not a question that the Community Toolbox can answer. You need to see your academic advisor about class withdrawals or talk to someone in the Registrar's office who can explain this.
CBT Advisor
Dear Ms. Laws,
The Community Toolbox does not gather data or studies and charts, so I'm afraid we won't be able to provide you with any of those resources or data.
You might visit the following web sites which may have some of the information you are seeking:
http://www.samhsa.gov/
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/index.htm
http://www.findyouthinfo.gov/youth-topics/substance-abuse/risk-and-prote...
I hope these help to get you started.
Hello,
Unfortunately the questions you ask are outside of the scope of the Community Toolbox. I would suggest going to the Internet and finding credible web sites (e.g., foundations, government) that specifically serve educators. You might also contact a professional association or other resource for educational professionals.
I am sorry we cannot be more help to you.
The Community Toolbox Advisor
Dear Ms. Suber,
These are very good questions. In regard to how many objectives to develop, there is no set number. You should prepare a realistic number keeping in mind that these objectives are driving the work you do. Each objective should be tied to specific activities you will undertake. If you have too many then you will overload your capacity. The objectives should be closely tied to your mission and vision, but they do not have to specifically include key words. For example, if your mission is to improve the health of your community, one objective may be to reduce the rate of obesity by 5% by a certain date. This does not include the specific key words, but is directly tied to the mission.
Chapter 8 of the Community Toolbox, Sections 1 through 3 provide guidance for developing mission, vision and objectives. I hope you find them helpful.
Dear Ms. Rodriguez,
I am sorry to tell you that your question is not something the Community Toolbox can help with. I am sorry you have experienced so many difficulties. You might try contacting your local State of California Social Services office or another social service agency and ask them if they can refer you to an organization that can provide you with the support you need.
Dear Erin,
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) has information and linkages with peer support groups. I suggest you check out this web page, which includes a link to State organizations and NAMI Affiliates.
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=About_Treatments_and_Supports&T...
There is also the National Mental Health Consumer's Self-Help Clearinghouse at:
http://www.mhselfhelp.org/
I hope these two resources are helpful.
Dear Mohamed,
This question is not within the scope of services the Community Toolbox provides. I suggest you contact the School of Management at a local university or other business development resource. I am sorry we cannot be more helpful to you.
Hello Hannah, It's great to hear about your plans to promote citizen participation in government. The Community Toolbox has several resources that you might find helpful. Here are a couple of Community Toolbox resources that you might find especially helpful:
We wish you luck with your project. If specific questions come up as you work on it, please feel free to contact us again. The Community Toolbox Advisor
Project creation begins with having a clear plan and developing the framework or model for change. For this I recommend you go to the Community Toolbox's Toolkit for Developing a Framework or Model of Change. It tells how to determine your mission, vision and objectives and to develop the logic model that will guide the steps for planning and implementing your program.
Once you have this clear plan in place, go to the Community Toolbox's Toolkit for Developing an Intervention. Each step includes tools and a checklist to follow that details the planning and implementation processes. You might also go to the Learn a Skill area and browse the chapters to find additional more detailed information and examples.
Each of these Toolkits should give you the step-by-step detailed instructions you need to plan and implement your program.
Dear Ms. Garcia,
Thank you for contacting the Community Toolbox. Whether something is set up for school work for teenage inmates would depend on where the teenagers are. Because this answer might be different for all the different places where teenage inmates are, it is not something we can answer here. I am sorry I could not be more helpful. You might contact the facility where the inmates are and ask them.
Your interest in helping children is wonderful. I would suggest you start by contacting the local school district, volunteer center, or other organizations that help children to ask if there is something that you and your children could help with. With the holidays coming up, many non-profit organizations need people to help. You and your 15-year-olds might consider working with an organization to collect hats or coats, gifts, or food for families.
Good luck in your efforts,
Dear Amira,
This is a very broad question and not one with a specific answer. More important than learning about problems and differences in other countries is developing cultural competence so that you are able to work across many cultures. I suggest you first look at Chapter 27 on "Cultural Competence in a Multicultural World" in the Toolbox, and the related Toolkit #9 "Enhancing Cultural Competence."
More specifically, the differences and problems depend on which country you are traveling from, and which country you go to. If you are concerned about problems or differences, I suggest that you research the country you are traveling to as much as possible to learn all about it, identify any potential differences or problems, and prepare for them. Most important is to find out about customs and beliefs that are different so that you can be sure not to offend people there (which can definitely cause problems). Also, if you have any limitations on the kind of food you eat, making sure the country you are visiting will accommodate them. Learning about things like clothing, religious beliefs, and gender roles can be very useful as well.
I checked out your website and it's very nice. I plan to bookmark it as a resource myself! The Community Toolbox (CTB) has been around since 1994, and it has taken years for this tool to become as widely known as it is, and to develop its format. Your website is relatively new and very well developed for the short time it has been in existence.
If you haven't already, you might want to review Chapters 45 (Social Marketing) and 46 (Planning for Long-Term Institutionalization) along with Toolkit #13 (Implementing a Social Marketing Effort) and #16 (Sustaining the Work or Initiative).
Much of the CTB was developed by the faculty at the university along with community practitioners who volunteered their time. For additional input, you might work to identify people with the expertise you need, or who are doing work that you would like to feature and asking if they would be willing to contribute. Let them know that they will be publicly credited for providing the information. You might consider a small, inexpensive but special incentive that notes that they are a contributor.
You might also contact the CTB group directly to ask if they have information they can share.
~Work Group for Community Health and Development 4082 Dole Human Development Center 1000 Sunnyside Avenue University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045-7555 (U.S.A.)
Telephone: (785) 864-0533 Email: toolbox@ku.edu
Good luck with your efforts. It looks like you are well on your way to providing a very useful web site.
Dear Mr. Locklear,
Thank you for contacting The Community Toolbox.
If your organization has 501 c 3 status, a copy of the letter should be in the files. If not, that is something obtained from the Internal Revenue Service.
More information about 501 c 3 status can be found in Chapter 43 of the Community Toolbox.
I am afraid I will need more of a description and question to provide you an answer.
You question is outside of the scope of the Community Toolbox. I would suggest you contact a business school or ask similar businesses if they would be willing to share their HR policies with you to use as a model.
There are different way to analyze and document focus group discussions. One simple way is to gather two or more people and go through the responses to identify themes and summarize what was said. Then share your notes and interpretation of the findings with two or three individuals who participated and/or two or three others from the community from which they were selected to ensure you have captured what was important to them and to make sure you have accurately captured their voice.
If you feel unsure about you or your team's ability to do this correctly, it may be helpful to contact a researcher or evaluator from a local university or other individual with experience and training in qualitative research methods. You might also consult a book on qualitative research that includes a good chapter on how to analyze and report the findings. You may also want to check out resources offered by the American Evaluation Association's public elibrary of resources at www.eval.org.
Hello Laura,
I would suggest you start by reviewing Chapter 6 of the Community Toolbox: Promoting Interest in Community Issues. It has a number of sections detailing different ways to spread information.
Dear Mr. Ford,
There are too many unknown factors here to be able to give you a definitive answer, and this is outside of the scope of the Community Toolbox's realm. This is something that Faye should discuss with her supervisor.
Dear Rodrick,
We welcome you to the Community Toolbox and are happy to hear that you are so happy with it. All of the resources that are advertised as "free" are available to anyone in the world who would like to use them. You definitely qualify to take the free online course and we encourage you to do so. Please feel free to share this resource with others and encourage them to take advanage of the courses as well. Thank you for contacting us.
I would suggest you get started by going to the Community Toolbox main page and clicking on "Help Taking Action", the select "A Model for Getting Started." This page will provide you with general guidance and links to toolkits and other resources to develop this plan. Thank you for contacting us.
Dear Antony,
It is impossible to determine the best leadership style for any situation without being there. Chapter 13 of The Community Toolbox has information on Leadership. I suggest reviewing Section 3: Styles of Leadership. It includes information on how to determine the appropriate style. There are also links to numerous leadership resources that you might find helpful.
Hello Asmita,
There are many good aspects to multicultural work environments. People from different cultures often look at things differently. When there is a problem or a need for innovation, having more perspectives is a strength because there is a greater chance that there will be more options, a a wider variety. If everyone is the same, they will all share perspective and there is greater chance they will all see things only one way.
However, multicultural work environments also require that people are culturally competent. The Community Toolbox Chapters 27 through 29 and Toolkit #9 are great resources to help to build such competence.
Thank you for writing!
Hello Angelina,
Thanks for contacting the Community Toolbox. In addition to Community Toolbox information on engaging community, you might find the sections on Analyzing Community Problems and Designing and Adapting Community Interventions (Chapters 17 through 19 and Toolkits #3 and #7) and Implementing Promising Community Interventions (Chapters 20 through 26 and Toolkits #7 and #11) of use.
There are two other resources for mental health peer support that may provide valuable information. The first is the National Alliance on Mental Illness (www.nami.org). This grassroots organization works to raise awareness and provides advocacy and support group programs. The second resource is the National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse. It's a peer-run national technical assistance center. You can find more information at www.mhselfhelp.org.
We hope this is helpful.
Dear Quetzally,
We are so excited and impressed that someone your age is interested in providing such a valuable service to your community! It sounds like you will need to engage in some advocacy. First, I would suggest reading the Toolbox chapters on Organizing for Effective Advicacy -- Chapters 30 through 35 and Toolkit #10.
You will also need to engage some adults in your efforts. You might start with your City Council representative or other elected official representing the area where the park is located. If this is a City park, it is something the city will need to address, so find out who to contact there as well (for example, in the Parks Department). You might also check to see if there is a teacher at your school who would be interested in helping -- for example, someone who teaches government classes.
Good luck with this effort, and please write again if you have more questions.
The Community Toolbox was developed to provide people and organizations with tools to bring about social change. This question does not really fit with the purpose of the Toolbox.
Thank you for contacting us.
Dear Ms. Young,
Assessing the community knowledge and resources is basically doing a needs and resources assessment. Your question suggests you are trying to assess the community's need for knowledge of lung cancer facts and then assess the resources that are already available. Chapter 3 in The Community Tool Box and Toolkit #2 provide guidance for conducting such an assessment. The toolkit provides numerous resources for deciding the best way to collect your information taking into account the amount of money, time and other resources available to you.
I hope that you find these resources to be useful.
The Community Tool Box Advisor
There are many different approaches you might use to promote peace and unity among youth in your community. You may wish to begin with a community assessment to learn more about why there is a need. Learn more about what is causing the lack of peace and unity and develop a strategy to intervene. The Community Tool Box has guidance for this in Chapter 3, Assessing Community Needs and Resources with Toolkit #2, and then Chapter 5, Choosing Strategies to Promot Community Health and Development.
You may wish to encourage the youth to come together to work on behalf of community issues. If you take this approach I recommend Chapter 6, Promoting Interest in Community Issues and Chapter 7, Encouraging Involvement in Community Work. Give the youth in your community a common purpose, a chance to work together toward something positive that would change their current focus.
Another approach might be to analyze the problems and design or adapt community interventions. If you take this approach is would suggest the Community Tool Box Chapters 17 through 19, and Toolkits #3 an #7. Chapters 20 through 26 and Toolkits #7 and #11 provide guidelines for implementing promising community interventions.
As you see, there are different approaches you might try, and they depend on the resources you have available and what would work best in your particular community. For each of these, the Community Tool Box provides guidance and toolkits to assist with the work.
The Community Tool Box provides resources for individuals and groups working to create change in their communities. Your question regarding institutes to provide certification on embedded systems for an engineering institute falls outside of the scope of this resource.
I am sorry we cannot be of help.
Dear Mr. Jones,
It sounds as though there may be many audiences that would be informed and inspired by such a success story. I would start by contacting local schools, especially alternative schools and those attended by youth who are confronted with many adverse life conditions. Another good place to start might be non-profit organizations serving troubled youth or juvenile justice officials. It would seem that any organization working with youth and young adults who need such inspiration and an example that tells them that it is possible would benefit. If you are referring to yourself, congratulations on your amazing success!
Hello Again Mr. Jones,
I would suggest the target audience be adolescents and young adults. A secondary audience might be older people, such as teachers and social workers who might benefit from seeing the possibilities residing in those they are working with.
The Community Tool Box has many chapters that will be helpful for starting such an organization. I suggest the following:
To begin, starting an organization means having a plan and a structure. Chapters 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 and Toolkits #5 and #15 will be useful for this.
Having well-developed leadership and management are important for sustaining the organization. I suggest Chaptes 13, 14, and 15 and Toolkit #6.
If you are planning an intervention then I suggest Toolkit #7 on Developing and Intervention. Chapters 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 might also be useful for implementing interventions.
Regarding funding, we cannot recommend any specific resources. I suggest you look at other organizations in your country and see how they have been funded. Perhaps meet with some of their leaders to learn more about how they formed their organizations and funded them. Since the local environment (policies and customs) has much to do with how successful your organization will be, see if there is anyone locally who has been successful in starting and funding an organization and see if they would be willing to share what they have learned. You can also look at the Community Tool Box's Chapters 42 and 43 to learn more about getting grants and financial resources.
Good luck to you. This is a wonderful endeavor and we wish you success with it.
The purpose of the Community Tool Box is to provide resources for individuals and groups working to create change in their communities. Your question is outside of the scope of our expertise I am afraid.
Thank you for contacting The Community Tool Box. Your question is quite broad, and I'm afraid the answer is probably just as broad. The structure and functions of community health programs is very broad. They may be general or targeting specific health problems. For example, there may be programs targeting obesity that would range from obesity prevention via education, advocacy, or another means. The program might be targeting general good health and target a specific population, such as youth or the elderly. While some programs focus on education and awareness, others engage in direct intervention via home visiting or specialized groups.
Such programs can be "typed" by whether they are primary, secondary or tertiary prevention programs; the form the intervention takes; or by specific content or a health issue. So, as you can see, there really is no simple answer to this question. You might want to browse through the Community Tool Box pages and look at the examples that are provided. Many are community health programs, and can give you some idea of the range. I am sorry I could not be more helpful.
Dear Ms. Tausch,
I would suggest you may want to pull out those by-laws and have the group review them as a starting point. Ask group members to reaffirm that they are in agreement and willing to follow them. If that doesn't work, I suggest you read Chapter 16 in the Community Tool Box on Conducting Effective Meetings. There is a section on handling difficult members, and you may find some ideas in there. Really, the only people you can talk to is your group members. I wish you luck with this.
Dear Alex,
Thank you for contacting The Community Tool Box. We have tools for developing organizational structure. You might start with Chapter 9, Section 7 which provides guidance for Writing Bylaws. The entire chapter -- Sections 1 through 9 will likely be helpful for forming your organization. You might also look through Toolkit #15 to see if there is also useful information in there. Good luck with this initiative.
Dear Kelsey,
We do not have data on the number of back end hours to budget per workshop hour. Workshop preparation time can vary so widely across professionals and workshops. You will basically need to look at the scope of work and estimate how long each task associated with the modifications will take based on past experience or the experience of others who have worked with the specific workshop. I am sorry I cannot be more helpful.
Thanks for contacting The Community Tool Box. There are a couple of things you can do to make sure people sign in and out for CEUs, but if they do not work, then the responsibility lies with the attendees. First, you can have someone at the entrance asking each person to sign in before they enter the room. Then, when the session begins, allocate time for people to go sign in if they have not already. Also, announce to them that they will not get their credits if they do not sign in AND out. At the end, have only one exit and leave specific time for people to sign out and then leave. You might even end just a little early so you can usher them out one table at a time.And remind them again that if they do not sign out they will not receive their credits.
Good luck with this!
Hello Peter,
Thank you for contacting The Community Tool Box. I guess the first place you can start is with Chapter 3 in The Community Toolbox: Assessing Community Needs and Resources. After reading through this chapter and utilizing the training, the next step will be to get to know the area you plan to assess. Look up existing data such as reports available through Federal web sites, such as the CDC, SAMSHA, Department of Justice, other Health and Human Services Sites, the U.S. Census, and any other sites that may have reports and data broken down by State and Territory. Next, find out what local organizations, such as the health department or police department are in the area and what types of reports they produce. Look at local education institutions (universities, school districts), hospitals, non-profit organizations and other types of organizations. You should also find out who the local officials and formal and informal leaders are in the communities of interest. Then, work with them to find out the best way to move forward with implementing your project.
If you have more questions, please write again.
Dear Megan,
This is not a question that the Community Tool Box can answer. You will need to contact the Registrar's Office at your school.
Thank you for contacting The Community Tool Box. Planning is the overall process whereby you set your goals and objectives and then decide everything you need to acquire and do in order to reach them. Objectives are part of the planning process. They are the basis for what you hope to achieve as an outcome from the plans. The objectives should guide your plan, and then will determine whether your planning and the implementation of your plan was successful if you reach them.
The Community Tool Box
Dear Dr. Chavez,
Thanks for contacting The Community Tool Box. Your initiative sounds exciting.
In regard to how to approach the project, the first step you take might be to assess the current capacity of the participating organizations to prepare such presentations. That will accomplish two things: (1) it will give you an idea of how much and what type of capacity building assistance they will need; (2) it might help you to identify some existing assets or resources to facilitate the project. It will also be an opportunity to introduce the idea to them. You can do it quickly and most easily by having a couple of undergraduate or graduate students conduct telephone interviews with key individuals at each organization. You can also gauge the interest level and willingness to engage in such a collaboration at the same time. One incentive might be to provide them with the finished poster ready to hang. You might begin the process with one large group meeting to kick off the initiative, and then offer some training in a group format, supplemented by individual, hands on assistance for those who need it.
If it is monetary resources you need, perhaps you can find a local foundation or business that would be willing to provide some funding. You might solicit small donations (that can add up) from local medical centers or other institutions that perhaps give small amounts of money. If it is expertise you are in need of, tap into local graduate schools for doctoral students who may need to do some type of internship in the community (such as a school of public health) or who would be interested in getting the community experience. ~~Once you finish building the capacity of the first cohort of organizations, you may find some that are interested in sharing their new expertise with other organizations and can utilize a "Train the Trainer" model.As far as finding materials to faciliate the capacity building, Chapter 42 has information about getting grants and preparing funding proposals. For materials on how to prepare a poster, here are some links to helpful sites below, and there are many more out there.
http://guides.nyu.edu/posters
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/index.html
http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign
We hope this is helpful to get you started. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact us again.
