Ask an Advisor Questions

Question	Core Competency	Date
How best can I assess effectiveness of the supportive supervisory visits	Evaluating the Initiative	Mon, 03/09/2009
We are a national non-profit - FragileX.org that supports a network of volunteers resource groups around the US - typically one per state, but sometimes more depending on geography. A few of our groups are very active - regular meetings and activities - social outings, education & awareness events and fundraising events. Most are groups in name only and consistently struggle to get momentum. We try to help by contacting potential members that we know whenever the group leaders organize an activity,but they are often discouraged by the low turnout/lack of interest. I am concerned that the model we use - an expectation for face-to-face meetings or social activities yearly at minimum plus a willingness to take on educational &/or fundraising events is not realistic in today's world and that we are essentially setting up volunteers who are initially excited and enthusiastic to fail. The fact that there is often only one group per state is also a factor. My question - are you familiar with other npo's with a volunteer chapter network that is working effectively? We are planning a series of online leadership training seminars this year, but I want to be much clearer about if we are promoting the right model. Thanks!	Increasing Participation and Membership	Thu, 03/12/2009
My county does not yet have a Healthy Carolinians Partnership? How can I get one started, and what do I have to do to get certified? Hope this helps Vince!!	Developing a Framework or Model of Change Developing a Framework or Model of Change	Mon, 03/23/2009
Our Preschool is in Grandview,MO. it sits right next door to the Mid-Contienent Library and on the Left is Booth Salvation Army Senior Living Apt. in the back of us sits a shopping center, and some apt. Our Pre-school would like to put together a Community Block party,in order to improve community relations and give the youth in our neighborhood something to do. who would we talk to, for permits,and how do we get more funding.	Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships Assessing Community Needs and Resources	Wed, 03/25/2009
Me and some students at City College of San Francisco in the Healthcare Interpreter Certification Program were looking to facilitate langusge access to Limited English Proficiency (L.E.P.) Patients in San Francisco. We wanted to do this by educating healthcare providers and helping them comply with SB 853 as well as rising patient awareness. In helping healthcare providers comply with SB 583, we would create a non-profit medical interpreting agency very much like ACCLAH in Alameda County, but for San Francisco. This non-profit would have as goals educating healthcare providers, raise patient awareness, screen interpreters until the national medical interpreter certificate process is in place and act as a broker between healthcare providers and our pool of medical interpreters. A big percentage of the reimbursement received will paid to the medical interpreter and the rest to maintaining an active presence in the community. Our question would be, is there such an effort already in place? If there is, who are they and how can we join them. If there is none, can you provide any suggestions as to how we can go about creating one?	Analyzing Problems and Goals Assessing Community Needs and Resources	Thu, 04/02/2009
At the public library where I work as marketing and outreach coordinator we are working to build interest and participation in adult programming. Attendance is often low for those programs that teach life skills, (adult literacy, how to manage finances, etc.). Can you suggest resources I could explore to see how we can effectively market our programming and what adult programming is most popular in the public library setting? Thank you.	Analyzing Problems and Goals Assessing Community Needs and Resources	Sat, 04/11/2009
Hello - I'm working on community-building with residents of affordable housing properties. We're starting to have community nights, but I'm struggling with activities for residents that don't depend entirely on speaking the same language. Many members of the community are native Spanish speakers, and others are native English speakers. While we'll often have someone there that can help interpret, I'd like to find some activities that don't rely on interpretation & can allow residents to interact in a fun, one-on-one way. I've looked in many places and haven't found many ideas - do you have any suggestions? Anything is appreciated - as is the entire website - it's amazingly useful!	Increasing Participation and Membership Enhancing Cultural Competence	Fri, 04/17/2009
is it true that rural communities are more receptive to community development than urban areas?	Building Leadership	Mon, 08/04/2008
I am struggling with a new Executive Director and the internal controls. She believes she should have carte blanc over the financials and we as a charitable nonprofit need to make sure we are doing our fiduciary duties. If we have a policy in place shouldn't she follow this until we can discuss at an Executive Committee. I didn't see in the guide examples of these type of internal controls but I could have missed this!	Implementing a Social Marketing Effort	Tue, 08/05/2008
Hello, I am looking for a tool (data collection instrument) that I can use to collect evaluation information that has been submitted by grantees. What I want to be able to do at the end is show who these people are, what they said they would do, did they do it, and how they did it. Thanks!	Implementing a Social Marketing Effort Sustaining the Work or Initiative Evaluating the Initiative	Tue, 08/05/2008
I work at our local hospital in Ohio. We are looking for a community health assessment. How could we get a copy of a standardized community health assessment form?		Tue, 08/05/2008
Can you direct me to resources involving undergraduates doing international service learning projects and curriculum that will support such projects? I am planning for my students to do a collaborative service learning project with the deaf community in Costa Rica which may involve setting up computer camps for deaf youth.	Assessing Community Needs and Resources	Sun, 08/10/2008
Do you know of any agency that has used your tools to collaborate with healthcare providers to reduce domestic violence in their community?	Evaluating the Initiative Evaluating the Initiative	Mon, 08/11/2008
Hello! My state (Texas) is in the process of developing a community resource guide for pediatricians related to obesity. The hope is that the guide will provide a roadmap for community physicians to connect to local community agencies to build relationships around nutrition, exercise, and well-being. Does such a "road map" already exist for building obesity relationships, or for other disease processes? Thanks, Carl Tapia, MD CATCH Texas Co-Facilitator	Assessing Community Needs and Resources	Wed, 08/13/2008
Good day I am looking for information on social life skills such as "showing respect to others", "giving complements", "dress code", etc. Where can I find that on the site? Regards Claudette	Enhancing Cultural Competence	Sun, 08/31/2008
COMPARE AND CONTRAST TWO APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY HEALTH	Developing a Framework or Model of Change	Mon, 09/01/2008
Does anyone know of a community that used Community Toolbox to effect change in services (health,social, and in-home-support) for Senior Citizens in the local community?	Developing an Intervention	Tue, 09/02/2008
I'm 29 year old US Citizen, and a stay at home aunt living in Columbia, Maryland. I was born in the Caribbean and have a strong longing in my heart to return and help in my community. I have no clue how to get started. Can you help?	Analyzing Problems and Goals Assessing Community Needs and Resources Developing Strategic and Action Plans	Wed, 09/03/2008
Hi there, I want to organize a community art event. I know what the event is but I need to get other agencies involved. However, I don't have all the details worked out such as deadline for submissions, gallery space etc. In fact, this information requires that approach other agencies! Can I approach or email agencies without having the entire project mapped out? What are some steps that I should follow?	Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships Developing Strategic and Action Plans	Thu, 09/11/2008
My name is Molly and I work with Susan G Komen for the Cure in community health. We have the opportunity to provide training to some partners in Jordan regarding asset mapping, locating assets, finding programs and services, evaluating those services and partnering with organizations. Do you know of any vital analysis models or tools used to accomplish this? In our asset mapping, we discuss GIS mapping, databases, and some other technology to look at statistics and online directories but realize this may not be an option in Jordan. Do you have any tools you have used in working with other countries?	Analyzing Problems and Goals Assessing Community Needs and Resources	Fri, 09/12/2008
What is the best way to go about finding someone to speak at an organization in regard to community mobilization?	Increasing Participation and Membership Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships	Fri, 09/19/2008
Hi there, I am a nursing student who has 13 weeks of practicum at a community drop in centre. With this time I have been asked to develop and deliver a diabetes education prevention program to some of the street involved, low income, new immigrants and refugee clients there. I am finding this very challenging because i feel like i know what they want me to do- design a couple of workshops about increasing fibre intake and decreasing sugar or something, so that I get an A in the course. It would be easy enough to produce a bunch of pamphlets, but there is not sustainability or capacity building... and that it would be nearly impossible to design let alone deliver, and evaluate any kind of meaningful, sustainable program in the next 13 weeks. i guess i am just venting a bit, but i don`t want to play into this kind of `pat yourself on the back for making educational materials that no one will read, but at least we can grade you on them` game. However, it feels like a very daunting task to begin... currently i am searching Toronto for experienced diabetes nurses who have worked with this type of population i am wondering how to engage the population in program design, etc., like participatory action projects... do you have any suggestions? thanks so much	Analyzing Problems and Goals Assessing Community Needs and Resources Developing Strategic and Action Plans	Sat, 09/20/2008
Can you guide me about tools that can help me to do rapid upraisal of economic affairs of a community through indirect representatives. For example through their elected reps.	Assessing Community Needs and Resources Assessing Community Needs and Resources	Mon, 09/22/2008
Hello I need to conduct a survey of the needs of older people in a county. I have census statists, but need to survey about needs. I am concerned to ensure that a broad cross section of older people are included and don't have a database of addresses where older people live. Since some people will be homebound, some will be at work, and some will be out and about, can you help me by suggesting how I should conduct the survey to ensure that I get the full range of older people. Also I know that if it is not a random sample I can't say that the results apply to the wider popultion, but how do I overcome this so that organsation has enough information on which to base strategic decisions in the best interests of those in need within the community Whew! all this has been causing sleepless nights. Can you help	Assessing Community Needs and Resources	Fri, 09/26/2008
I am a student taking my "Family Supports Certificate" through Distance Education and am on my last class and love this website and wanted to ask some advice. I am creating a program for the Military Family resource centre where I volunteer which will focus on "Empowering Parents" to "take back parenting", learn to not be afraid to say no to your child, and to set boundaries for your child and yourself in relation to the military lifestyle. I am hitting a wall when it comes to creating my goals and objectives. I always have a hard time simplyfying this stage. Any help or guidance with this	Analyzing Problems and Goals Enhancing Cultural Competence Evaluating the Initiative Developing Strategic and Action Plans	Fri, 09/26/2008
Dear Advisor, I am a High School teacher from Singapore. I am interested in carrying out a research project to evaluate the effectiveness of overseas community involvement projects in developing youth to be global and active citizens. As I am new to the field of research methodoly, I am unsure about how I can carry out my research as well as collect data to evaluate the effectiveness of this programme. http://www.hci.sg/affectiveEdu/programmes/OE%20Web/website.htm Here is the link to some of the programmes run by my school under outdoor education. I hope you can advise me on this. Thanks. Have a nice day! Regards Pei Chin	Analyzing Problems and Goals Assessing Community Needs and Resources Analyzing Problems and Goals Assessing Community Needs and Resources	Wed, 10/01/2008
I work at Beckham Bates Elementary as STC CHANGE COORDINATOR for NUPA, And my job physical activity. I am on the wellness journey and hoping to change the way our community thinks about eating and other habits. I think that most of health issues and drug abuses are falling back to the lack of knowledge and what we are doing to ourselves in our community. I have just found one thing that has been working and I need support to make it happen. I want to make a difference and pedometers have seem to be a big hit. Everyone wants one. As many people as I give one, they have been moving. We need to get 10,000 steps a day and one hundred less calories. And we have enrolled in the America on the Move at Beckham Bates Elementay. It has been great and I want to get the community involved. Thanks.	Increasing Participation and Membership	Fri, 10/10/2008
Hello! I work for a safety-net community health clinic in Berkeley, CA. We are trying to more fully engage our highly diverse community of patients in how we plan and deliver our health services. In an effort to make our care more patient-centered, more culturally appropriate, and more aligned with our patients' real life experiences, we established a patient advisory council at one of our Oakland clinics, with promising results. We are hoping to build on this success, yet keep things sustainable for our struggling non-profit, by bringing patients into the patient satisfaction process. We're hoping to train patient advisory council members to develop and conduct patient surveys, one-on-one interviews and facilitate focus groups to address Quality Improvement initiatives. I am wondering if you know of any other community health clinics who have tried to do this. I am also wondering if you are aware of any training programs or literature that we could use to help orient and train our patient advisers so that they feel more confidant and can fully participate in this process. Thank you for your help!	Assessing Community Needs and Resources	Tue, 10/14/2008
Dear Sir, I am writing from Malawi, central Africa. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. I work for a health communication NGO that uses the power of mass media to effect change. Realizing that interpersonal communication, social mobilization and community dialogue are an important element in fostering behaviour change, I am in the process of developing a community dialogue promote that seeks to engage rural Malawians into discussing problems affecting their communities, what the barriers are to change and what they can do to bring about change. I came across your website and was very interested to learn more about CTB. I would like to find out if you have any reading materials that can help me come up with an effective program that can change the lives of many poor Malawians and that can later be replicated into other African countries. I will appreciate so much any assistance you can provide me in this regard. The concept I am developing will later be used to raise funding that must see the project growing. I can't wait to hear from you. Thanks, Simon	Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships Advocating for Change Assessing Community Needs and Resources Developing Strategic and Action Plans Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships Advocating for Change Assessing Community Needs and Resources Developing Strategic and Action Plans	Tue, 06/17/2008
I am currently taking a business course through the fast trac in Kansas City at the Kaufman Center. I goggled and found your amazing web site. I would appreciate any help or leads you could offer to establish a community centered organization focused on personal and spiritual growth with creative expression through the arts. My mission is to nurture the highest potential of each member towards creating a lifestyle consistent with their core values and unique talents and gifts. The center would offer a blend of educational oportunities and creative art offerings. Community service is highlighted. Thank you for your assistance, Devi		Tue, 07/01/2008
To whom it may concern: I am working to promote a literacy project in the community. We are currently working on a train-the-trainer model. We plan to hold a training session for community members, and are hoping that these members will then go to their communities and train others. A problem that has come across is...how will we be evaluating our intervnetion? Will we be measuring how many sessions they carry out in the next year? Or what? Thank you so much, and I look forward to hearing from you. --Sandy Liang	Evaluating the Initiative	Tue, 07/01/2008
Hello- I'm just revisiting the community tool box site, as I'm working on a very targeted initiative. I'm working on developing a young adult advisory team for the department of health in Vermont (with members 18-25 years old). Right now, I'm trying to get a sense as to what other folks are doing to reach this population--just so I have a broad context to focus my efforts (whether it's state or community driven). Do you have any tools that can help me in my quest to reach this targeted population in an engaging & meaningful way? Or maybe tools that can help me organize and structure the young adult advisory team's interactions even? I'm going to continue perusing the site...as it's very helpful. Any guidance you may have is very much appreciated! Best, Connie	Building Leadership Analyzing Problems and Goals Building Leadership Analyzing Problems and Goals	Tue, 07/01/2008
The San Diego Immunization Coalition (SDIC) is an established (since 1992) local immunization coalition serving the County of San Diego. San Diego County is one of the largest counties in the nation, with a population of 3.8 million and over 4,300 square miles. While founded as an infant immunization coalition, SDIC (formerly called I-3) converted to a lifespan focus in 1997. As a mature coalition, and faced with a variety of "new" issues including the recently introduced spectrum of adolescent vaccines, the increased focus on adult immunization issues, and the "green vaccine" and anti-vaccine movement, SDIB has a strong need to do some intensive strategic planning and possible restructuring. Due to California's across-the-board budget cuts, which include major budget reductions to immunization programs, we are in need of assistance in finding resources to support this strategic planning effort, including support for an expert facilitator. Please contact me at the above email address or kwgustafson@san.rr.com, or call me at 619-405-0028 (mobile) or 619-692-5760 (work) to talk about any ideas or resources that IZTA or AED might have for helping us in our effort to keep our coalition successful. Thank you for your attention, Kathe Gustafson		Wed, 07/02/2008
how does one come up with implementation plan,minitoring plan and evaluation plan using the logframe analysis?		Thu, 07/03/2008
how i can conduct a need assessement questionaire in my hospital that concentrate mainly on the medical requirnment for nurses mainly?		Thu, 07/03/2008
Hello, I am interested in doing an evaluation/survey of a website. Specifically, I would like to explore if the information we provide on our website impacts feelings of efficacy visitors have in terms of taking action. Do you have any resources that can provide any relevant information? I have some albeit limited access to peer-reviewed journals so both websites and journal articles would be helpful. Thanks, Gina Hijjawi	Evaluating the Initiative	Thu, 07/03/2008
I have a question, where can i find information about setting up working groups.. do you have any suggestions or website where i could find this information. thanks jenna	Building Leadership Analyzing Problems and Goals	Thu, 07/03/2008
Do you have information that details how to have a successful community meeting or what makes a community meeting successful? I'm looking for information that taken more from the community perspective. Thanks!	Developing Strategic and Action Plans	Thu, 07/03/2008
You have a lot of wonderful information provided in the "do the work" section. Is any of the information provided on the website available in hard copy/reference copy?		Fri, 07/04/2008
I work with community developmet in Russia mainly with rural areas, please where are the most succesful centers in USA working with local communities involvement in rural areas? I need experience based on common action, cooperation of local people Thanks		Fri, 07/04/2008
I am working with a community seeking to develop (create an organization) which can deliver health and other services to elderly members, with the goal of enabling them to "age in place" as long as possible. Most successful examples of these organizations have been in high-density urban settings, rather than small town/suburban settings such as ours. Question: Any suggestions for identifying other groups like ours (small town/suburban) with similar goals, so we can exchange ideas? [I am familiar with the BeaconHillVillage model of aging in place, as well as PACE projects, and the websites of Partners for Livable Communities, National Aging in Place Council, etc.-- but know no information sources seeking to organize community for "aging in place" in small town or suburban areas.] Thanks in advance for any help you might provide.		Fri, 07/04/2008
What are the different steps of developing an organizational structure?		Sun, 07/06/2008
I work for Sacramento Tree Foundation. (CA) Who has experience connecting public health with promoting the benefits of urban forestry to sustain a community building campaign? Do you have any suggested funding partners? thanks,		Sun, 07/06/2008
Are there any programs that have increased physical activity for groups of our population?		Sun, 07/06/2008
What is the most efficient and practical way of collaborating with music industry leaders to use lyrical and music content to help fund a non-profit social service and empowerment organization, which is in development and expansion, to aid mentally, emotionally and economically disadvantaged (MEED) people and their families,when seemingly, they are difficult to access?	Analyzing Problems and Goals	Sun, 07/06/2008
Hi CTB, Great web site and initiative! I am preparing for a community initiative in Indiana to tap into currently untapped talent in the community to encourage the underepresented, underutilized, unemployed and underemployed of our community to become nurses to help meet the community nursing shortage. I am just beginning to tap into networks such as this. Any further suggestions for me? Specifically- do you have contacts in local healthcare and universities (KU) who are intimately connected with this initiative and who might be a great resource? Sonia	Analyzing Problems and Goals	Sun, 07/06/2008
I am working with a group in the Endorphin Power Company (EPC) dealing with substance abuse. I need to know if there are other programs using the same concept?		Tue, 07/08/2008
I am the Community Service Coordinator at Baptist Regional Medical Center and are looking at working on childhood obesity and am looking for advise on how to start a program in the school system to get kids active. Lee Richardson Community Service Coordinator Baptist Regional Medical Center Corbin KY 40701 606-523-8533	Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships	Sat, 07/12/2008
Greetings; I am looking for substance abuse recovery support network models. I am trying to find out who is using what models. So often youth are referred to 12 steps with minimal guidance. If you know of other models that would be very helpful. Thanks David J.	Assessing Community Needs and Resources	Mon, 07/21/2008
Community and government resourse organizations for phyical education		Tue, 07/22/2008