Question: Where will the Volunteer Month Kick-Off Town Hall presentation be accessible?

Answer: Thank you for asking! This presentation is kept under announcements in VolunteerHQ, you can also access the announcement HERE. Anyone who was unable to join, we hope that you will watch, enjoy, and let us know if you have any feedback.

 

Question: Why don’t we offer Free PDFs of our Handbooks?

Answer: This is a great question that many ask about our training as well. SMART Recovery has been growing rapidly, in order to support this growth we must increase our resources. Resources needed at SMART are many things, in this case it is about streams of income. As a nonprofit agency we rely on donations, training fees, and bookshop orders for revenue to fund our many projects we have planned for the continued growth of SMART Recovery.

 

Question:  For the scholarship, is it a requirement for the person to take Facilitator and Family & Friends training even if they do not intend on hosting a Family & Friends meeting?

Answer: We are providing scholarships for $100 off the price of the Facilitator and Family & Friends Combo course for Volunteer Month in order to generate more of both types of meetings. You can view other scholarship options and apply for them by visiting our Training site and looking under group rates and discounts.

 

Question:  Are there any plans to introduce SMART Recovery into any/more correctional facilities?  AA, NA, etc… is the most common and many people are interested in something different

Answer: SMART is working hard to provide outreach to courts and correctional facilities. If you have a contact in one of these areas, we would love it if you can make an introduction so we can follow up with them.

 

Question:  What are the specific definitions of the “types of meetings.”  Where can we find the definitions of each meeting?

Answer:  For SROL meeting descriptions, the descriptions can be found at the top of the Meeting and Event Calendar.

Local meetings, both face-to-face and online, are broken down into group type and group format. Here is the information on each.

Group Type: Public meetings are open to anyone in the community, Private meetings are only for patients/clients, students, inmates, etc. of your facility.

Group Format: Standard meetings are run by a trained facilitator using a standard agenda, Family & Friends are meetings specifically for the loved ones of someone with an addictive behavior, Discussion meetings are run by a trained host of facilitator using a script.

 

Question: When will the Handbook be updated?

Answer: An update to the handbook is being planned, although we do not yet have a date.

 

Question: Will there be an in-person National Conference this year?

Answer: There will be a virtual conference on October 23. Additional details will be shared when plans are finalized.

 

Question: When will we see more Family & Friends videos and resources?

Answer:   We received many questions about this including needing more subjects in the handbook, podcasts for F&F; F&F specific regional coordinators, downloadable resources and so on. What I can tell you is that we have heard you and we are working to address your needs. There is an update to the handbook in progress, though I am not sure when it is going to be completed. We are also planning to create a new SMM for Family & Friends facilitators, we will share the details as soon as they are finalized. Also, our Marketing and Communications team is always looking for content for Family & Friends for things such as podcasts, blogs and videos, that we can share each month. If you are interested in helping out with this, please visit the “share your story” section in VolunteerHQ. In regards to F&F specific RC’s, our current Regional Coordinators are able to provide support to any facilitator, regardless of the type of meeting you run. In states that do not have RC’s you can reach out to me and or the Regional Coordinator co chairs, Kevin Minnick and Alexander Carde, for support as well as attending any of the 3 weekly SMM meetings.

 

Question: Is there a plan for standardizing documents and artwork?

Answer: We received several questions related to multiple versions of both wording and materials on our site. We have in our marketing and communications plan this year to review the content of the site for consistency and clarification in messaging. And hope to have it updated in Q2 or Q3.

 

Question: What is the process for submitting new tools and materials?

Answer: If you have new tools or resources that you think would be helpful to others, please visit VolunteerHQ. Under Volunteer Resources, you will find instructions on how to submit them to the Materials review committee for consideration.

 

Question: Do you have any meeting management tips?

Answer: at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I encourage you to attend one or more of the 3 weekly SMM meetings to discuss these with other facilitators. If the times of the meetings make it impossible for you to attend, your Regional Coordinator or myself can help, please feel free to reach out! Also, don’t forget to check out future VolunteerConnection emails for answers/ideas to some of the common issues that arise.

 

Question: Are we able to continue to run local online Zoom meetings after the pandemic?

Answer: While we are hopeful that many of our meetings will return to f2f, we are happy to tell you that if you wish to continue to offer local meetings through Zoom after the pandemic, you are able to do so. We understand that this is a better fit for participants and facilitators.

 

Question: How do I add a substitute for Local Online Zoom meetings?

Answer: For our local online meetings, an alternate host can be added as long as they have a zoom account through us and are associated with that meeting in our Information system. It is best to plan ahead for an alternate host for your meeting as it can take 1-2 business days to get everything set up. For guidance on how to add an alternate facilitator please visit VolunteerHQ. The information is located under local online meeting resources, under meeting tools.

 

Question: How do I attract more participants to my meetings?

Answer: This is another good question to present during an SMM meeting, but a few ideas that have been shared are to reach out to local treatment centers, courts and media to let them know about your meetings.

 

Question: Is there a planned SROL website upgrade?

Answer: We will begin evaluating options for upgrading our SROL platform over the next few months.

 

Question: Is there any guidance on returning to Face-to-face meetings?

Answer: We have put together a task force specifically for this and will be sharing information as it becomes available.

 

Question: Are there any plans to have general group monitors to ensure a registered meeting is being presented in alignment with the 4-Points?

Answer:  As a part of Meeting and Volunteer Support, we plan for new continuing education training options. We also have been developing a mentorship program that will ensure that volunteers are being supported to help maintain high quality SMART Recovery meetings. Regional and Local Coordinators are available for mentorship right now as well.