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🔎 Area Survey

This article discusses the context, purpose, and tasks associated with completing an Area Survey for a specific town or community. The purpose of an Area Survey is to assess the suitability of a specific region or area for sober living.

 

↖️ Return to 📣 Outreach Function Category of Articles

 

Article Table of Contents

  1. Introduction to Area Surveys
  2. Part 1: Area Suitability | Is this area suitable for guests to live comfortably and independently in a sober living setting?
  3. Part 2: Referral Sources | Will we be able to maintain stable occupancy in the location or a specific home?
  4. Part 3: Established Operators and Homes | What will it look like in relation to other sober living homes in the area?

Related Articles

Additional Resources

  • www.WalkScore.com: Use this free resource to assess the walkability of a specific home or an area.
  • www.NeighborhoodScout.com: The service will provide an analysis of neighborhood demographics, income information, crime statistics, and other helpful data points. VSL has a membership with this service - Chartered Operators can request a free report from VSL instead of having to pay the $30 report fee.

 

Notes generally from 5/20/24:

  • Budget up to 2 hours per area survey, or more depending on number of calls

 

Introduction to Area Surveys

Area Survey purpose: The purpose of an Area Survey is to assess the suitability of a specific region or area for sober living in terms of ability to maintain occupancy and serve guests appropriately.

 

Area Survey Context

Who conducts Area Surveys?

  • Operators: Operators are encouraged to conduct these surveys to better understand their current location or to explore potential new sites.
  • VSL Staff: VSL staff can undertake area surveys to assist in strategic planning and decision-making for expanding or improving the network.

By conducting these surveys, Vanderburgh Sober Living ensures that decisions regarding the location and maintenance of homes are made with a thorough understanding of the local environment, maximizing the potential for success and community integration of each home.

When should I do an Area Survey?

    • Before leasing or purchasing a home
    • For new Operators: New Operators looking to open a home in a new location can utilize these surveys to understand the area's potential and challenges.
    • General analysis: Area surveys can also be conducted independently of a specific need, to maintain a current understanding of various locations for possible expansion.

     

    Analyzing the results of an Area Survey

     

     

     

    Part 1: Area Suitability

    Area suitability: Is this area suitable for guests to live comfortably and independently in a sober living setting? Will a guest want to live here? How will they get around? What will they do?

    In the process of evaluating a potential or existing area for a sober living home, the first critical step is determining the area's suitability. This step involves a comprehensive assessment of various factors that contribute to the viability and effectiveness of a sober living environment in the selected area.

    Assess the suitability of the area in terms of the walkability of the community, crime statistics, public transportation availability and access to basic services like grocery stores and employment. Get well jobs, etc.

    How will guests get around?

    Walk & Transit Score

    Pull Walk Score for the city or town: See the walkability of community (in general, or specifically relating to a particular home). 20-minute walk, bike, and transport score? Walk score does not specify what types of amenities are in the area, just generally if you can walk to local stores, etc.

    Specific address? If you already have an address for a home that you are looking to assess, pull that specific walk score for that address.

    Bus routes: How do people in this community get around? What are the bus routes like? How often to busses run? Is there a local train/other public transport?

    What will guests do?

    1. Local services: How will guests meet their basic needs? Grocery stores? Pharmacies? Other essential services?
      1. Employment: local employers, "get well" job opportunities, etc.
      2. Food: groceries, restaurants (for work and recreation), etc.
      3. Personal Services: Barbers/salons, laundry, entertainment, etc.
    2. Recovery:
      1. Meetings: AA/NA, Smart Recovery, Refuge Recovery, etc. - Peer recovery centers
      2. Treatment: IOPs, counseling/coaching services and centers, etc.
      3. MAT: All clinics - how many, what kind, where are they? Esp. methadone clinics!

      Is there funding and support available?

      Assess the environment of funding and financial support in the local community. However, most typically this information will be the same across a state, but may have specific funding sources available in a county or a city.

      Try to get a "read" on the local community

      1. Get a "read" of the local community: is sober living going to be supported, or are we going to run into some difficulty with the neighbors?
      2. Review Neighborhood Scout report (if we have it): this will allow us to review local crime statistics, real estate appreciation rates, income demographic information, and many other elements. 

      Part 2: Referral Sources

      Referral sources: Will we be able to maintain stable occupancy in the location or home? Who is out there? Who do they already refer to? What do they have to say about us opening a home in the area? Is there enough volume to support a house? Men/women?

      1. What types of referral sources are in the area? Actual recovery-related referrals, or mostly MH? Clinics? Peer recovery centers? Who do we already know?
      2. Demand for sober living?
      3. Familiarity with sober living? Do we have to educate them on what sober living is? (e.g. North Carolina)
      4. Who do they refer to already? (add to competitive stuff below)

      The survey of referral organizations is the second step for our internal outreach responsibilities when we are opening a new home. The first step is to make a written list of calls that you will be making. Prioritize Tier 1 and Tier 2 referral organizations first, before moving on to others. There is no maximum or minimum list size, and the list will get bigger as you make calls and learn about new organizations.

      The first step in the process of building out a network of new referral sources is to find potential referral relationships. This can be done through internet search, warm introductions from other organization, LinkedIn, etc.

      Procedure:

      1. Make a list of people to call, focusing on Tier 1, possibly Tier 2 (see Types of Referral Sources), within a half hour from the area or home (e.g. google, etc.)
      2. If not in HubSpot already, add them to HubSpot (include a button to do this in the Playbook).
      3. Call the referral sources using a playbook (TBD)
      4. Take notes overall in the main playbook about the referral landscape, in general, and how favorable it will be.

      ⚠️ Remember: one good referral source is worth more than a hundred poor ones! Focus on relationships over volume. This applies to both direct referral sources, and influential members of the recovery community who can introduce us to other potential referral sources.

      Step 1: Make a list

      First, where are you looking to conduct outreach? Try to stay within 50 miles of your home.

      The goal at this point is to develop as large of a list as possible, containing all possible referral sources in the area.

      Existing Network

      Speak with local staff or Operators to see who they know. Speaking with people affiliated with us already is the best place to start in making your list of local organizations--if we have any resources in the area.

      For the desired area, review the existing HubSpot records to see where they may be overlap to reach a new home, etc. Search in the District and see who may be close by. This is another good place to start.

      One of the best ways to meet a new resident referral source is from an existing referral partner. Always ask, “who else could I speak with?” when interacting with anyone who may know someone at a clinic, agency, or program who could be a source of referrals for residents. Ask them for an introduction if they are willing to provide you with one. “Joe sent me” is a great starting place when building a new relationship.

      Web Search

      When it doubt, just Google it! Search the internet for local facilities, programs, clinics, centers, agencies, and other referral sources to reach out to. If you can’t get a “warm” introduction (such as a referral from someone else), a “cold” call is better than nothing!

      After you have as much information as you can gain from our existing network and HubSpot, head to Google to get started on the rest of your list. Search for different types of referral organizations in the area. Make sure to conduct a thorough search and try different types of searches in different nearby locations to get as complete of a list as possible.

      Look at each organization’s website to see if they offer different types programs under their agency or organization. Some detox centers are well-advertised, but might not have their long-term rehab facility publicized well. Carefully look through each organization’s website to see what divisions we can get in touch with.

      HubSpot

      Check HubSpot to see if we have anyone in our system close to the location. Search in the District and see who may be close by. This is another good place to start.

      LinkedIn

      After you’ve found what there is on the internet, the next step is to use LinkedIn to see if we have any mutual connections with employees of these agencies and organizations.

      Search for mutual connections. Search for each of the local organizations on LinkedIn. See how many employees are listed, and try to find employees that you you share mutual connections with. A “2nd” connection is someone who knows someone you’re connected to. Call your connection and ask for an introduction to the person you want to talk to. These are called “warm introductions” and are much better than just cold calling.

      Get names to cold call. Find the names of key employees in these organizations. If you don’t have a mutual connection, that’s still fine – just call and ask to speak with the person you want. Their job titles can give you an idea of their relevance. Some important job titles to look for would be:

      1. Outreach coordinators

      2. Recovery directors

      3. Executive directors / agency managers / executives / etc.

      4. Aftercare coordinators

      5. Case managers

      Directories

      Especially when we are opening homes in new areas (but also when we want to ensure we have the best data on treatment centers in existing areas), we want to search for any directories of treatment centers outside of your existing sources, internet search, and LinkedIn.

      1. Check your state's licensure agencies / departments to see if they offer a list of licensed treatment providers or other service providers.

        1. e.g. BSAS in Massachusetts has a list of Peer Recovery Centers, accessible at this link.

      2. Try searching for "licensed addiction treatment in <state>" or similar searches. See if we can find an actual list

      Additional Sources

      Your Guests: Ask your residents or your House Manager for some help. Where did they go to get sober? Do they know someone at the program we could speak with? Ask them for an introduction, or even simply a name and organization. Work your network to see who they know and how you can work with them.

      Other Sober Homes: Reach out to other sober homes and ask if they would be willing to share a referral sources with you. Perhaps a men’s home gets inquiries about women’s beds, and could refer those to your women’s home? Perhaps a nearby home is full and wants to send interested residents to your home – and you could do the same when you are full?

       

      Step 2: Refine the list

      Research

      Focus on building out a list of organizations and people to contact first, before rushing into contacting them. We recommend building a spreadsheet. Your list should include:

      1. Name of the organization

      2. Contact information

      3. What services they offer (to help us figure out what tier they are)

      4. Location of organization

      5. Are they affiliated with other organizations who we should connect with?

        1. If so, add the affiliated agencies to the list

      Prioritize

      The goal is to find the "whales" that will be the primary referral sources.

      1. Check the tier structure for each potential referral source
      2. How close are they to the home?
      3. Do we know anyone there already?

      Plan

      • Plan out if you will call, visit in-person, or both

      • How else can we connect with them?

      • Do we have any shared connections on LinkedIn?

      Prepare for Calls

      After you have your list, feel free to review it with others in our organization to get a second opinion. See if you missed anything and if anyone else has anything to add. If you'd rather just jump in, go for it.

      Prioritize your list, starting with the most relevant organizations first. Factors to consider when prioritizing would include the following:

      1. Tier of the organization (higher tier referrals will be better resources)

      2. Size of the organization (larger organizations can refer more residents)

      3. Proximity of the organization (nearby organizations may refer more residents)

       

      Step 3: Call the Organizations

      If you are calling a specific person, get to know who you are talking to ahead of time by looking them up on LinkedIn or other research. If you are simply cold calling a new agency, that’s fine as well. Always ask to speak with someone who will have the information you need.

      Take comprehensive notes. If you don’t get on the phone with someone who knows what they are doing, ask to speak with a director or other representative. The goal is to get someone helpful and knowledgeable on the phone.

      Near the end of your call, make sure to ask them who else you can speak with, both inside the organization, as well as what other organizations or individuals would be good to speak with. Try to get as many names as possible, and add them to the list of people to call. The goal is to create a robust network for the community – and asking for referrals is one of the best way to do this. Plus, it’s much better to say “Jim sent me to you” as opposed to a cold call to the organization. Referrals are great.

      Make sure you take complete notes based on the conversation. Use the interview guide, and write out anything relevant that you discover.

      • Use the Area Survey excel form

      • Try to cover as many of the recommended questions as you are able

      • Make sure you take as many notes as possible

      • Thank them for their time

      • Ask them who else we can speak with

      Update HubSpot

      Carefully review the notes you took on the call. Make sure you document all information you received from your conversation.

      Once you're comfortable having recorded the results of your conversation, head over to HubSpot and create/update the Company and Contact records.

      Part 3: Established Operators and Homes

      Established Operators and Homes: What will it look like in relation to other sober living homes in the area?

      1. What will it look like operating a home in relation to other sober living homes in the area?

      2. Are other sober homes full?

      3. Are we going to earn referrals from local referral organizations, given the presence (or lack) of other local sober living resources?

      4. What is being charged by others in the community?
       

      How do I do this?

      Mapping out your competition will give you valuable insight into the sober homes already in your geographic area. The source for this type of information is traditionally the internet and yellow pages.

      Competitive Survey

      The next step is to call all of the local sober living homes. They may not be very helpful if they know that a new home is opening in their community, but it is worth trying each of them to see if we can get anywhere.

      • Perhaps introduce yourself as calling from Sober House Directory - which may encourage them to open up a bit more about their home(s), and also to introduce them to the website if they haven't yet seen it.

      Internet

      Use the available search engines, Google and Yahoo and use the following key words:

      1. Sober House, your zip code

      2. Sober Living Home, your zip code

      3. Recovery Home, your zip code

      Directories

      Use the www.soberhousedirectory.com resource in your search for nearby or similar sober houses. Search any database of certified homes. To find the state certifying organization, contact NARR to find their state affiliate.

      Competition

      Competition is likely difficult to evaluate. Most competing sober homes may have limited presence on the internet and may not be forthcoming with information. Pricing and features may be difficult to determine. Ultimately, the location of your home is far less important than the quality of community, House Manager, and overall recovery support environment present in the home.

      Interview for each competitor:

      • Rental rates, intake fees, etc. (fill in above)

      • What aspects of the recovery environment in this region are most used

      • How does the city treat sober houses, any issues?

      • Are you generally full, and if not, how many open beds?

      • Do you have any advice for new sober houses opening in the area?

      • Do you have trouble with house managers? Where could we go to find one?

      Sober House Directory

      When complete, be sure to take as many clear and well-organized notes as possible from your conversation(s). Go to the Sober House Directory to update information. This will help us get a jump start on search engine optimization on the location-based pages

      1. Update the listings for each home you contacted

      2. Update the relevant city pages associated with each of these listings

      3. Add any relevant notes to the "notes" section, which will keep these notes private for our internal purposes only

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