When you’re running a sober living home, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing your residents move out and move into the world with newfound confidence in their recovery.
That’s the goal, right?
Healthy, happy alumni.
We’ve spoken before on this blog about how to set your alumni up for that successful launch. We’ve also talked about the reasons why successful alumni are a huge resource when it comes to building your sober living business.
Today, we’ll talk about our five favorite ways you can engage with your alumni. You can use one or all of these tactics to build strong alumni relationships that you can leverage when you’re working to solidify your sober living homes’ place in your local recovery community.
Ask Sober Living Alumni for Reviews and Testimonials
This is a big growth opportunity that so many business owners-- including sober living home operators — miss on a daily basis.
Are you explicitly asking your alumni for reviews?
If the answer is no, ask yourself why.
Reviews are a powerful form of persuasion that marketers refer to as “social proof.” Social proof helps build trust in your brand and helps potential residents imagine themselves living and thriving at your sober living home.
You can target a specific website for reviews - like Yelp or Google Maps - or you can simply collect reviews to post on your own website. Remember to consider alumni privacy and HIPAA concerns when you’re collecting testimonials. If residents choose to place reviews on a third-party website themselves, they are free to use whatever identifying information they choose. If you post reviews on your own organization’s website, specify that you will not include any identifying information or ask the alumni what level of identification they are comfortable with you posting on the site. In some cases, alumni may be comfortable being identified by their first name only. If you decide to provide identifying information, be sure to speak with your legal representative to ensure you are abiding by all laws designed to protect private health information.
Organize Yearly Reunions for Your Sober Living Alumni
You’re doing yearly reunions or gatherings for alumni, right?
Many sober living homes organize family BBQs or other summer-oriented events for alumni. These are great opportunities for former residents to gather together and check-in about life after sober living. These yearly events help build a sense of community among alumnus and makes them feel like they are still a valued part of your organization.
This sense of belonging and community among alumni is important when it comes time to make referrals or recommendations to other potential residents. After all, if your alumni remain active in the recovery community, it is likely that they are regularly encountering and building relationships with folks who could use your services. A warm referral from an alumni is a powerful invitation to apply at your sober living home.
Do Good Together With Your Alumni
If BBQs aren’t your style, you can also consider organizing a service event for your alumni.
There are no limits to what you can do with your alumni, but reaching out to local community groups that you have existing relationships with is a great place to start.
Charity work - like volunteering at a homeless shelter or doing a neighborhood cleanup event - is a good fit for this type of alumni event. Cultural events - like submitting a #soberpride float at your local LGBTQ+ Pride Parade - is another great option to engage alumni in something fun and meaningful for the community while building strong alumni networks.
Give Your Sober Living Alumni a Call
At Sober Living App, we recommend sober living home operators attempt to place check-in calls to alumni at least once a year, preferably once every three months for the first year following move-out.
You can use these calls to obtain outcomes data, of course - and Sober Living App can help with that task - but you can also use these calls to screen former residents for relapse and relapse risk factors. These calls are a great time to offer additional services or referrals, if needed.
If your sober living home manager is stretched too thin to place these calls, consider asking current residents to place these calls as an act of service. Giving back to the recovery community can be a very powerful way to find meaning and purpose in recovery.
Give Your Sober Living Alumni a Job
Some of the best sober living home managers are former sober living home residents, themselves.
It goes without saying that lived experience in addiction and recovery can provide powerful insight into the disease.
When you’re looking to hire any work out at your sober living home, why not consider tapping into your alumni network to get the job done? The same goes when you’re landscaping the yard, buying new appliances or servicing the vehicles. Always ask yourself how you can support your alumni so that they can support you.
If You’re Looking for More Ways to Engage Your Sober Living Home Alumni, We Can Help
Sober Living App is all about making life easier for the sober living home community — that includes sober living home alumni.
Our all-in-one app helps you tackle every part of the alumni experience - from discharge planning, to recovery navigation, to outcome tracking and relapse prevention. Our robust alumni portal keeps your alumni on-track with easy access to all of the tools and resources they need to succeed in recovery. Should your alumni need additional help after move-out, we make it easy to readmit them to your program.
Even better? You (and your alumni!) can access everything 24/7 from your phone.
Claim your free trial today and see why more sober living homes prefer the Sober Living App.