Anyone ever sponser an ALACE or any other doula training?

[IrelandsMama]

Can anyone give me any advice about sponsoring an ALACE or other doula
training? I'm contacting them soon to find out more details but I'm
looking for BTDT type of advice. I live in a small area and I don't
think that I could get many people from here to attend but maybe
people are willing to drive to my location. Any tips?

I'm thinking I should post in my tribe and see if I get any hits. But I'm still trying to find some one who has actually done it.

Savannah

[reikitiki]

Hi savannah,
I just hosted a Dona Birth Doula training in my area. It was a great success! Very rewarding. I will say that it was alot of work on my part to build interest, it was about 6 months of cumulative efforts to spread the word. Much of my time was put into informing people about the required prerequisites and certification process. I posted quite abit on our local MDC thread which I would recommend to you. The trainer sent me a file documenting all my responsibilities as hostess which included providing all the comforts needed during the training, hotel listings for people traveling, and the legwork needed to advertise. The trainer was supposed to do some advertising, I had to send the names and contact infor for local papers and such, but she never did follow through with that... With all that said we had 12 people show with 14 registered. I was able to attend the event as a refresher and I even got to sponsor a free scholarship to someone as I had already completed the training. It was great! GO for it.
~Shelly

[Rockies5]

I'm in the process right now. There are others here that have sponsored ALACE wkshops so hopefully someone will speak up. I've only heard great things.

Yes people travel to you. YOu may be in a small town, but the benefits would be that hotels cost less then they would in a city. YOu may also be surrounded by REALLY small towns

I say contact the office and get some first hand advice. Someone there has done it, and also had #'s of past sponsors you can call. OH also on their website you can see who is the contact person for each current workshop. These would be the sponsors who are currently doing it.

[sacredma]

i sponsored a alace doula training, but it was many years ago. i recently sponsored a cappa lactation educator training.

[JessicaE]

I sponsored a DONA training here last fall.

I agree that it took about 6 months to really spread the word, and "cultivate" interest. I promoted it through other doulas, the natural families group here, the massage therapy center where I work, midwifery offices, the Hispanic-American group, a clinic for low-income moms, the newspaper, childbirth instructors, etc. Give yourself plenty of time to pull it together! There was a lot of hand-holding for those who were interested, e-mails back and forth to help them understand the process and reassure them they really could make it work.

Several of the women who wanted to certify said they couldn't afford it. So I contacted a local non-profit and secured funding for three low-income doulas to attend for free.

It was a lot of work, but so worth it to help build the doula community here. My trainers required a minimum of five women to hold the training, and we had 12 signed up and 11 who showed up.

Our city is relatively small, about 75K people.

Good luck!

[hattelatte]

I train for ALACE, so depending where you are I might come teach!

Your responsibilities will be much like described here.
I LOVE working with sponsors...they usually do such a wonderful job!

Go for it!