Support Our Programs
VIRTUALTRAX
VIRTUALTRAX
Partnering w/ Youth Organizations / Clubhouses, Schools & Institutions
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Road Recovery’s action-driven VirtualTrax Program was created to meet the needs of our amazing youth and young adults who have found themselves stuck in isolation and cut off from their support networks. VirtualTrax combines key program elements, goals and benefits from Road Recovery’s long-running Trax Program.
During this Covid-19 pandemic when our youth are at higher risk of alcohol/substance abuse and risky behavior, Road Recovery developed mitigating strategies by partnering with World Wide Technology to build a customized Cisco Webex platform with end-to-end encrypted security for virtual webcasting suites. Through this crisis, Road Recovery has been able to ‘stay connected’ each week with youth through multiple virtual peer support ‘check-in’ meetings and creative workshops that provide educational and enriching teaching moments for youth that engage VirtualTrax Programs.
Road Recovery’s staff and youth collaborate in a positive way through the process of creating, planning, and producing a series of short video clips, and by achieving specific weekly creative goals, everyone involved is proud to share their creative work and voices across social media platforms that are amplified through the circularity of promotion from the online platforms of Road Recovery and partnering agencies, schools and/or institutions.
“Thanks, Road Recovery. Your VirtualTrax Program made it possible for the United Federation of Teachers to end this challenging school year with our ‘Let’s Talk About It’ Virtual Field Trip. The on-line event taught children coping techniques for this crisis. Together we reached more than 1,100 middle and high school students from 150 schools across New York City. We hope to work with Road Recovery and our partners at the NYC Department of Education on more of these ground-breaking events.” – Michael Mulgrew, President, UFT
VirtualTrax is tailored to meet the needs and goals set by each hosting organization and is built upon a working partnership between each organization’s staff and Road Recovery’s entertainment industry professionals who share their life experiences, knowledge, and resources with youth and young adults.
For instituting Virtual Trax Programs, Road Recovery is now able to partner with public and private/charter schools, residential treatment institutions, community-based organizations and Youth Clubhouses working with at-risk youth and young adults. Road Recovery provides multi-week, seasonal cycles of VirtualTrax to reach set goals and objectives. In order to meet the needs and goals set by each partnering organization or institution, Road Recovery works closely with their staff who provide multi-level adult support and supervision.
What Road Recovery has learned is to meet young people where they are at. For some young people, coming together in a virtual space is fun, but for others, working in small online groups, one-on-one, or individually offline with staff they know and trust creates a safe environment for participation.
“The three experience questions with the most positive responses from the 23 participants surveyed were, “VirtualTrax allows me to be creative,” “VirtualTrax accepts me as I am,” and “VirtualTrax makes me feel supported by others.” 96% of respondents answered either Agree or Strongly Agree to each of these questions. When asked to name three things that the VirtualTrax Program and Road Recovery had done to help them, written responses echoed the same themes of creativity, acceptance, and support. All respondents had answers that spoke to one or both themes. For example, some reported that the program helped them to “come out of their comfort zone,” “create more,” and “learn how to use creativity for healing purposes.” Other respondents indicated acceptance and support by saying that participating in VirtualTrax made them feel “seen,” “listened to,” “encouraged,” and “supported though the pandemic.” – Eric Shircliff, Ph.D, Research Scientist at Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene (RFMH) with Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS)
“Good Job Road Recovery!”
– Bill Murray, Actor