Research (Step 1) (Read all directions before beginning research.)

Make a list of ten service organizations, institutions, and agencies in your community. Discover as much information about them as possible by searching the Internet, local newspapers, and the telephone book. If necessary, make telephone calls to individual agencies to ask questions and gather additional information. Include the following information about them on your list:

What is the name of the organization?
What is its mission statement?
Is it nonprofit or for-profit?
Does the organization have volunteers?
Is it a government agency? If so, is it federally, state, or independently operated?
Name its target population(s).
What services does it offer?
Would you ever consider working for the organization (include why/why not)?
At the bottom of each section on your list, make notes on any other information that you think is interesting about each organization.

Application (Step 2)
(Read all directions before starting application.)

Once you have completed your research, think about what kind of human services organization you would want be a part of starting. Think about how you would adhere to the four fundamentals of human services philosophy. Then complete the following checklist:

Name your organization.
Develop your mission statement.
A mission statement is the purpose of your organization summarized in a short paragraph.
Use the mission statements from your research as a guide to develop your organization's mission statement.
This should be no longer than three to five sentences.
Will you start a nonprofit or for-profit organization?
Will you employ human services workers, utilize volunteers, or both?
What is your target population?
What services are you going to provide?