The challenge is to use our powers of creativity to maximize their potential now and in the years ahead, as our needs change and as technology transforms the ways in which we connect with our environment and the people in it. At each center, these common activities can require substantial amounts of staff time in terms of preparation, execution and follow-up. In this way, the 20 consultations conducted each month on the average by a center, then, can represent 4 hours X 20 individuals or 80 hours of work per month. To this amount of regularly occurring work during the month, similar preparation, execution, and follow-up time also must be added for hosting 4 workshops which will have over 30 participants, and serving the needs of over 50 other kinds of visitors. In some centers the work is being done by a largely volunteer force.
Every center relies to some degree on volunteer support to provide quality services.
The types of programs and services offered at any Alliance center are determined locally by each center's governing board and are based upon available local resources and needs. Consequently, there are a wide variety of programs to be found and shared among the Alliance network. The menu of services table shows the range of services and the percentage of ATA centers offering each one. Both the ATA office and centers focus a great deal of energy on distributing information. The combined mailing lists of ATA centers exceeds 80,000.