title: How to access files in a project's virtual env that are not installed in the virtual env
body: <p>I have a flask app with the following structure (using a shared virtual environment):</p>
  
  <pre><code>|-Directory
  |----venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/example-package
  |----------module.py
  |----app
  |----------static
  |----------templates
  |----------models.py
  |--------------...
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I need to access some classes in my app/models.py module within the virtual environment directory, for example as per the above, I need to do the following in
  venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/example-package/module.py</p>
  
  <pre><code>from models import TestClass
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>However, I keep getting a 'ImportError: No module named models' error, even when I try setting the path to the models.py module.</p>
  
  <p>I've tried:</p>
  
  <pre><code>path = 'absolute path to models'
  import os
  os.chdir(path)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>(I also get an error here about 'config not found)</p>
  
  <p>and,</p>
  
  <pre><code>import sys
  sys.path.append('absolute path to models')
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>with similar results</p>
  
  <p>The app works fine otherwise, but I need to import the respective module.</p>