Celebrating Everyday Heroism in our Diverse Communities

Emily was recognized as a White House Champion of Change in Community Resilience and Preparedness. 

After nearly a decade with the American Red Cross, I’ve witnessed how communities respond to and recover from disasters of all kinds. I’ve seen ordinary people perform extraordinary acts of heroism and selflessness and realized how much we rely on each other when disaster strikes. Although emergency personnel deploy immediately after a disaster and humanitarian organizations like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army serve the community until the last disaster-related needs are met, our agencies simply cannot be everywhere at once. Every one of us, the ordinary people who live and work together and form the fabric of our communities, has the ability and the responsibility to take care of one another when disaster hits home.

My mission is to prepare as many people as possible with the skills and resources necessary to become those powerful yet humble heroes who can help when a disaster strikes their family, workplace, or community. Recognizing that neighbors are the true “first responders” in any crisis, the Red Cross Gateway to the Golden State Region launched Ready Neighborhoods, a four-year initiative designed to transform 50 targeted neighborhoods into models of disaster readiness. This collaborative effort is led by local individuals and organizations within each community and is facilitated by the Red Cross and sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Ready Neighborhoods programming empowers local residents and organizations with the skills and tools they need now—before disaster strikes—to effectively respond when the time comes. Resources are focused on low-income, immigrant, and underserved communities that are most adversely affected by disasters and face the hardest road to recovery. The programming utilizes the Red Cross Community Resilience Strategy, a framework that involves all sectors of the community to build relationships and trust and leverages local assets to promote preparedness and resilience in a culturally appropriate way.

The youth are also vital and will conduct neighborhood assessments using the “Map your Block” tool supported by our partners at San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, Neighborhood Emergency Response Team, and SF SAFE. At Save-a-Life Saturday, youth volunteers also teach lifesaving skills to hundreds of community residents.

Since the launch of Ready Neighborhoods, the Red Cross has trained nearly 50,000 individuals in 16 neighborhoods through a team of volunteers teaching in Cantonese, English, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. More than 500 residents are now prepared to open and operate community shelters. Together with our partners we are increasing the resilience of our communities, and everyday people—our neighbors, friends, colleagues, and families—are honing their own preparedness superpowers to become the next everyday heroes.

Emily White is the Regional Director of Preparedness for the American Red Cross Gateway to the Golden State Region headquartered in San Francisco. 

CERT and Community Caring

Colleen was recognized as a White House Champion of Change in Community Resilience and Preparedness. 

My name is Colleen Adler and I am honored to be a White House Champion of Change. It is an important recognition that I share with West Pierce Fire & Rescue and all the CERT members that make our program a success.

I am the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for West Pierce Fire & Rescue (WPFR) in Washington State.  The West Pierce Fire & Rescue CERT program was established in 2008 after the Fire Chief asked if I would be willing to take on this project.   At the time, I was working in the 911 center and was excited at the prospect of engaging with citizens prior to an emergency rather than in the midst of one.  The program aimed to develop a cadre of skilled community members who would be an asset to the fire district during emergency situations. 

I was fortunate to have a few months to investigate other CERT programs and research best practices for engaging citizens.  Since I was building our program from scratch I was able to decide which criteria were most important for a successful program.  My primary goal was to collaborate with citizens so everyone would view themselves as a stakeholder in the program.  In order to achieve this it was important each person felt they were respected and had a role to play in CERT.  The best way to show respect is to know the names of the participants and recognize their individual skill set andsince our program has grown to over 400 trained CERT members, this has been a challenge, but one I continue to strive to achieve.

Our program continues to grow due to the support of the fire district and the trained CERT members.  A key reason for success is the fire-based instructors who are engaging and respectful.  Honoring the efforts of citizens who have busy lives, our instructors shared information with them in a conversational method rather than provide data in a strictly instructional method.  The CERT members who complete training are charged with spreading the word as ambassadors of the program.  Standout members who have enthusiasm and time are encouraged to become CERT Team Leaders and Advisors, continuing the policy of citizen ownership.  We have also been fortunate to have an AmeriCorps volunteer each year since 2009.  These volunteers provide essential outreach to our diverse population and are critical to the success of the program.

With the help of CERT Citizen Advisors, the WPFR CERT team developed a  platform to not only recruit and train members, but also to create a program that will engage and empower the whole community by bringing together a diverse population with a similar goal: caring for each other and their community in a time of need.  As a result of providing ownership of the program to the members, we have been able to reach a variety of people.   Among West Pierce CERT members there are: members of the military and military veterans, people with disabilities, unemployed individuals, people who speak English as a second language, city hall employees, social workers, city council members, church clergy, nurses, college students, teachers, retired first responders, insurance agents, business owners, truck drivers, marine biologists, bakers, and the list goes on.  These members create a network comprised of individuals representing partnerships with organizations, businesses, and the public all over Lakewood and University Place.

Colleen Adler is the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for West Pierce Fire & Rescue in Washington State.  

North Dakota State University Disaster Phone Apps

Becky was recognized as a White House Champion of Change in Community Resilience and Preparedness. 

The North Dakota State University Extension Service provides research-based education to help people improve their lives and communities. Programs focus on agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, 4-H youth development and community vitality. Disaster preparedness and recovery work is included in all of those subject matter areas.

In 2011, when smartphones first became popular and North Dakota was dealing with another flood, the NDSU Ag Communication staff brainstormed ways to use smartphones to educate people and support disaster preparedness and recovery.

That same day, an article in the local newspaper featured a startup company that had developed a phone app to inform local people about river levels and flood news. Myriad Devices, at the time, was a small startup in the NDSU Research and Technology Park incubator, formed when undergraduate students believed in the idea that mobile networks were the future. Myriad and NDSU Ag Communication immediately connected and have worked together on two disaster education phone apps so far.

The Winter Survival Kit app will help you find your current location, call 911, notify friends and family, calculate how long you can run your vehicle’s engine to keep warm, and learn how to stay safe from carbon monoxide poisoning if you are stranded.  The Winter Survival Kit will alert you every 30 minutes to remind you to turn off the engine periodically and check your exhaust pipe for snow buildup. These alerts are critical in helping avoid deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. The Winter Survival Kit also provides NDSU Extension Service information on how to put together a physical winter survival kit and prepare your vehicle for winter driving, and how to stay safe when stranded in a winter storm.

The Disaster Recovery Log app helps you record and recover from damage caused by flooding or other disasters by capturing photos to illustrate the flood damage. You can key in descriptions of damaged items or use the smartphone’s voice recorder to record a description of the damage. These details and photos can be exported for possible insurance and/or government reimbursement.

The Disaster Recovery Log also provides NDSU Extension Service information on how to clean or deal with flood-damaged appliances and electronics; carpets and floors; clothing and fabrics; food; furniture; gardens and landscapes; home structures; household items; mold; papers, books and photos; and water.

The two apps have more than 70,000 downloads. They are free – Winter Survival Kit for Android and iOS, and Disaster Recovery Log for Androids – and were funded with USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Smith-Lever Special Needs grants.

Since the 2011 release of these two disaster education apps, they have been promoted through social media, the Extension Disaster Education Network, other disaster agencies and organizations, and in many other ways. In the two years, Myriad Devices has grown exponentially and is recognized as a mobile technology leader, creating smartphone tools for businesses nationwide.

Becky Koch is the Agriculture Communication Director at North Dakota State University.