Engaging Faith Based Community Whole Community Conference

Engaging Faith Based CommunityWhole Community Conference

David L. Maack, CEM, CPM, WCEMRacine County Office of Emergency Management

Racine County, WI

792 square miles; 333 square miles land & 459 square miles water

Population 195,408 2 cities, 6 towns, 9 villages 12 fire departments (3-FT,

9-Volunteer) Home of SC Johnson-A

Family Company

Racine County Emergency Management

1.3 Person Office Five Volunteer Deputy

Coordinators Typical activities include

planning, training, public outreach, exercises/drills and response

Nationally recognized program-2011 FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness award

The First Emergency Manager

"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and Prepares for them; thesimpleton goes blindly on andsuffers the consequences."- Proverbs 22:3

Two typical questions from churches

How will it impact me? (Y2K/Pandemic Flu)

How can we help? (Hurricane Katrina/Haiti Earthquake)

Prayer House Assembly of God

January 7, 2008-Two tornadoes hit Kenosha County, WI

Prayer House AG hit by EF-1 tornado

Church, built in 2003, was partially destroyed-exterior walls to youth room, storage area and portion of the sanctuary

Structural and moisture damage Worked out of a mobile office

trailer and relocated services for 10 months

Added sprinkler system in rebuild

Three main plans

Emergency Response Plan

Church Recovery Plan

Church Outreach Plan

Emergency Response Plan

Identify hazards that may impact the church/congregation. These could include severe weather, medical emergencies, fire, intruders/disruptive people, and bomb threats

Develop and train a crisis response teamPut together a crisis response kitPractice plan

Church Recovery Plan

Plan should include:

ensuring that the organization/church has enough insurance coverage,

identifying an alternate location,

backing up important documents and computer files and storing them off-site

How faith based groups can help?

Create a plan to help the community to include:-Spiritual Support-Felt needs food, water, shelter

Work with local authorities-Two Common Problems:-Emergent Volunteers-Donated Goods

How faith based groups can help?

Provide special child care services Encourage survivors. Your prayers and

personal caring are important. Form survivor support groups. Support appropriate chaplaincy at the scene,

the morgue, and with rescue workers. Offer temporary shelter (in homes and church

buildings), food and personal care items.

How faith based groups can help?

Assist survivors in salvaging personal property.

Organize volunteer work groups to help survivors clean up debris—and later to assist in repair and rebuilding.

Offer housing and food for out of town recovery volunteers

Direct survivors to recovery resources—American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, the FEMA, and other care giving agencies.

How faith based groups can help?

Encourage members and people in the community to apply for the assistance. Help them through the application process, completing forms for them, and advocating on their behalf with other care giving agencies that provide assistance.

Contribute money and material goods, if requested. Communicate and cooperate with other disaster

organizations. Encourage local religious leaders to explore the need

for a cooperative disaster recovery program to address long term disaster-caused unmet needs.

Yorkville United Methodist Church

$4500 grant to upgrade well Disaster relief site, a base for

distributing goods and services, to actually housing residents during long-term power outages or loss of property.

Needed an on-site water supply. An existing generator will supply power to the building and to the well in the event of major power outages.

Yorkville UMC is a member of Tri-County VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster).

Strengths

Taking small steps-educating faith based community (Awareness)

Building partnerships (public/private sector) maximizes resources, lightens the load, generates fresh ideas and helps reach both a targeted & broader audience

Faith based community-volunteer minded, ties with mission, community focused, resources and skills

Opportunities

Churches are mission minded-adept at raising money, developing volunteers

Churches are trusted and in many ethnic communities, serve as a one stop shop for community resources

Able to reach a large group at one time

Source for volunteers

Challenges

Diverse group, no “one-stop shop” to reach the faith-based community.

Many churches already have a mission, and it does not include emergency preparedness

Active churches have multiple programs and activities that compete for time and attention.

Lack of urgency/sense of complacency-Lower priority

Need for a private sector cheerleader

Where do we go….

ForwardGo from awareness to actionContinue reaching out, holding seminars

and building partnershipsStill need a private sector cheerleaderCould use turn key outreach and

educational materials geared towards faith based community

For more information:

David L. Maack, CEM, CPMRacine County Emergency [email protected]

www.racineco.com/emergencymanagement