Emergency Preparedness Series Equips Local Organizations
Participants in the Emergency Preparedness Series met over Zoom during Spring 2022.
On the eve of another wildfire season, 17 rural community organizations from around Lane County are now more prepared to respond to potential disasters, thanks to a recent four-part training for rural organizations. Hosted by United Way of Lane County and sponsored by the Ford Family Foundation, the virtual trainings ran from April to June, equipping vital community organizations from Florence to Cottage Grove with tools to act as conveners in their areas during emergencies and natural disasters. Topics included developing an Emergency Operations Plan, coordinating with other community organizations, supporting staff during an emergency, and planning to assist vulnerable or marginalized communities.
“Disasters are becoming more prevalent in our area and across the nation and around the world. We continue to see events that are exacerbating our abilities to support our communities from a government level… We have to be able to build out and build up volunteers and donations, build a private sector partnership, and have leads to build those relationships and have them in place prior to our worst day.”
Participants were able to attend the training at no cost, thanks to sponsorship by The Ford Family Foundation. Many of the organizations involved in the series are all-volunteer or operating with small budgets, and most do not have a dedicated budget for preparedness work, making The Ford Family Foundation’s sponsorship instrumental to sharing the series with as many organizations as possible.
The series was led by Ana-Marie Jones, a regional consultant who specializes in organizational readiness for small and grassroots community groups. Jones’ investment in emergency preparedness in Lane County began in 2009, when she hosted a training with local organizations that went on to form the Lane COAD (Community Organizations Active in Disaster). The COAD is still active, with over 30 member organizations, and has been instrumental in organizing emergency response in the wake of events such as the Holiday Farm Fire in 2020 and the winter storms in Oakridge in 2019.
The series is part of United Way’s ongoing effort to bring partners together and build community resilience in times of crisis, which all support United Way’s vision of children succeeding in school and life.
Community organizations came together to meet the needs of displaced communities during 2020’s Holiday Farm Fire.
“It takes multiple organizations to really have a meaningful and impactful response [during an emergency], especially given the varying needs that folks have in those circumstances.”
“I enjoyed the chance to hear from other organizations and how they serve their communities. I also enjoyed the activities presented by Ana-Marie and can envision doing similar activities with our volunteers when we get together to work on our emergency plan.”
Participants included 90by30 - East Lane, Cascadia Coastal Coalition, Coburg Main Street, Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce, Creswell Chamber of Commerce, DevNW, Elmira Grange, First Baptist Church of Oakridge, Florence Area Community Coalition, Florence Food Share, Glide Revitalization Project, Junction City Local Aid, KXCR Community Radio Partners, Living Water Family Fellowship, McKenzie Community Communications, Saint Vincent de Paul, and South Lane Mental Health.
“This course changed how I viewed preparedness. I believe that I am more prepared than the average person is, but I discovered I was not as prepared as I had thought. There is always more to learn on any subject… We had already decided to hold preparedness trainings for the teenagers in our community, and this has changed how I will approach and teach these classes.”
Following the success of the series, United Way of Lane County hopes to offer the series again in the future.