2012 Individual and Community Preparedness Awards Announcement

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is pleased to announce the multi-state recipients of the 2012 Individual and Community Preparedness Awards. These Awards recognize the innovative practices and achievements of individuals, Citizen Corps Councils, and non-profit, faith-based, and private sector organizations working throughout the nation to make our communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to manage any disaster or emergency event.

FEMA received applications from 38 States, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, representing program activities taking place during the period of January 1, 2011 and June 1, 2012. Each application reflected a wide array of activities, partnerships, and achievements, and demonstrated how much can be accomplished when the potential of Whole Community is harnessed. Other winners participated in emergency community planning and established creative methods to address the needs of their communities.

All winners will be invited, as FEMA’s honored guests, to a community roundtable event in Washington, D.C.

FEMA congratulates the following awardees:

Outstanding State Citizen Corps Council Initiatives

Texas Citizen Corps (TX)

A leader in all aspects of community and citizen preparedness, Texas has 36 registered County Citizen Corps Councils, 15 Local Citizen Corps Councils and 104 registered Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs). The Texas State Citizen Corps program also fostered partnerships with numerous state agencies, including the State Administrative Agency and the Department of State Health Services, as well as non-governmental organizations. Strong partnerships and a Memorandum of Understanding with the Texas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) proved especially successful when trained CERT volunteers were integrated in the response for the Bastrop Complex Fire and North Texas tornadoes. Texas also has one of the most active and dynamic CERT programs in the country, and provides training to tribal governments, Spanish-speaking communities, and individuals with access and functional needs.

Outstanding Local Citizen Corps Council Initiatives

New York City Citizen Corps Council (NY)

The New York City Citizen Corps Council (NYC CCC) has successfully established strong working relationships with nonprofit and community organizations and furthered its role in preparing the whole community for any disaster or emergency event. For example, through its work with the Immigrant Task Force, NYC CCC has successfully brought together nearly 130 leaders from nonprofit and other organizations to focus on ways to reach the immigrant population with preparedness and protective action messaging. Additionally, the Council helped to facilitate the collaboration of community leaders from New York’s diverse communities to discuss the role volunteers can play in enhancing cross-cultural communication before, during, and after a disaster.

Outstanding Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Initiatives

CERT Program and Volunteers, City of Newport Beach (CA)

The City of Newport Beach has 156 neighborhoods and more than 1000 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers, giving Newport Beach the highest per-capita CERT volunteer-to-resident ratio in all of California. These volunteers develop disaster preparedness and response programs for their communities, and provide training to their neighbors to educate Newport Beach’s more than 88,000 residents about natural and manmade hazards.

Outstanding Achievement in Youth Preparedness

Chinatown Community Development Center (CA)

San Francisco’s Chinatown is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the country, and Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels are the dominant form of housing for more than 500 low-income, immigrant families. The occupants of these SROs, many of whom are seniors who speak only Chinese, are among the hardest to reach and most at-risk populations in the city. In order to help these residents to be better prepared for disasters, Chinatown’s Community Development Center (CDC) developed a Youth for Single-Room Occupancy (YSRO) Program. In this program, youth are trained and certified in emergency response and disaster preparedness, lead fire prevention and earthquake preparedness outreach efforts, and provide training to senior SRO residents. Participants in the YSRO program have also published a safety handbook, developed a slide presentation, and created bilingual educational materials currently used in outreach to seniors and at-risk populations.

Preparing the Whole Community

American Red Cross Gateway to the Golden State (CA)

The American Red Cross Gateway to the Golden State Region Chapter mobilizes volunteers and leverages community partnerships to increase the resilience of low-income, immigrant, and underserved neighborhoods. Through six pilot Ready Neighborhood programs in local communities they have trained more than 16,000 individuals in lifesaving skills, including disaster preparedness, CPR, and basic first aid. In addition, they have developed a cadre of over 200 bilingual volunteers who work to prepare individuals whose first language is Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Tongan. They have also established a variety of networks through partnerships with more than 200 government agencies, community organizations, schools, and businesses, all working together to increase the preparedness and resilience of their communities.

Promising Partnerships

Partners in Preparedness (NY)

The New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) launched its Partners in Preparedness program in Times Square during the 2011 National Preparedness Month kick-off event. This new initiative was designed to help organizations better prepare their employees, volunteers, services, and facilities for a wide variety of disasters. The program frequently hosts webinars for its partners to share information and discuss the City’s response plans. The New York City OEM recognizes that informed partners are better able to make decisions in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters. Currently 243 organizations, representing more than 500,000 employees and volunteers, are engaged in the Partners for Preparedness program.

Awareness to Action

American Red Cross of the Poconos (PA)

Following Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011, a community-based evaluation revealed the need to better prepare youth for disasters and emergency events. This information, coupled with the realization that many children are home alone for long periods of time due to parents and guardians working, encouraged the American Red Cross of the Poconos to take action and create the Kids Home Alone Emergency Preparedness Program. The American Red Cross of the Poconos was able to reach more than 500 fifth graders through the program’s eight interactive workshop stations, which feature hands-on activities, videos, and games. These stations teach 10-11 year olds how to stay safe in various disaster situations and the importance of putting together a family disaster plan and emergency kit. Post-evaluation for the workshops showed 90 percent of the students would recommend this program to other students and indicated the information was useful to them.

Innovative Use of Technology

North Dakota State University Agriculture Communication (ND)

In 2011, North Dakota State University led the development of two Smartphone apps to address the needs of the North Dakotans affected by disasters:

The Disaster Recovery Log app, free to Android smart phone users, was designed to help individuals recover from damage caused by flooding and other disasters. Utilizing the smartphone’s camera and voice recorder features to document disaster damage, users are able to download and share information with disaster relief agencies, insurance representatives, and other organizations.

The Winter Survival Kit smartphone app helps individuals stranded during a winter storm find their current location, dial 911, notify friends and family of their situation/location, and calculate how long they can run their engine to keep warm while staying safe from carbon monoxide poisoning. It is available for free for both Android and iPhone smart phone users.

Volunteer Integration

West Pierce County Fire and Rescue CERT Program (WA)

The West Pierce County Fire and Rescue CERT Program boasts 369 members who serve a population of more than 90,000 citizens. The program integrates members of the whole community, bringing together diverse populations including members of the military, first responders, teachers, clergy, social workers, those who speak English as a second language, business owners, and even marine biologists to learn more about their local risks and to prepare one another and their neighborhoods for any disaster or emergency event. 159 new members have been recruited since 2011, allowing volunteers to reach deeper into the community with preparedness topics such as earthquake readiness, emergency shelter and evacuation readiness, and even medical triage.

Community Preparedness Heroes

Michael Parker (CA)

When Captain Michael J. Parker assumed command of the Headquarters Bureau for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, he set out to improve his department’s communication with the community. He identified several partners to help improve and focus the Department’s messaging, and introduced the department to new platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

In 2012 the Los Angeles County area was being terrorized by a serial arsonist. In response Joint Information System named “Arson Watch LA” was established that used agency websites, Facebook, Twitter, Nixle, and YouTube. Within 36 hours, Arson Watch LA had over 1000 fans on Facebook and 1500 followers on Twitter, with an extended reach of 29,000 people. On Sunday, January 1, 2012, Arson Watch LA released security footage of the suspect to all social network sites and agency websites. By 10 p.m., tips began to pour into the tip line regarding information pertaining to the video. By 3 a.m. the suspect was captured in West Hollywood.

Mohamed Ali (WA)

During a severe windstorm in 2011 the Department of Public Health saw a spike in the number of deaths related to carbon monoxide poisoning. When the forecast in King County called for another significant winter storm event, Mohamed Ali made calls to members of the Somali Health Board and religious and community leaders, stressing the need to talk to community members about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. Local leaders crafted a voicemail message in Somali and English that was robo-dialed to thousands of Somali’s and East Africans in King County. They included carbon monoxide poisoning prevention messaging and winter travel warnings. Mohamed’s phone number was included in the message so if anyone had questions they could call him. The following morning, Mohamed was awakened to phone call after phone call and was responded to multiple requests for assistance.

Mohamed’s actions helped save lives: there were no fatalities attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning, and a 90 percent reduction in carbon monoxide hospital admissions was reported after the storm.

Scott Ellis (NJ)

After being forced to give up his dream job as a firefighter when he was paralyzed in an accident, Scott Ellis continued to dedicate his life to helping others. As the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator at the Progressive Center for Independent Living in Hamilton, NJ, Scott has trained hundreds of individuals with access and functional needs on how to prepare for emergencies, conducted adaptive equipment demonstrations and access and functional needs awareness/sensitivity training for first responders, and served as a leader in his local CERT program and provided CERT training to individuals with access and functional needs

Second Annual Recipient of the John D. Solomon Preparedness Award

Be Ready Alliance Coordinating for Emergencies (BRACE)

The John D. Solomon Preparedness Award is named for the late creator of the groundbreaking blog, In Case of Emergency, Read Blog: A Citizen’s Eye View Of Public Preparedness. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate once stated that John, “Set the standard for what it means to be part of our nation’s emergency management team.”

This year, the Second Annual John D. Solomon Preparedness Award is presented to the Be Ready Alliance Coordinating for Emergencies (BRACE) for their outstanding engagement efforts and their singular ability to collaborate and work as a team with a broad scope of organizations in disaster preparedness and response. Their efforts exemplify the commitment to teamwork and broad scope that hallmarked John’s work. BRACE coordinates with nearly 500 different organizations, engaging in efforts that reach the business community, children and youth, underserved populations, faith-based organizations, first responders, and individuals with access and functional needs, and more. However, BRACE’s commitment to teamwork extends beyond their vision of making their community “the most disaster resilient in America.” BRACE responds to requests from across the country from communities seeking to replicate the programs and services provided by BRACE, and regularly shares their insight and experiences with other jurisdictions through correspondence and presentations. BRACE also strives to innovate and improve on emergency preparedness efforts, engaging in a lessons learned process in which BRACE and its partners identified shortfalls following Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis, and Katrina, and took steps to address those shortfalls.

Honorable Mentions