|
|
|
|
|
Changing Lives |
 |
|
Compassion Spotlight
|
 |
The Need
Natural disasters can have devastating effects on the communities in which they occur, ranging from small-scale property damage to catastrophic destruction and loss of life.
Loss of private property, public and private services such as education and health care, and the infrastructure of roads, water, and other public utilities also cause long-term trauma.
Effective disaster preparation, response, and recovery requires early and comprehensive planning that prepares a cross-section of public, private, and nonprofit players to come together in a massive, immediate effort.
The Response
Disaster preparation, response, and recovery is most effective when involving a collaboration of every sector—Federal, State and local government, corporations, foundations and faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs). FBCOs are often uniquely able to engage in response to disasters in ways that complement the role of Federal, State and local government agencies. When disaster strikes, the volunteers, local infrastructure, and other resources that FBCOs marshal can be vital. As response transitions to long-term recovery, the volunteer and community organizing, fundraising, and other operations can play a crucial role in community revitalization.
The Faith-Based and Community Initiatives’ newest Center is located within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to ensure that FBCOs are recognized and utilized as indispensable allies in disaster preparedness, response and recovery. The Center supports and complements a range of Federal efforts designed to advance this goal.
The National Response Framework
The National Response Framework (NRF), the Nation’s guide for domestic disaster response, is a collaboration of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, USA Freedom Corps, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and other public- and private-sector players. The NRF has been revised to more effectively utilize and coordinate with FBCOs and their skilled volunteers. Following the NRF lead, States are increasingly incorporating faith-based and community organizations as key allies in their own disaster preparation, response, and recovery efforts.
Citizen Corps
President Bush created Citizen Corps in 2002 to facilitate locally-led collaboration between government, businesses, FBCOs and other key actors to help communities build multi-sector response to any disaster. Since the launch of the initiative, nearly $150 million has been distributed to States and territories to build community preparedness. Citizen Corps currently operates 2,343 local Councils, which serve nearly 224 million people, or 78% of the total U.S. population. There are also 55 State/Territory Citizen Corps Councils.
The Corporation for National and Community Service
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) helps mobilize national service members and community volunteers to prepare for and respond to disasters. Since Hurricane Katrina, over 93,000 participants in CNCS programs have given more than 3.5 million hours of service, managed 262,000 volunteers, and provided more than $130 million to volunteer-centered response and recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast region.
Since Hurricane Katrina, CNCS has expanded its strategic focus to include disaster preparedness and response as one of its five high priority issue areas. Recognizing that volunteers are critical to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, CNCS trained State CNCS commission directors to more fully integrate volunteers and nonprofit organizations into State and local disaster preparedness efforts.
USA Freedom Corps Volunteer Network
The USA Freedom Corps Volunteer Network, the Nation’s largest clearinghouse of service opportunities, connects volunteers with FBCOs to serve in disaster response. From the six months prior to Hurricane Katrina to the six months immediately after, the number of volunteer searches performed on the website increased 3,066 per day, from over 100,000 to more than 550,000.
In the two years following Hurricane Katrina, more than 1.1 million Americans have volunteered in the Gulf Coast to aid response and recovery efforts, providing more than 14 million hours of service in what has been the largest volunteer response to a disaster in the Nation’s history.
CNCS reports that 600,000 Americans volunteered to help rebuild the Gulf in the second year following Hurricane Katrina, even more than the historic number of more than 550,000 in the year after the hurricane struck.
Other Federal Efforts
A number of other Federal programs, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, which supplies food to disaster relief organizations for mass distribution, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME Investment Partnerships, which helps rebuild disaster-torn areas, engage FBCOs to help rebuild neighborhoods and restore lives in areas affected by disaster. To aid with international disasters, the Federal Government partners with FBCOs through the U.S. Agency for International Development to help impact disaster-torn areas.
