Building Bridges Between EMs and Faith Based Communities

Bill Tolbert, LDS Church VOAD Representative

Why is it Important? • “Whole Community Doctrine”

• Resilient Communities Do Better

• And It Works!

An LDS “Case Study” During the 2013 Millennial CO Floods, the LDS Church (Representing 3% of CO Population): • Provided 8,000+ Volunteers, who did 50,000+ hours of flood response— Effectively 17% of total Volunteer Hours • Basis for $1.1 Million in CO “matching funds” for Federal Grants • Provided $100,000+ in emergency supplies for other VOAD orgs, + plus tens of thousands $ more in private donations

LDS “Case Study” Volunteers Variety of Critical Volunteer Roles: • Mucking Out Flooded Homes and Businesses • Set up/Staffed “Disaster Asst. Centers” (DACs) • Helped Staff “Shelters” & Provided ARC a Church Building for “Sheltering” • Helped Staff Regional “Donation Centers” • Helped Counties Manage “Debris Removal” • Held Food Drives to Re-stock local “Pantries” • Helped Organize/Train Local Volunteer Groups • Supported Long Term Recovery Groups (LTRGs)

Why Did All That Happen? (Not an accident…took time/work)

Program to Expand LDS Church role in Preparing for, Responding to, and Recovering from a Major Disaster • Describe how the LDS Church moved from “Be Prepared”, to being a “Whole Community” Responder • Describe “Bridges” Build with State & Local EMs • Describe how LDS Charities worked with COVOAD/Others • Describe the “Lessons Learned” from Floods & Fires • Share the Tools/Guidelines that were Developed over 3yrs

Historically…. For years the LDS Church focus was on “Provident Living” and related “Emergency Preparedness” 1. There was a lot of information on Food/Water Storage, Employment Planning, Financial Planning 2. Little Information on Emergency Response and Recovery Available… i.

A few references for Leaders, 4-clicks into LDS.org

ii.

A few sentences in the Church Handbooks

3. Simple focus with few tools; mainly for Members

What Changed? Major Large Scale Disasters in North America and World Wide • • • • •

Earthquakes Tornadoes Wildfires Floods Hurricanes/Tsunami’s

Major “Gaps” Recognized • Lack of Common Understanding of Language & Structure of Emergency Management • Missing Relationships, Org Structures, Plans

Lessons Learned • More Training needed for Leaders on the language/structure of Gov’t “Emergency Management” • “Bridges”/relationships needed to be built with local Gov’t and other community groups • Planning needed to be more Robust and Plans needed to be Tested • More Tools and Guidance needed by Leaders • EMs Sensitive to “Spontaneous Responses”

Public-Private Partnerships • EM/Church Partnerships Begun in Sept 2011 • Goal: Become a “Whole Community” Partner with EM • 11 County/”Lead Stake” Partnerships started • Turned LDS Focus to Emergency Response and Recovery

• Key Needs/Resources Better Defined

• Ecclesiastical Leaders Needed “NIMS/ICS Training” • Select Stakes held ARC Shelter Partner Training • Surge of Organized Volunteers, EmCom Nets, Languages

• Began Gleaning Lessons from next 3 years of Disasters • Developing Key Tools for Church Leaders • Establishing New Communications Platforms (“MSEP”)

Primary Products of Process • Key Bridges/Relationships between LDS and EM’s • Primary Resource Developed = An “Emergency Response Framework” • 1” Binder with 19 Tabs and 40 Guides and Tools • Distributed to all Church units (Stakes) across North America

• Web site developed to provide the Framework in “Cloud” • LDS “Provident Living” website + “Best Practices” Q&A Platform

• Created a state-wide CO Emergency Preparedness & Response “Coordinating Council” • LDS Participation in Local Area Disaster Exercises

Emergency Response Framework Index

As of January 2015

Conclusions 1. Community Resilience CAN be Increased!!! • But it takes time, effort, patience

2. FB Groups need to learn the Structure and Language of Emergency Management • A two-way street…

3. Building PPP relationships/bridges is a “contact sport”; relationships needs to be refreshed • This is the “building trust” part of the process

Conclusions 1. FB “Organizational Preparedness” as Important as “Individual Preparedness” for Effective “Response” 2. FB Groups need basic Guidelines/Tools/Training for Church Leaders—in place before an Emergency! • Available in Paper Form and in the “Cloud”

3. Platforms for Sharing “Best Practices” are Valuable 4. How well these Bridges are Built, Directly Impacts: • How Fast and Effectively Surge Resources can be Applied • How Well EM’s Can Sleep at Night in the Middle of a Storm!

Also Helps Prepare Next Generation to Serve Others

[email protected], 720-937-3232