Building a Prepared Community

Dear Friend,

Would you be willing to participate in an exploratory discussion about what it takes to build a better prepared community?

We all know that in an emergency, the real “first responders” are going to be the people right there next to us – our neighbors or our co-workers. The more they know, the better everyone’s chances of making it through!

In our experience, though, success in building a prepared community is the exception, rather than the rule. In fact, we’d estimate that only 1 in 10 communities succeed. Most fail not because of lack of effort, but because they’re missing key organization and communications skills.

(FEMA’s 2021 National Household Preparedness Survey supports our estimate when it reports that only 16% of individuals say they have been involved at the community level!)

Over the past 20 years Joe and I have had some success building a more prepared community. And we’ve talked to many other people working to get their neighbors or businesses involved in preparedness.

We believe we’ve identified some of what it takes. We want to share what we’ve learned and hear from you what YOU have learned!

Let’s start with a virtual meeting!

It could be the first of many, but let’s test it first, with these guidelines:

• Goal: Exchange ideas about how to build a more prepared community.
• Aimed at: People leading preparedness groups, or wanting to build a group around the topic.
• Format: 45 minutes of stories and discussion (To make sure we hear from everyone in the room, we’re looking for no more than 15 participants.)
• Date and time: Friday, November 19, 2021, 9 am (Pacific), 12 pm (Eastern)

Interested in joining us? Just let me know. I’ll send you the zoom link along with some advance questions to help us get started quickly.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team