Query: Community Disaster Recovery

Sat May 3 20:29:37 CDT 2008

[ed:  thanks to Cheryl for replying to Bill's query.]

From: "Cheryl Honey, Community Weaver" <wecare at familynetwork.org>

Hi Bill,

I'm the pioneer of Community Weaving, a community mobilization model the 
increases social capital and engages citizens in emergency preparedness 
activities. Our technology at www.familynetwork.org enables Good 
Neighbors (a.k.a.volunteers) to pool resources and tap them in times of 
disaster relief efforts.

See paper published on Comm-Org website: 
http://comm-org.wisc.edu/papers2007/honey2.htm

Our non-profit, the Family Support Network, Int'l was founded in 1993 
and the Community Weaving model has revolutionized community organizing. 
It was published in the Change Handbook by Berrett-Koehler. 
www.communityweaving.org last year.  In 2006, the NW Area Foundation 
recognized Community Weaving as a poverty reduction model as people were 
sharing resources to increase quality of life and resiliency. We train 
Community Weavers from local schools, churches, organizations and 
neighborhoods who start-up Family Support Networks using free technology 
at www.familynetwork.org

Over the years, agencies such as the American Red Cross have referred 
families into our transitional housing provided by our trained 
volunteers. We are currently raising funds for Operation Safe Haven, to 
create a network of transitional housing across the country. This is a 
unique approach to mobilizing volunteers to serve, raising their 
awareness about the complexity of disasters on mental health, dealing 
with insurance, retrieving valuables (if possible), and getting support 
needed to get back on their feet. The American Red Cross in Seattle 
referred victims of disasters into the Family Support Network, Int'l for 
transitional housing and found the families became self-sufficient much 
sooner due to the support they received than those who were given 
vouchers and expected to manage through the situation on their own.

I'd like to pursue discussions. The Community Weaving model is both a 
prevention and recovery approach to disasters. Check out the information 
attached. If you'd like more information, I'd be happy to talk with you 
in more detail. Our strategy to create transitional housing for victims 
displaced by disasters is by organizing benefit concerts around the 
country with my partner, Egyptian Cellist, Ashraf Hakim. Flyer attached. 

Warmest regards,
Cheryl Honey, C.P.P.
Family Support Network, Int'l
(206) 240-2241
www.familynetwork.org
www.communityweaving.org

"The more resourceful we are among ourselves, the more valuable a 
resource we become to our families, our communities and our world."

Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
> --------
> This is a COMM-ORG 'colist' message.
> All replies to this message come to COMM-ORG only.
> --------
>  
> [ed: please feel welcomed to copy COMM-ORG with responses to Bill's 
> query. A bit from me below.]
>
> From: "Berkowitz, William" <William_Berkowitz at uml.edu>
>
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> Do you know any good examples of tools, checklists, stories, or 
> resources related to community disaster recovery?
>
> I’m working as part of a national team that is preparing a manual for 
> community groups on how to plan and implement community disaster 
> recovery efforts. (As contrasted with disaster preparedness.) We are 
> using the term “disaster” broadly; but our focus in this case is on the 
> broader social and community actions that need to be taken after a 
> disaster event, as contrasted with meeting immediate human needs or with 
> physical rebuilding.
>
> Our manual draft is nearly complete; but we would like to include some 
> useful illustrative how-to-do-it type materials on how other communities 
> have planned and carried out disaster recovery in practice. If you have 
> any, or know of any, we’d be grateful if you might be able to share them 
> with us and others.
>
> Thanks very much for your help.
>
> ~~ Bill
>
> Bill Berkowitz
> Dept. of Psychology
> University of Massachusetts Lowell
> Lowell, MA 01845
>
> (978) 934-3655
>
> Bill_Berkowitz at uml.edu
>
> **********************
>
> [ed: interestingly, one of the things I have been hearing in the wake of 
> Katrina is about neighborhood-based disaster preparation as the most 
> important pre-requisite to recovery. In contrast to centralized 
> government and Red Cross models, the neighborhood-based model is built 
> on residents' knowledge of their own neighborhood and neighbors. An 
> interesting example is at 
> http://www.nicasio.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=48. 
> The Institute for Community Based Research at Delta State University is 
> also a good source for new thinking on disaster preparation and 
> recovery--http://ntweb.deltastate.edu/vp_academic/jgreen/New_ICBR_WebPages/index_ICBR.htm]
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