Preparing to respond to disasters

Summer elicits thoughts of family vacations, baseball games, campfires and swimming pools. But we also know that every year communities are struck by natural disasters, and they spend the summer months excavating and rebuilding their homes and businesses.

Already this year, numerous communities across the country have suffered the effects of severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding. While we hope residents stayed safe and communities successfully recover, we should also feel compelled to ask ourselves - are we ready for another disaster? Have we done enough to prepare?

Certainly no one can fully prepare for the unimaginable, but for the last seven years the Linn County community has actively sought out opportunities to build our capacity to respond to disasters. At the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, we are proud to have participated in many of these efforts and we believe that all residents, businesses and organizations should play an active role in building greater disaster resiliency.

While disaster response is a core function of government, true community resilience requires coordinated response across networks - public, private and philanthropic. For us, preparing for a catastrophic event includes working with community foundations from around the Midwest to explore optimal philanthropic responses following crisis situations. Through our participation in the Philanthropic Preparedness, Resiliency, and Emergency Partnership (PPREP), a learning group sponsored by The Funder's Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, we are examining best practices, improving our action plans should a disaster occur, and leveraging funding to support other community preparedness efforts.

The Community Foundation is also an active participant in the Linn Area Partners Active in Disaster, a coalition that emerged from the 2008 flood. The first generation of LAP-AID existed to coordinate the recovery of those in our community with the greatest need. Today, LAP-AID continues to serve as a convener of area human service providers and community organizations to minimize the impact of disasters and to organize response when the next disaster does occur.

Cedar Rapids is one of four pilot communities across the country for the Resilient America Roundtable. This project of the National Academy of Sciences seeks to develop replicable strategies that help communities build resilience to extreme events. Roundtable participation is open to the public and provides opportunities for leaders from all sectors to engage in thoughtful dialogue about risk reduction and enhanced resilience.

While we are proud of the efforts that Linn County has taken to build greater resiliency to natural disasters, we know the work is not done. We look forward to partnering with more of you in the future as we continue to establish the networks and relationships to ensure we are as prepared as possible when the next disaster strikes.

' Karla Twedt-Ball is Senior Vice President at the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation where she leads the program initiatives. Comments: karla.twedt-ball@gcrcf.org