Case Studies

Recognizing the need to create the capacity from within the community , the City of Berkeley and 100 Resilient Cities Platform Partner hosted Resiliency Advisor’s Leading and Managing Community Volunteers in Disaster workshop.

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The workshop was delivered by Lisa Orloff, President of Resiliency Advisors. During this best practices workshop to manage and marshal spontaneous volunteerism, participants engaged in sharing lessons learned, assessing future risks, resourcing mapping, as well as applying proven disaster management concepts to manage spontaneous volunteers. Post session the group was provided an after action report of which outlined next steps including a strong focus on Reception Center training. 

During the 2013 flood, even before the rain had stopped falling, thousands of volunteers were out helping neighbors, friends, and strangers protect their homes and clean up debris. This outpouring of assistance reflected the best of our community’s spirit and was a vital unplanned resource during the flood recovery. 

However, without the coordination to direct, equip, and support these activities, volunteers can place themselves in danger and unintentionally hamper or overwhelm formal responses. Recognizing the need to create the capacity to welcome this energetic community support, the City of Boulder, the newly-formed Boulder County Volunteers Active in Disaster (VOAD), and 100 Resilient Cities Platform Partner hosted Resiliency Advisor’s Leading and Managing Community Volunteers in Disaster workshop.

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The workshop was delivered by Lisa Orloff, President of Resiliency Advisors. During this best practices workshop to manage and marshal spontaneous volunteerism, participants engaged in sharing lessons learned, assessing future risks, resourcing mapping, as well as applying proven disaster management concepts to manage spontaneous volunteers. Post session the group was provided an after action report of which outlined next steps including a strong focus on  Reception Center training. 

In support of the Superstorm Sandy response, RA’s team stood up and managed three volunteer reception centers in the most devastated communities. By implementing the same process provided to its clients, RA simultaneously engaged local groups and citizens in Far Rockaway, Staten Island, and Brooklyn providing training, supplies and coordination that resulted in -0- injury rate, managing an average of 300 volunteers a day at the height of the response. The total estimated value is $3.5 million in free muck-out/mold remediation services in vulnerable, low-income neighborhoods. Since Sandy,RA trained 22,950 volunteers to contribute to community recovery and coordinated the muck-out/mold suppression in 1,400 of the neediest homes.

In response to the Nepal earthquake of 2015 RA’s team was asked and provided support to the Sri Lanka Ministry of Health in standing up a Volunteer Reception Center and training its staff in management in order to process over 1000 medical volunteers applying to be a part of the Ministry’s response team.

 

RA’s team worked with the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management to develop a spontaneous volunteer management plan for their Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) to implement. Ove the course of a year the program was customized and the CERT were trained to implement the plan. When Hurricane Irene struck the plan was initiated and CERT successfully integrated community volunteers into its response to muck and gut impacted homes.

 

In response to the Haitian earthquake RA’s deployment team worked with communities from Port au Prince to Les Anglais supporting local leaders and organizations to stand up community service centers including donations distribution centers, field medical clinics and mobile support to orphanages.