Fairfax Summit

David R FisherLDS Charities

Organization Overview

• LDS Charities• Subset of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-

Day Saints• 100% donation financed• 2012 donations = 2014 budget• $50-100 million spent per year worldwide• 36 worldwide employees• Everyone else is a volunteer

Organization Hierarchy• Membership – Est. 75,000 in Virginia • Family – The most important church unit• Wards/Branches (Congregations) – Est. 125 in

Virginia

• Stakes - 19 in Virginia – 6-10 congregations per Stake

• Coordinating Councils – 4 in Virginia

• Area Seventy – 2 for Virginia

• LDS Charities - World Wide

Disaster Support• There is no ongoing disaster effort in typical

church facilities• Each congregation leader has a limited checkbook

to help a few individuals (not organizations)• Each Stake President has limited discretion to

help a few organizations (but not individuals)• When authorized, LDS Charities can make major

resources available in the event of a disaster• My role is to help connect these internal groups

(and connect the church with outside groups)

Continuity Of Operations Plans

• Typical meetinghouse weekly schedule:– 200 people meet Sunday morning– 200 others meet Sunday afternoon– 50 people meet Tuesday evening– 50 others meet Wednesday evening– Sometimes an activity in the Gym– Sometimes the janitor is there

• No secretary to answer phones• No mail delivery at this location• Most of the time the building is totally empty

My Continuity Of Operations Plan

• Barely relates to:• Daily operations• Sunday meetings• Money flow

• Mostly relates to: • Building “Be Prepared” value in individuals• Establishing communications after an event• Establishing an information/decision center• Involving LDS Charities as required• Meeting needs of the community

Continuity of Operations Plans

• First focus is in on the Family• Encourage self sufficiency• Adequate finances, insurance, etc.• Have an emergency plan• Typical 72 hour kit• Promote major food storage (sustain life not

lifestyle)• 3 months of your “normal” food• Up to 9 months of long term storage

Continuity of Operations Plans

• Second focus is on Facilities• Establish an open communications link to

determine the status of member and church facilities

• Communicate status and needs to church leaders and to members

• Evaluate general community situation, needs, etc.

• Gather appropriate leadership and develop an action plan

Disasters Cross Boundaries

• Fairfax has a boundary• Red Cross serves Fairfax (but different boundaries)• Salvation Army (again different boundaries)• Southern Baptists (again different boundaries)• Senior Center, FeedMore, etc.

Boundaries shouldn’t get in the way of filling needs

Pre-established relationships can erase boundaries

Disasters don’t follow a Schedule

• Typical Family Day• Son at school 8-2• Daughter at school 9-3• Son at soccer 4-6• Daughter at girl scouts 7-9• Dad at work 8-6• Dad at PTA 7-9• Mom trying to work and keep up with all this

Disasters should only be allowed at night when everybody is in the same place

Four Recent Experiences

• Mom and kids unhurt, trapped in house by fallen trees

• Straight-line wind event in Lynchburg area• Hurricane Sandy experience in NY & NJ• Floods in Colorado

Trapped in house experience

• Husband on active duty overseas• Storm trapped wife and kids in house in Eastern VA• Veterans group contacted VOAD in Western Va• VOAD person knew me and called (Richmond)• I called VOAD leader in Eastern Va (never met)• Somebody handled the trees that afternoon• I have no idea who did it – the system worked

Lynchburg Area - Wind Event

• 60,000 without power

• Many wells = no power means no water

• Stores out of water – lines waiting for delivery

• Arranged with LDS Charities for two truckloads bottled water

• Problem - our churches have no fork trucks or unloading facilities

• Routed trucks to two local service organizations with existing unloading and distribution systems

Hurricane Sandy

• This video will provide local church leaders with some disaster expectations• Most have no experience with disasters• Most have little idea how to respond to a local disaster• Most have no idea how to respond to remote disasters• About 20% of leaders change each year, so this will

be an ongoing problem• The video should orient leaders by showing

successes, and preparing them to “change hats” if necessar

Colorado Floods

• Most slides provided by Bill Tolbert (Colorado VOAD representative)

The Storm• 9th- 16th September 2013• 15”-20” of Rain in a 3 day period• Caused an Est* $1B in Damage• 14 Counties Impacted (*estimates)

• *19,000 Homes Damaged• *1,500 Homes Destroyed• *30 State Bridges Destroyed• *43,134 Gallons of Oil Spills

• 11,000+ Evacuated (1,750 by ANG)

• 8 FatalitiesCaused by plume tropical moisture over the Rockies (Monsoon); High Pressure over Midwest; Upper Atmosphere Low Pressure over the Great Basin; Movement stalled over Colorado

The Storm “If”…

This is what a 15”-20” Rain would have looked like if the weather had come as November Snow!

What are we going to talk about?

• Building Bridges between the Faith-Based Groups and Community Emergency Management/Responders

• How to be Part of a “Whole Community”

• Language and Structure of Disaster Response

• Preparedness Foundations• Individual/Group Preparedness • Community Preparedness

• How “Bridges” Will Work• Local Disasters• Wide Area Disasters

Ecclesiastical Perspective—Why?

• As Faith Based Leaders We Have a Dual Responsibility to our Members• The “spiritual” welfare of our Members• The “temporal” welfare of our Members (safety, security)

• We need to be “Ready” as a Faith-based group

• Extraordinary Opportunity to Work Together to Help Strengthen our Communities

Like an Inter-Faith Choir…1+1=3

Ecclesiastical Lessons Learned

• Disasters Will Happen at the “Worst of Times”• Are your Congregations Going to be Waiting for

“Higher Authority” to Arrive in a Disaster?• How Big is your Emergency Communications

“Tool Box”?• What/Where are your “Emergency Resources”?• Are you and your Members “Ready” !

Basic Emergency “Rules of 3’s”

• There are 3 ‘Emergency Time Frames’• Preparedness-Response-Recovery• Pre-event, First 72 hrs, Post 72+ hrs

• There are 3 ‘Preparedness Levels’• Individual-Group-Community

• There are 3 ‘Gov’t Responder Levels’• Local-State-Federal• Local & State = Office of Emergency

Management (“OEMs”)

“Whole Community” Philosophy

“We need to move away from the mindset that Federal and State Governments are always in the lead, and build upon the strengths of our local communities and, more importantly, our citizens.

We must treat individuals and communities as key assets rather than liabilities.”

W. Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator

“Whole Community” Philosophy

• Shifting focus to a “Whole Community” Response• Responsibility, Authority, Resources moving to

local levels• DHS/FEMA Learned that “Top Down” Doesn’t Work

• Don’t know the ‘battlefield’ like locals• Can’t respond adequately in the timeframe

needed• Not cost effective in a declining $$$ environment

• All Emergency Response is “Local”• Need to “Work Together”!

Why “Be Ready”• 1st Responders make up about 1% of the

population• System intended for simple, single events• NYC was 9 hours behind in 911 calls…• Less than 20% still on duty after 72hrs

• Public emergency resources are limited• Call centers and phone service will quickly

overload• Shelves will be empty <72 hrs• Tucson AZ experience; 100% trauma resources

absorbed

Local Bridges: 1+1 can equal 3

• To be a “Whole Community” you need to be a• “Known” and “Trusted” Resource to Emergency Managers• Know the Language and Structure of Emergency Response

• You need to have a good Foundation in Place • Prepared Individuals and Families with good Emergency

Plan

• The OEM needs to recognize your Value• Buildings/Sheltering, Tools, Equipment• Ham Radio Nets, Language Skills• Organize/Lead Volunteer Force• Other Critical Resources

It’s a Two Way Bridge• EM’s can provide valuable training to F-B Leaders

“ICS/NIMS”, “Are You Ready”, “Be Ready”, “CERT”, “CAP”

• You can have key relationships in place…before…•To help get you past the “Yellow Tape”•To get Early Warning and Timely Information

• You can Shape your Emergency Role

Colorado LDS Church Initiative

• An LDS story that started 2 yrs ago…• Began with Basic Emergency Preparedness• Expanded to “Building Bridges” with

State/County/Local Emergency Managers• Resulted in the Development of New Faith-Based

Emergency Response and Recovery Plans, Structures, and Tools (“including an Emergency Response Framework”)

• Tested thru 2 Years of Wildfires, Tornadoes, and Severe Storms, including a “Millennial Flood” Event in September

Colorado LDS Church Initiative

• Church Leaders Knew How To:• Recognize the Disaster and Organize their Response• Set up an Emergency Operations Center• Organize , Deploy and Manage Volunteer Teams• Be a Prime Resource to their County OEM’s

Results• Provided over 6,000+ Volunteers/“Helping Hands”• Provided over 45,000+ Volunteer Hours Helping

Others

What’s Next for Your Faith-Based Group?

• Prepare at Multiple Levels!• Motivate your Members to Prepare• Make an Emergency Plan• Structure your Emergency Team• Put an EmCom “Toolbox” in-place• Identify/Organize Resources• Train your Leaders

• NIMS/ICS leader training; Psych 1st Aid• Prepare your Facilities

• ARC “Partner Shelter” Ops Training

What’s Next for Your Faith-Based Group?

• Join Colorado VOAD (www.coloradoVOAD.org)

• (Virginia VOAD)

• Build Bridges with your local OEM!• Ask for a Bridge-Building Meeting with County• Establish Key “Connection Points”• Participate in Local Exercises• Participate in Local Citizens Corps Activities• Be a Local Resource/Wide Area Resource

Questions

• How’s your Continuity Of Operations Plan?• What should it cover?• Have you tested/exercised it?

• Are your leaders ready?• Are your members/volunteers ready?• Are you ready?