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For the last 100 years, United Ways have been involved in responding to natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, more than 300,000 people migrated to Georgia after their homes were destroyed. Neither the State of Georgia nor community organizations were prepared for this crisis situation.
United Way's mission is to mobilize the caring power of the community. Day in and day out, communities depend on United Way's knowledge, coordination and fundraising to improve lives. In times of disaster, those unmatched United Way skills become even more critical. Consequently, United Ways of Georgia Association realized during the last year that we need to help our state plan for emergencies/disasters. To that end, it has hired a Statewide manager for Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery and assembled a distinguished Advisory board (xls).
During the next year, United Ways of Georgia will be defining roles of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and faith-based groups, as well as determining how it can best help local United Ways prepare for the next big disaster. Each United Way in the state is an independently run organization, with varying size, capacity and functions in the community. Therefore, an assessment of needs is imperative to helping United Ways support their communities' preparedness. Georgia United Ways (xls).
Contact us
Margianna Langston
mlangston@unitedwayatlanta.org
404.527.3513
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The Community Impact Business Model will serve as a guideline in defining and implementing United Way's role in Disaster Preparedness and Recovery:
Listen
Pre-disaster
- Know your identity and mission
- Establish 211
Convene community partners
Assess resources
Think
Form Leadership team
Enlist community champion and form task force
Task force and Leadership teams develop Community Impact plan for short and long-term strategies
Community partners and local government collaborate in developing action plan
Determine funding needs to implement plan
Enlist
Initiate campaign to raise funds
Enlist non-financial support
Act
Create community partnerships to provide emergency and long-term recovery assistance
Expand 2.1.1 capacity
Form a network of service providers to update with current information
Inform the media and community
Measure
United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta central clearinghouse to manage process and avoid duplication of services
Convert to the CAN system for case management and tracking
Reports from community partners to track progress and document needs
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