Emergency Management

As a leader in your organization, you are a trusted voice in your community - you can play a key leadership role in informing the public on how to get prepared. Here are some key ways for you to get started:

Be Informed: Know the potential disasters that may impact your community.
Make a Donation: Donate through a trusted organization and please donate cash.
Take Action: Join the thousands of organizations who will prepare throughout September in honor of National Preparedness Month.

There is no better time to prepare for a disaster than right now! Take a few minutes to get your family and community prepared for an emergency by getting informed.

In his proclamation designating September as National Preparedness Month, President Barack Obama stated, “In April of this year, a devastating series of tornadoes challenged our resilience and tested our resolve. In the weeks that followed, people from all walks of life throughout the Midwest and the South joined together to help affected towns recover and rebuild…Disability community leaders worked side-by-side with emergency managers to ensure that survivors with disabilities were fully included in relief and recovery efforts. These stories…underscore that in America, no problem is too hard and no challenge is too great.”

Disability.gov’s Emergency Preparedness section has many tools and resources that can help people with disabilities and others prepare for, and recover from, emergency situations and disasters.

Here are a few examples of the resources you’ll find on Disability.gov

• Tips for people who have pets or service animals

• Information about emergency kits and supplies

• Preparing for emergencies at work and school

• Accessible shelters and emergency housing

• Help recovering from a disaster

You can also find help in your state by visiting Disability.gov’s Information by State section and going to the Emergency Preparedness section for your state. Disability.Blog also has information about the importance of including everyone in emergency management planning, preparing for emergencies in the workplace and taking into account service animals when planning for emergencies.

Stay safe, be prepared, and check out these other resources for more information

• Ready.gov (Listo América)

• Are You Prepared? Video Contest

• FEMA’s Office of Disability Integration and Coordination

• DisabilityPreparedness.gov

• National Preparedness Month Coalition

• DisasterAssistance.gov

• Emergency Preparedness and You

• Citizen Corps

• American Red Cross

Disaster Relief Efforts in Haiti

Portlight Strategies and Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC) have collaborated in effort to ship donated items to Haiti.

Items needed are tangibles such as food, bottled water, tools, outdoor gear, blankets, crutches, walkers, orthotic braces and supplies, wheelchairs, most any medical supplies including bandages, wound care, medical gloves, etc., and any other durable medical equipment. The address for the FODAC warehouse is:

Portlight Strategies, Inc.
4900 Lewis Road
Stone Mountain GA 30083

Anyone interested in going to Haiti to help staff one or more shelters for Haitians with disabilities please email paul@portlight.org.

Here are some helpful links to keep you posted on the situation:

September is National Preparedness Month

Disaster Relief Efforts in Haiti