Building Disaster Resilient Organizations in the Non-Government (NGO) Sector

Abstract

In 2006 Fritz Institute initiated the development and implemention of a process to create “disaster resilience” in faith and community based organizations that provide services to vulnerable populations in California. The process included undertaking background research on the attributes of disaster resilient organizations; development of intervention strategies to promote organizational resilience, developing a definition of “soft” and “hard” resilience applicable to the non-government sector; and the development and implementation of A Disaster Resilience Standard for Community- and Faith-Based Service Providers. This process necessitated the creation of a constituency for a standard, convening of peer networks to support organizational change, and the formulation of a strategy to sustain application of the standard.

Disaster Preparedness in Homeless Residential Organizations in Los Angeles County: Identifying Needs, Assessing Gaps

“…CBOs, which function as trusted agents-familiar and reliedupon sources of care and information-and outreach vehicles for homeless populations during disasters (Edgington 2009;Eisner 2010;Ritchie et al 2010), are likely to find themselves facing growing demand for their services and skill-sets in serving their client populations. Given the risks and needs that homeless individuals are likely to face during disasters, CBOs providing shelter and other forms of services to homeless individuals will be critical in providing physical and psychological care and ensuring their survival (Brown et al 2012;Eisner 2010;Joshi 2010;Ritchie et al 2010). Homeless-service providers will need to be able to reopen, restore operations, and meet increased service demands as quickly as possible after a disaster.…”

“…Second, homeless-serving CBOs are likely to be asked to play multiple roles during disasters, including providing outreach and shelter to unsheltered homeless populations, a safe shelter for their existing residents, and a disaster shelter for displaced newly homeless individuals. Demand for CBO services increased dramatically during such large-scale disasters as Hurricane Katrina and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, as those they served daily faced greater needs and were joined by the newly needy (California Volunteers 2012;Eisner 2010;Kleiner et al 2010;Pipa 2006;Toriello et al 2007). Domestic-violence shelters experienced a spike in demand during the postdisaster phase of floods in Canada and North Dakota (Enarson 1999).…”

“…What does a prepared organization mean? Recent studies have defined and operationalized organizational disaster preparedness differently (Austin 2012;Chikoto et al 2013;Eisner 2010;Sutton and Tierney 2006). Studies of organizational preparedness generally include the following elements in definitions: hazard awareness, developing disaster plans, external response agreements, preparing clients and staff through training in evacuation and response, mitigating building hazards, ensuring business continuity and recovery, and obtaining emergency supplies (Austin 2012;Chikoto et al 2013;Sutton and Tierney 2006).…”

Adapting to Climate Change

“…Other efforts to strengthen CBOs focus on creating a disaster resilience "standard" for community and faith based service providers (Eisner 2010). This effort, supported by the Fritz Institute, included training in resilience and understanding of the post disaster challenges these organisations would face.…”

Roadblocks to Housing after Disaster: Homeless Veterans’ Experiences after Hurricane Sandy

“…People experiencing homelessness are also vulnerable to the threats posed by a disaster because they depend on a structure of safety-net social services that may itself be compromised or at risk of shutting down entirely during a disaster. Homeless service providers are often inadequately prepared for disasters and lack continuity of operations plans to enable them to quickly respond after a disruption (Eisner 2010;Gin et al 2016Gin et al , 2018Vickery 2018). Homeless individuals depend on this fragile safety net for both everyday needs and to facilitate their efforts to find housing and exit homelessness; hence, any disruption in homeless services can potentially jeopardize many homeless individuals' trajectory out of homelessness.…”