What are the steps to develop a grassroots organizing plan for a community affected by natural disasters?

Our organization developed a program for hard-to-reach communities that need multifaceted education, and one of the steps we used was: Create community spokespersons. The individuals who educate the community should speak their language, look like them, and understand who the community leaders are. One of the worst things an organization can do is enter a community without "a pass." This pass gives you approved access on the community's terms.

In my experience as a first responder in the military, I had to participate and manage multiple types of crisis's. A great tool we used is a call tree. This is an extremely cost free tactic which bodes perfectly in tune with a SMART goals approach. The use of the call tree is for the Executives contacting their direct reports, and those direct reports do the same thing all the way down to the ground level employees. Anyone that does not respond acknowledging receipt themselves and of each of their direct reports, there would be continuous attempts to contact them even by going to their homes for a wellness check. This has saved many lives before and would be good practice in any organization

Identifying community leaders & opinion makers is important to gathering data to name issues & goals. Their agreement with data analysis is critical for successfully engaging & carrying out remediation & future progress.

You need to do a needs assessment to know what exactly is important to the people. Then implement with realistic goals and objectives. Involve them in decision making

I agree that the first step is to identify the issues and goals as when we can identify the needs ( issues) then the goals will be clear. A needs assessment is at the foundation of any good planning process. If one is not aware of the needs of the community after a disaster then we are only assuming what we believe that they need and the goals we need to reach. It becomes problematic when we try to build/rebuild without the involvement of the people that are affected. We need to ensure that with the assessment/identifying the issues we are hearing from the people that will be living in the environment so that we can hear how and what they believe would be best for them. This is a power with approach and not a power over.

People and money are valuable resources. However, simply gathering them into one room is not enough to drive change. To make the room effective, I employ a wholistic strategic approach I immerse myself in the situation, empathize with those affected, and listen to their needs. This helps me develop a comprehensive 'profile of needs', enabling me to prioritize and respond and advocate effectively. I intuitively assess the landscape of people resources and develop a values profile of them. I discern value matches that address the 'profile of needs', open communication as an advocate and I invite others to join. This enables me to leverage their resources, skills, knowledge, contacts, and influence only possible when values match needs.

Another key stakeholder to involve early is heath care institutions, including hospitals, community health centers, and public health facilities. Not only do these institutions play a key role in responding to a natural disaster, they also may face a number of risks from the disaster itself. For example, if a facility has outdated infrastructure that fails during a flooding or high wind event. But also if immediately following a disaster critical support and health professional staff, and patients can't physically reach the facility.

Grassroots disaster relief is best begun long before a disaster happens. Every day, every block party, every neighborhood clean-up day, every community event is an opportunity to build hyper-local solidarity networks. In your community-building work, ensure that you create mutually beneficial relationships with people different from the typical cast of characters in your life. Effective mutual-aid networks cross boundaries of living circumstances, economic privilege, profession, education, and gender, as well as politics, race, and religion.

In my experience having a community network of formal organizations and other responding agents established before the disaster happens is vital to any community.

I believe that the most affected locals should work together towards a common goal by joining forces to obtain the resources necessary to achieve their plan.

Effective strategies can helps create road map for last mile impact and guide new talents to see the big picture they are heading to. In the change making one need to identify the potential risks and hurdles and develop mitigation strategies. Every grassroots organisation aspires to scale their best practices and increase their outreach must have a strategic plan. Developing strategic plans requires much deliberations for clear goal settings, potential resource mapping, capacity mappings and identify potential collaborative.

Crafting a grassroots plan pivots on developing a strategic roadmap. This blueprint outlines objectives, activities, tactics, timeline, budget, and roles within your network. A well-defined strategy streamlines resources, coordinates actions, and gauges progress. Key considerations include short and long-term objectives, tactics like education or advocacy, a clear timeline, resource needs, and effective communication and collaboration. It's about creating a plan that not only envisions success but also provides the actionable steps to turn that vision into reality.

A written plan for recovery is ideal. No one should have to start from scratch and expect success. Even the most stoic of individuals will find it difficult to brainstorm or process things complexly during disaster recovery. The strategy should be able to follow a plan without having to think very hard. The remaining thinking power needs to be saved for the unexpected issues that will always show up because no plan is perfect.

The strategy should be aligned with the goals and objectives that are directly linked with key stakeholders and the factors that affect the execution of the strategy. It should be simple to apply and see impact right away. The strategy must not be complicated and create more challenges for all stakeholders to put efforts in achieving the goals. When cascading the strategy, each component should take the capacity of each stakeholders ability to understand it and cascade it down to the network one is assigned to lead or facilitate.

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Now, let's breathe life into your grassroots plan by stepping into action. It's at this juncture that real change happens in your community. Actions can take myriad forms—organizing events, campaigns, rallies, or even boycotts. Crafting and sharing materials, educating the public or decision-makers, and offering crucial services like food or counseling are powerful ways to make an impact. Effectiveness lies in following your strategy, embracing flexibility, creativity, and inclusivity, and being transparent and accountable to your network and community. It's time to turn plans into impactful change, one action at a time.

Part of trauma-informed care and disaster recovery is reinforcing everyone's autonomy and creating connections. As you work through the plan to provide health, safety, basic needs and comfort be sure to ask permission or offer without expectations. Not everyone will feel safe with the plan presented to them. If services are declined, ask what the person needs to be able to recover.

Everything comes down to the actions we help the affected area to take. All actions need to be time bounded and there should be ongoing assessment how these actions are being executed and the output they have. There should be ongoing support that needs to be provided to individuals and groups who are tasked to do these actions. Capacity building is critical on this stage.

Once you have identified opportunities for improvement, work with local emergency planners and responders to develop training and exercises to address those areas. The best way to effectively use your scarce resources is to collaborate with partners and identify shared objectives and areas of improvement that may be jointly achieved by collaborating with training and exercise plans.

Now, as your grassroots efforts unfold, it's crucial to assess the impact. Evaluation becomes the compass guiding the refinement of your plan. Measure outcomes, learn from successes and setbacks, and understand the tangible difference made in your community. Collect data and anecdotes from your network, compare them to your objectives, and reflect on what worked and what didn't. Engage in discussions to unearth valuable insights, ponder on lessons learned, and collaboratively shape future plans. It's the art of continuous improvement, ensuring your grassroots organizing remains responsive and impactful.

A centralized place should be used to receive people's requests for help. We can immediately identify if our plan does not meet certain needs. As acute recovery moves toward long-term stability planning, community organizers can request input from the community using the centralized information-sharing system. Individuals with disabilities and with ethnic or racial minority status in a community are the most affected by disasters. If we prioritize the needs of these individuals everyone else will benefit as well.

1) Build a big round table and invite all involved agencies to have a seat at that table. 2) Ask everyone to leave their egos at the door.

Use the CBDRM approah Hazard and risk mapping . Participatory Vulnerability Assessments. The community Action plans for Small scale mitigation works . These should incorporate a gender perspective that includes the primary gender needs ( PGN )and(SGN) Strategic gender needs of women children the elderly and PWDs

In accord with community development principles established by Saul Alinsky (1971) and in keeping with my experience in La Paz, Bolivia and in rural Missouri, ask those affected to critique the planners’ plan and adjust the plan accordingly.

Sustaining the strategies that have proven effective. Encouraging the continuance of risk prevention ideas and lessons learned in anticipation of future disaster. One bitten thrice prepared is a useful slogan and strategy affected communities must adopt.

6-steps for organizing comunity relief post-disasters 1. Identify community leaders and influencers. 2. Discuss the relief plan with them, gather input, and work on solutions. 3. Prioritize tasks based on needs. 4. Establish clear guidelines for responsibilities and deadlines. 5. Gather grassroots members, create small groups, and appoint leaders. 6. Regularly meet to evaluate progress, address challenges, and fill gaps.