Building a Faithful Network –
Developing Emergency Operations Plan for Houses of Worship
National Association of Church Business Administration
Presenter: Rev. David L. Myers & Marcus Coleman
July 17, 2014
Overview of Today’s Session
 Introduction to the DHS Center for Faith-based &
Neighborhood Partnerships
 Project Overview
 A Word on Personal Preparedness
 Active Shooter: A Preview of What to Do
 Our next three months
 Questions
2
About the DHS Center for Faith-based &
Neighborhood Partnerships
 One of 14 Centers in the federal government serving
as a bridge between government and the faithbased/non-profit community
 Director serves as Senior Advisor to the FEMA
Administrator
What We Do:
Build bridges and promote long lasting relationships
in: emergency management; combating human
trafficking; supporting the DHS Mission
3
About FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaison
Voluntary Agency Liaisons build relationship s among
Federal, State, and tribal government s and voluntary,
faith-based and community organizations by:
• Sharing information
• Helping promote coordination; and
• Providing best-practices and lessons learned
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Partnering with the Whole Community
What We Know…
In America there are more than 250,000 houses of
worship that…
 Are often sought after by disaster survivors as
places of refuge in times of disaster and crisis
 Can be great assets for emergency response and
recovery operations
 Represent diverse theologies, values and beliefs,
but have a common interest to meet the needs of
disaster survivors
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Religious Diversity in the United States
Whom Do Individuals Expect to Rely On?
Emergency
managers should
work with
neighborhood
associations to
provide training and
tools that would
support neighborhelping neighbor.
Source: FEMA (2013.) Preparedness in America:
Research Insights to Increase Individual, Organizations,
and Community Action
Sandy Hook Tragedy - 2012
Above: A banner from students of Newtown,
Connecticut to the students of Moore, Oklahoma still
hangs in Moore City Hall in support of their recovery
continue from an EF-5 tornado in May 2012 (Photo by
Veronica Hinke)
Right: President Obama speaks to Robbie Parker,
father of Emilie Parker (Photo by Emilie Parker Fund)
Project Background
• January 2013 - President Obama launched “Now Is
the Time” initiative to reduce gun violence.
• June 2013 – DHS/FEMA released emergency
operations planning guidance for houses of worship
• July 2013 – DHS/FEMA hosted webinar walking
through the guide
• Present – Working (via contract) with John Hopkins
PACER center to continue technical assistance
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What we’d like to see…
In collaboration with their local government, VOAD and
community partners, houses of worship:


Creating emergency operations plans
Assessing their potential role in an
emergency
This guide will assist congregational teams in developing and revising Emergency Operations
Plans (EOPs).
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The Planning Process
Is flexible and can be adapted to accommodate
a house of worship’s unique characteristics and
situation.
May involves collaboration with community
partners-local emergency management staff, first
responders, nongovernmental partners (e.g.
American Red Cross) and public and mental
health officials-during the planning process.
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Emergency Operations Planning
Emergency Operations Planning
Visual 3.13
What we’ve learned…
Faith-based organizations have responded positively to
the guide and have promoted it extensively
Localities across the country are eager to engage with
the faith community and see the concepts shared in the
guide as a way to start/continue the conversation
While comprehensive the guide is burdensome for
many faith-based leaders
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What the VOAD movement has shared
“Getting the local [House of Worship] to be unafraid of government and
encourage partnership with the government in advance”
“De-escalation” is an important element of the conversation
“Smaller scale issues seem to be more important because it’s what they
[local faith leaders] deal with whereas large scale events just don’t happen
often enough to encourage people to engage”
“Make sure they are getting something out of it. How does it:
a. help them prepare
b. make things easier/more straightforward for them.”
“In areas where there have not been any disasters, people start to focus on
other, more immediately pressing things and lose track of preparedness
activities.”
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A tale of two faith-leaders in Washington, IL…
First Baptist Church Pastor Joshua
Monda who is helping some of his
parishioners with cleanup in areas
impacted by the recent tornadoes.
Bethany Community Church Associate
Pastor Ben Davidson, shows supplies
that have been donated to help local
residents impacted by the recent
tornadoes.
Visual 4.16
Section 2:
A QUICK WORD ON
PERSONAL PREPAREDNESS
Visual 4.17
What is preparedness?
Activity #1:
Personal Preparedness Check
Visual 4.19
Additional Questions for Activity #1
• What is your role and responsibility for your families
emergency plan?
• What are the goals of your families emergency plan?
• What are important documents and valuables to
include in your kit?
• How can these concepts be used in your House of
Worship?
Perceived Barriers to Preparedness (2011)
Preparedness messages and outreach
strategies should be developed to counter
or re-frame these perceived barriers.
Source: FEMA
(2013.)
Preparedness
in America:
Research
Insights to
Increase
Individual,
Organizations,
and
Community
Action
The Campaigns
• State and local preparedness campaigns
 http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/severeweather/seve
rewxcal.shtml
• National Preparedness Community
(Faith-based Community of Practice)
 http://community.fema.gov
• America’s Prepareathon!
 www.ready.gov/prepare
Making Preparedness Conversations Simple
Simple Activities for Everyone
Includes:
 Interactive Web-based Course
 Program Leader Guide
 Facilitator Guide
 Handouts
 Available for download in
both English and Spanish
Access the training and materials at:
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is909.asp
Visual 4.23
(Some) Materials
Spoiler Alert: The Best Materials Are Localized Materials!
Ordering Free Federal Materials
Email: fema-publications-warehouse@fema.gov
Call: 1 (800) BE-READY (1-800-237-3239),
Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Fax: 1 (240) 699-0525
Mail: FEMA Distribution Center, 4440 Buckeystown Pike, Frederick,
MD 21704
Delivery Time
• Allow 4 to 6 weeks for free shipping.
• If you require items earlier, orders can be expedited at your expense
Visual 4.25
(Some) Partners
Best Federal Government Partner:
• FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaison
Example of a Network to Help Provide Support:
• State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
This Room!
Some national partners that have some form of local, state or regional presence:
Section 3
ACTIVE SHOOTER:
A PREVIEW OF WHAT TO DO
Visual 4.27
Revisiting The Planning Process
Is flexible and can be adapted to accommodate
a house of worship’s unique characteristics and
situation.
May involves collaboration with community
partners-local emergency management staff, first
responders, nongovernmental partners (e.g.
American Red Cross) and public and mental
health officials-during the planning process.
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Emergency Operations Planning
Emergency Operations Planning
Visual 3.29
Some considerations…
• You will play how you practice
• “There is no single answer for what to do…”
• “The planning process is not complete until you
plans are share with first responders”
• Plan for the needs of ALL people
• “Law enforcements first priority must be to locate
and stop the person or persons believed to be the
shooter; all other actions are secondary”
Visual 3.30
A Conversation on Goals and Objectives
• In your emergency operations plan goals can be:
• Hazard-based (Fires, Floods, Funnels)
• Functionally based (Evacuation, Lock Down, Shelter
in Place, etc)
Activity #2:
Active Shooter Video
Visual 4.32
Run, Hide, Fight Video
• The YouTube version of the video can be
found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mzI_5aj
4Vs
• You can download the video at:
http://www.readyhoustontx.gov/videos.html
Visual 3.33
Section 4
WHAT’S NEXT & HOW YOU
CAN STAY CONNECTED
Visual 3.34
Over the next 3 months we will be…
• Developing supplemental curriculum and resources
• Delivering 6 technical assistance workshops:
• Philadelphia, PA (August 11th & 12th)
• Kansas City, MO (August 25th)
• Seattle, WA (September 16th)
• Los Angeles, CA (September 18th)
• Houston, TX (September 23rd)
• Washington, DC (September 30th)
• Walking 5 houses of worship through the
emergency operations planning process
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Technical Assistance Workshops
•
•
•
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Primary target audience: Faith-based leaders from small to
mid-size (1 – 2,499) and large (2,500+) houses of worship
Secondary audience: Government employees interested in
engagement of faith-based community
Workshop goals:
• Completion/identification of three steps of emergency
operations planning process
• Connection of local faith-based leaders to local
emergency preparedness community
• Encourage establishing networks of faith-based
organizations with EOP
Additional tools and resources for your church
On-line Courses:
• IS-360: Preparing for Mass Casualty Incidents: A Guide for Schools, Higher Education,
and Houses of Worship
• IS-907 - Active Shooter: What You Can Do
• IS-909: Community Preparedness: Implementing Simple Activities for Everyone
• IS-317: Introduction to Community Emergency Response Teams
Documents:
• Guide for Developing High Quality Emergency Operations Plans for Houses of Worship,
K-12 Schools and Institutions of Higher Learning
Example of a great state tool: Georgia’s Praise & Preparedness tools!
On the Way:
• Templates
• Facility Assessment Guide
• Scenario based discussion resources
• and much more!
Visual 4.37
3 next steps we can take together…
• Share your emergency operations plan
resources/training opportunities
• Get the word out to your networks in the six cities
listed of the opportunity
• Join the conversation @ the Faith-based
Community of Practice on
http//:community.fema.gov
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Let’s Stay in contact!
Marcus Coleman
DHS Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
A Center for the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood
Partnerships
Office: 202-646-3656
Cell: 540-326-6530
www.fema.gov
www.dhs.gov/fbnp
Marcus.Coleman@fema.dhs.gov and Partnerships@fema.dhs.gov
Follow FEMA on Twitter: @FEMA, @Citizen_Corps @PreparAthon
Visual 4.39