Preparing Together - Your neighbors and you

I recently attended a presentation about community emergency preparation and I invited all my neighbors.

Sadly, the person behind Prepare Out Loud has left the Red Cross and started his own company, Tipping Point Resilience:

https://www.tippingpointresilience.com/

That is probably for the best, but I had been waiting for about a year for a Beaverton or Aloha event where I could invite neighbors. Fortunately, NW Oregon Public Health Awareness has come up with their own program, Preparing Together:

https://www.co.washington.or.us/HHS/News/preparing-together.cfm

The logic in this is obvious. Most disasters have the potential to create large-scale health problems through issues with water sanitation or exposure to the elements. Washington County presenter Cynthia Valdivia presented at our local library.

She told us that she is the only person for Washington County, and the only Spanish-speaking presenter for the state of Oregon. There are coverage issues, and so they have helpfully made the presentation and a kit available through the library system. I currently have one checked out:

363.34 PRE Preparing Together [kit]: a discussion guide to help you, your family, neighbors and community prepare for disaster

It is an impressive kit, with the presentation and handouts available on a CD, as well as laminated copies of the presentation, other resources, and prepaid envelopes for sending in the evaluation sheets. It would be very easy - though intimidating - to give a presentation to friends or neighbors.

That could be worthwhile, because none of the neighbors came. That's really what I want to write about, but not like it sounds.

I saw the presentation was coming and thought 'This is my chance', so I made a flyer with the information and printed 13 copies for every house on the block but ours and the one where they are doing Air BnB or something. I knew it was unlikely that everyone would be home, so I took some tape so that I could leave a flyer on the door, and then my mother and I went door to door.

Most of the people we talked to had at least some interest, but were not sure if they could come. That is not surprising at all. Maybe if I do a presentation on the block some would come. Having food might help.

We talked to people at seven houses, but we saw new children and grandchildren and found out about health issues, and talked about water storage options. We have had three visits with neighbors since then. (All of which have involved a little food, actually, so that might be something.)

Building relationships takes time. Establishing trust and comfort needs time. Learning who has which skills and vulnerabilities does not only take time but is helped by that trust.

It would have been an amazing experience to walk into the library community room and find a bunch of familiar faces, but that not happening doesn't make it a waste. If people remember that preparedness is a thing, and that we are part of a community, that is good. If it reminds them that was have a library and it has events, that is a good thing.

And even something as simple as talking to a few neighbors here and there and maintaining contact can also be a very good thing.