08/14/2015

Make disaster planning a priority for your congregation and be ready for National Preparedness Month

The following letter is from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regarding National Preparedness Month (September). If your congregation does not have a disaster plan in place, please see the resources link below to begin your planning. We pray you'll never need it, but if you do, may you be a light to your community.

Greetings,

Recent and tragic events have heightened our awareness that houses of worship are not immune from disasters and emergencies. Faith leaders representing many traditions are concerned for the safety of their congregants as they gather to observe their traditions. We are also concerned.

In addition to partnering with your local first responders and emergency managers, please feel welcome to use the resources on our web page. The information, there, provides specific and actionable steps you can take today. These resources can help you prepare your house of worship for disasters and emergencies, and implement practices that will mitigate their damage. This includes an active shooter event. There is, of course, no way to guarantee complete safety. But there are ways to decrease risks and increase safety.

This new web page complements ongoing efforts to encourage partnership between faith leaders and local first responders via the “Guide for Developing High Quality Emergency Operations Plans for Houses of Worship”. Available since 2013, this guide is designed to be scalable for use by small to large-sized houses of worship in order to help navigate the planning process for emergencies. The guide is also available at the same web page, fema.gov/protecting-houses-worship.

I encourage you to take advantage of these resources. If you do not find what you are looking for, or if you have questions about the information contained within the various links, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at partnerships@fema.dhs.gov.

Sincerely,

Rev. David L. Myers
Director, Center for Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

The Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships (DHS Center) fosters partnerships between government and faith- and community-based organizations to increase the nation’s resilience by creating trust, developing relationships, and sealing handshakes.