SW Neighborhoods, Inc.

This is the monthly meeting of the SW Emergency Preparedness Group. We are a group of citizens working to create disaster-resistant communities by raising public awareness, working with our civic leaders, and educating citizens how to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. We invite anyone with an interest to attend. Our focus is SW Portland, however disasters know no boundaries and we believe in working with neighboring groups and individuals.

• 7:00 Agenda Additions?
• Introductions
  – Round robin
  – Guest: Kerry Dugan; PCCC

• 7:15 Announcements
  – Mayor Potter has reneged on his promise to meet with us
  – Fire stations 18 & 21 update
  •  18 going out to bid very soon
  •  21 delayed; may not be built (i.e. service contracted out to T-V Fire)

  – New web server

  •  Funded but requires Exec Committee approval
  •  Telephone answerer/caller

  – Possible source of a foundation grant money - Dennis Siegman
  – SW NET reorganization around staging areas

  •  NET’s would no longer be based on political NA boundaries
  •  Would become more community oriented; like Neighborhood Watches
  •  It will become more obvious which areas are covered and which are not

   

• 7:35 Ready. Safe. Go.
  – Pennington Award
  – What events did you like, dislike, experiences to share, etc.?
  •  Fire extinguishing class
  •  Pandemic Flu info
  •  Other experiences…

   

• 7:50 Volunteer opportunities & group reorganization
  – Goal to reduce “business meetings” to three or four a year; other meetings to be more educational
  – Another all SW NET gathering?
  – Choose which goals of our group you’re personally interested in pursuing:
  1. Education and public outreach
     
     1. Training
     2. Speakers bureau
     3. Special events
     4. People with special needs or “at risk”
     5. NET training promotion
     6. Article writing for newsletter
  2. Communications
     
     1. Radio communications
     2. NET to NET communications
     3. Web site
     4. Phone tree
     5. Volunteer coordination
     6. Media watchdog
  3. Building a Disaster-Resistant Community
     
     1. Infrastructure (e.g. stronger seismic building codes)
     2. Monolithic Domes
     3. Community disaster shelters
     4. Liaison to city bureaus and council
     5. Working with adjacent communities
  4. Fundraising
     
     1. Grant writing
     2. Donations
     3. Co-marketing
• 8:20 HAM Radio
• 8:30 Adjourn

Notes: Previously, for fundraising, we talked about…

• Grant Writing Workshop
• Fund raising project: $500 for new server
• Goodstorm will print, sell and ship T-shirts
• Annie Blooms Books (sell DVD’s ?)
• Amazon has an affiliate program
• Professor at PSU who has a “grant writing” class

Grant writing needs include:

• Educational materials
• Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) group caches
• Increased NET training (conduct our own classes?)
• A new web server (for group communication and public outreach)
• HAM radio gear
• Emergency kits for students in our schools
• Emergency IT equipment (to reunite families after an earthquake)
• Community disaster shelters

FUNDRAISING

• Seek donations of cash and materials
• Writing grant proposals
• Selling emergency related items
• Seek donations (for neighborhood kits, 72-hour kits we could sell, etc.) from hardware stores, Home Depot, etc.
• Barter with businesses in exchange for positive public relations opportunities and acknowledgement in our newsletters, and emergency preparedness education, such as how to develop a Business Emergency Plan and a Business Continuity Plan.
• We need to look into whether there are videos for these plans and how we can get copies to give people. – Answer: Yes, there are!
• Things to sell as fundraisers: t-shirts or hats with slogans (“I’m Prepared, Are you? Ask your NET member!”, “Don’t be scared, be prepared” and “Got NET?” were ideas.), preparedness videos, Cascadia videos, LED flashlights, radios, kids artwork on stationery, billboards.
• We talked about having things for sale at farmers markets, along with educational literature.
• Fundraising and public education go hand in hand. We emphasize here the need to offer more NET training.

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