United Way and Community Crisis Response
United Way’s roles in community crisis response are constantly changing. United Ways that did not believe they would ever have a role to play are now being called upon by their communities to perform duties for which they are not prepared. The experiences with Hurricane Katrina illustrated how disasters as far away as the gulf coast can impact communities in Michigan as displaced individuals and families were relocating in even the smallest of towns, much of the time without warning.
This chapter will address potential roles for United Ways in community crisis response. It will also help to prepare United Ways to engage with community emergency management offices and to work collaboratively with health and human service providers.
Table of Contents
Introduction4
United Way – Guiding Principles in Community Crisis Response 6
Potential Roles for United Ways in Crises10
Crisis Relief Fundraising 13
Donations of Goods17
Volunteers20
Working with the Media21
Roles of Information & Referral and 2-1-1 Call Centers in 22
Crisis Response
Readiness of Community Agencies23
When A Crisis Strikes During or Just Before a United 24
Way Campaign
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)25
American Red Cross (ARC) and Salvation Army 26
National Voluntary Organizations Active in Crisis (VOAD) 27
Gifts-In-Kind International (GIKI)28
America’s Second Harvest29
Relevant Websites29
Resources on Coping with Crisis32
Memorandum of Understanding – Mutual Aid Agreement34
United Way is not an immediate response crisis relief agency. Typically, local, state and federal governmental agencies insure public safety and respond to infrastructure concerns immediately following a crisis. Immediate response crisis relief organizations such as the American Red Cross and Salvation Army work hand-in-hand with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist affected populations with recovery efforts. It is important to know how crisis organizations define their roles and responsibilities and how United Ways fit into the recovery plan. (See Pages 25-29) for a brief description of these organizations.)
United Way leadership should meet with local (municipal and/or county) emergency management personnel to review potential United Way roles. Because of United Way’s unique qualities as a convener, community builder, and recognized expert in local human service resources, local emergency management personnel often welcome the United Way involvement to help insure a comprehensive response to a community crisis.
When meeting with emergency management personnel:
a)Understand the local plan and the people who are involved;
b)Describe to the emergency management personnel the United Way assets;
c)Explain United Way’s relationship with partner agencies, other area non-profit organizations and local businesses.
d)Describe United Way’s ability to connect with services beyond the mass care being provided by American Red Cross and Salvation Army; and
e)Determine how United Way can help. Identify the specific areas where United Way can provide leadership and fill gaps in the local emergency management plan.
Establishing this relationship and identifying appropriate roles for United Way is important in creating an effective United Way crisis response plan.
Planning for and responding to a community crisis is an opportunity for United Ways to demonstrate care and concern for the community, and exhibit the most fundamental form of community impact. Although the plan provides the framework for effectively preparing for community crisis, its success rests on successful execution of the plan by dedicated, well-trained, community conscious United Way staff and volunteers. Plans for United Ways typically include establishment of media relations, seeking of/responding to corporate partners, organizing/mobilizing volunteers, providing information to the public about appropriate response resources, and assisting human service providers with resources required for delivery of their services.
Local
The specific roles established for United Ways will vary depending on the organizational capacities and the expectations of local emergency management teams. In some communities the United Way will have a designated workstation inside the local emergency operations center (EOC). Other United Ways not located at the emergency operations center may be directly linked via phone and/or through other forms of communications. United Ways in recent years have been asked to serve as fiscal agents for local crisis relief or recovery funds, or to coordinate delivery of local human services. In other instances United Ways are identified as the coordinators for food and supply donations, and others have been given the responsibility of managing volunteers through their volunteer center.
State
In the event of a crisis, the United Way of North Carolina (UWNC) will coordinate United Way efforts on a statewide level. The President of UWNC will serve as the point person, and other staff will be assigned as needed. UWNC will work closely with the United Way of America Crisis Response Team to assess the needs of any United Way(s) affected by the crisis. UWNC will also serve as the liaison to the state emergency management center. Areas of assistance that can be provided include communication and coordination of needed resources (which may include emergency funding) and staffing.
National
United Way of America’s Crisis Response Team provides support and technical assistance to aid United Ways to better prepare their communities for crisis situations and enhance the capacity of the human services system to sustain or restore their functioning after disruptions by serious community crises. UWA is available to assist United Ways in responding to a community crisis event. United Ways should be familiar with the range of services that are available.
Modified from United Way of America
1)During a crisis, community building is our primary business
There is no greater opportunity than a crisis to meaningfully engage
our citizens in the life of our community. There is no organization better
positioned than United Way to unlock the helping potential of business,
governmental entities, institutions, agencies, and individuals toward select common goals.
To fulfill this role, United Way must have clarity of vision, be willing to remove barriers, work to eliminate ambiguity and be courageous in issuing clear calls to action.
2)United Ways need to identify and bring their organization’s unique strengths to assist with the crisis
Fundraising, volunteer management, mobilizing public concern, media relations, leveraging corporate or instructional partners, deploying agency expertise, information and referral, in-kind goods, technical assistance, organizing diverse committees, etc. are all important skills to bring to the table. United Way’s credibility can bring focus and comfort to the chaos of a crisis. United Way’s partners and friends can quickly solve many problems and open many doors.
3)Our job is to make it easy for people (institutions, businesses, and associations) to help
This means creating simple and effective systems for giving funds and in-kind resources, for volunteering, for working together to solve problems. It means embracing offers of assistance from outside our community and directing them to areas of need. It involves finding a role for everyone who wants to participate in community rebuilding.
4)Our job is to make sure it is easy for people (institutions, businesses, associations) to receive help
Whether United Way is directly providing the help, offering the referrals or supporting another entity in that role, United Way should offer any and all assistance possible to the front line providers of help. United Way can look for ways to make it easier to access that help. United Way can look for ways to make that helping more effective, efficient, or abundant.
5)Our job is to create opportunities for everyone to make a difference
The more we actively invite people to help, the stronger our community will be – agencies, businesses, individuals, and clubs. We need to assess needs and identify and implement resources. We should look not only for those individuals, families, and institutions in need of help, but also stay alert to discover those who can be helpers.
6)Our job is to increase the impact and effectiveness of those helping
How can we help the front line agencies be more effective? Where can we take some "heat" off? Where can we generate and mobilize resources that will make a crucial difference? What expertise can we loan or recruit and deploy? These are important questions to answer in your community.
7)Our job is to ensure that the caregivers are being cared for
What are the needs of the caregivers? Who is asking about their needs and addressing their concerns? United Ways must take care of their own staff, partner agency staffs, and professional crisis staff. Caregivers need time to grieve, an opportunity to vent stress, and an atmosphere where they are not afraid to ask for assistance. Caregivers need sustenance, rest, respect, and appreciation.
8)Our job may be helping the community to mourn, to learn and to heal
In the face of tragedy our future together demands that we find a way to mourn, to forgive, and to learn together. United Way has a role to play with clergy, mental health and health providers, political and community leaders.
9)Communication is vital
Identify all potential constituents – victims, families, institutions, agencies, volunteers, donors, and media. Determine the core messages for each constituent group and repeat it daily, weekly and hourly if necessary. As individuals and organizations deal with crisis, their ability and opportunities to hear new information can be extremely limited.
10)Coordinate community communications
Collect information from a variety of sources. Ensure that communication staff, from all responding organizations, is working in concert with each other. Establish a main information source and identify a primary contact person. Summarize and clearly state vital information. (This is the role for 2-1-1 if available.) Distribute the information through a variety of media. Establish positive, functioning relationships with media outlet staff.
11)Be willing to take off the organizational hat and put on the community hat
Do whatever is necessary to move the community forward – convene, lead, follow and partner. In reality, United Way probably will assume each of these roles in a crisis. Think outside-of-the-box. Be willing to take on new roles and be flexible in the ones you already have. Constantly assess United Way priorities in light of community needs.
12)Do not underestimate the demands that will be placed on your resources
The need for staff, volunteers, systems, relationships, and organizational resources could be huge. The demands on your system and your staff can easily last for months or years depending on the severity and scope of the crisis. Draw on the strength of the United Way system. Reach out to the power of community partnerships.
13)Set the highest ethical and conduct standards for your team and organization.
Exceed your standards whenever possible. Be truthful, follow through, give away credit, give away responsibility, and demonstrate compassion. United Way’s job is to enable, empower, encourage, and simplify. Be a model of your highest aspirations. Help others realize their highest aspirations. Take care of your team.
14)Be patient. Be forgiving. Be thick skinned.
Don’t get caught between an individual or organization’s pain and their need to act on that pain. Grief, anger, denial and fear can prevent effective communication and successful decision-making. Organizations experience these powerful emotions just like individuals. Everyone processes grief or fear differently. Everyone has a unique pathway and timetable for healing. Mistakes will be made. There is absolutely no place for blame, defensiveness, or territoriality.
15)Know there are very real dangers for your United Way
If your organization is not working from a position of strength, think carefully about your role. In an emotion packed community crisis, most helpers take some hurtful and probably untruthful criticism – both public and private. Be prepared for some distrust, paranoia, or scandal. But know that it doesn’t have to stop you from doing the right thing.
16)Retelling the community story – a final job for United Way
A final community-building strategy is retelling your community’s story. This mission is a part of the mourning and the healing process. Admit that as a people, as a community, you have been hurt and will never be the same. So where does that leave you?
Help your community recognize and celebrate its’ own greatness and nobility. Glorify large and small feats. Laugh. By thoughtfully telling the community story, you empower, engage, heal, and redefine yourselves. Story telling sets the stage for tomorrow.
United Way can articulate and celebrate the community’s true strengths and resources by focusing on those unique qualities that enable us to face a crisis successfully. Who are we as a people? What do we believe? How do we work together? Answering these questions with care will help us believe in our own competence and compassion. It will bring out the very best for the future.
Modified from United Ways of Texas – Crisis Guide for United Ways in Texas
Recognizing that no single agency is equipped to respond to all the needs in a crisis, it is recommended that plans be developed through a team approach. This approach will foster community cohesion, ownership of the plan, and will help to maximize community resources. Most local emergency management teams are comprised of city/county agencies, volunteer groups, private entities and other political subdivisions.
Does your United Way participate on the local emergency management team? Does the community know what it can expect of your United Way in case of a crisis? At a minimum, it is important that United Ways communicate the level of response they are able to commit in a crisis to their local emergency management coordinators.
The Role of a United Way In Responding to a Crisis
United Way is not an immediate crisis response agency. It is, however, integrally connected to the community’s social services network. In the midst of a crisis, social services become crucial and plans need to be made to ensure that services continue to be available. United Ways need to define how they will support the local social services network during and after a crisis. Each United Way’s response is unique and must be defined locally.
1)Restore Community Services
Social service agencies must remain open so that they may continue to provide services prior to and immediately following a crisis. Assisting affiliate organizations to remain in operation is a crucial role for United Way. The assistance can be in the form of emergency grants, or identifying temporary work sites should agencies’ offices be rendered inaccessible. Helping them prepare for crises is extremely important (see Readiness of Community Agencies, page 23).
2)Serve as Convener
United Ways are in a position to convene the local social service organizations to develop a plan that identifies the types of assistance and resources that might be needed. This plan should be shared with and included in the local jurisdiction’s emergency management plan.
3)Establish a SocialServicesInformationCenter During a Crisis and During Recovery
Examples:
Provide ongoing communications to social service agencies during a crisis;
Provide a hard copy of the local resource directory;
Inform the community of the locations of agencies providing assistance; including temporary sites if agencies have relocated;
Collaborate with the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, in the distribution of pictured identification cards for those agency staff who will need to remain or enter the crisis area to provide services; and
Distribute cell phones to agencies involved in crisis response if landline telephones are inoperative.
4)Provide Emergency Funding
Provide money and supplies based on need and availability.
5)Provide Information and Referral
2-1-1 Call Center/Information and ReferralCenters (I & R) are the logical source of information about available services. It is the responsibility of the community’s
2-1-1/I & R to:
- Provide accurate, up-to-date information about existing community resources.
- Remain open during a crisis.
- Provide important information during and after a crisis:
- Where to get help
- What help is needed
- Where to volunteer
- Where to get food, water, medical services and housing assistance
See page 21for more detailed information regarding Information & Referral.
Linkages to the local American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the local
Emergency Management Team needs to be maintained in order to communicate consistent and accurate information to the public.
6)Establish an Unmet Needs Committee
Establish and convene an Unmet Needs Committee, which will be a partnership of local service providers, funding organizations and community leaders. The purpose is to ensure that services and resources are provided to individuals and families in a timely way. This committee can help identify options to meet the needs of the community, determine service gaps, develop plans for providing resources, and can commit their agencies to providing the resources that will help the community achieve recovery.