Since Tropical Storm Allison
and the September 11th terrorist attacks, the people of Harris County have
acted with courage, compassion, and unity. To capture this spirit of service
throughout the country, President George W. Bush has called upon all
Americans to dedicate at least two years of their lives – the equivalent of
4,000 hours – in service to others. He launched the USA Freedom Corps
initiative to inspire and enable all Americans to find ways to serve their
community and country.
Citizen Corps is the component of USA Freedom Corps that creates
opportunities for individuals to volunteer to help their neighborhoods
prepare for and respond to emergencies by bringing together local leaders,
citizen volunteers, and the network of first responder organizations, such
as fire and police departments.
The goal is to have all citizens participate in making their communities
safer, stronger, and better prepared for threats of terrorism and disasters
of all kinds, while relieving burdens on our first responders on a
day-to-day basis.
The Harris County Citizen Corps after initial meetings has agreed to:
- Provide a forum to work on improving responses to emergencies before they occur;
- Coordinate efforts among agencies and volunteer groups, particularly during
short-term volunteer response surges immediately following emergencies;
- Establish a plan to match volunteer skills, assets, and resources with community needs;
Improve ways to communicate with volunteers during emergencies;
- Establish a plan to recruit, register, credential, and reward volunteers:
- Identify locations across the county for shelters, such as schools, churches, etc.;
- Establish means of transportation for moving volunteers to sites where help is needed;
- Establish training for volunteers that
includes first response training and develop a program to train
for specific disasters;
The Harris County Citizen Corps is committed to not duplicating efforts or creating another layer of
bureaucracy.
- Citizen Corps will encourage people to sign up through the website, telephone, or mail.
- Actual assignments for Citizen Corps volunteers will come from existing volunteer organizations.
- Citizens Corps will track a volunteer's hours or accept hours recorded by existing volunteer groups.
- Citizen Corps, although focusing efforts
on disaster preparedness, will provide certificates of
appreciation to any volunteer in the community that has 4,000+
hours of community service.
The Citizen Corps Council will also work to
coordinate homeland security grant applications, which will
originate with numerous federal and state
agencies.
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