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Local Governments Receive Grants For Disaster Prep and Response
November 28, 2016
Volunteer Florida has awarded over $42,00/0 in federal funding to establish or enhance Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and citizen corp programs in Escambia County.
The Town of Century received a $7,000 grant for their CERT, plus an additional $7,400 for the Town of Century Citizen Corps.
The Escambia County and Pensacola CERT programs received $7,000 each, while The Escambia County and Pensacola Citizen Corps received an additional $7,000 each.
The organizations will match the funding dollar for dollar through cash or in-kind investments. The program is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) and administered by Volunteer Florida.
“Volunteer Florida’s CERT funding specifically trains Floridians to take action following emergencies or disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes,” said Chester W. Spellman, Volunteer Florida CEO. “This unique training allows citizens to support the critical work of our emergency management officials by deploying CERT volunteers when they are needed, saving taxpayer dollars.”
CERT was created as a grassroots approach to encourage “neighbors helping neighbors” in the event of emergencies or disasters. Grantees conduct emergency management training to enhance the capabilities of local emergency management personnel. Following their training, grantees deploy citizens to impacted areas so that they can assist in response and recovery. Citizens are prepared to assist with light search and rescue, offer immediate help to victims until professional services arrive, provide evacuation assistance, and support damage assessment teams.
“The CERT program allows communities to recruit and train civilians as neighborhood, business and government teams that become auxiliary responders during disasters,” said Bryan Koon, Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “We are thrilled that Volunteer Florida is administering this funding for Florida.”
Pictured: Century CERT volunteers during a disaster exercise. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
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