Be a Buddy - Help Homebound Senior Citizens Prepare for the 2012 Hurricane Season

Interfaith Ministries serves over 4,500 seniors in Harris County through our Meals on Wheels program. Most Meals on Wheels clients are not adequately prepared for emergencies and are socially isolated from friends and family.You can help these senior citizens by becoming a Disaster Buddy volunteer.

Disaster Buddies will:

• Help senior citizens prepare a disaster kit for their home
• Check in on senior citizens after a disaster or major weather event
• Help the senior citizen with the evacuation Transportation Assistance Registry
• Maintain quarterly contact with senior citizen, even when it is pleasant and sunny outside

This year will mark the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Ike. In the Houston area alone, 2.15 million residents were without power in the days and weeks following Ike. For most of us, it was a frustrating inconvenience; for many homebound seniors, it was an immeasurable hardship that put their health and safety on the line. Many seniors depend on motorized wheelchairs or scooters to get around, and others have respiratory needs that require nebulizers or oxygen. Still others depend on medications that require refrigeration, such as insulin. Many who live in apartments above the first floor became virtually trapped in their homes because the elevators were inoperable. The lack of electricity was a disaster within the disaster.

This is why it is so critical that our senior citizens have a Buddy in their time of need - to know that someone will check in on them, answer their questions and, most of all, help them maintain their independence.

DISASTER BUDDY TRAINING DATES:

April

• Thursday, April 12th at 6:15 p.m.
• Thursday, April 26th at 6:15 p.m.
• Saturday, April 28th at 1 p.m.

May

• Thursday, May 17th at 6:15 pm.
• Saturday, May 26th at 9:30 a.m.
• Thursday, May 31st at 6:15 p.m.

For more information about being a Buddy, please contact Jennifer Posten via email or at (713) 533-4909. To fill out a volunteer application, click here.

 

All training sessions are currently held at 3217 Montrose Blvd.

Meta-Leadership Summit

Last week Interfaith Ministries helped sponsor the Meta-Leadership Summit along with the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Neighborhood Centers, Inc., and the United Way of Greater Houston.  Participants came together to practice skills necessary for effective leadership during emergencies and identify partnerships that can be leveraged before, during and after a crisis.

The Summit was launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation, CDC, the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative – Harvard School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to foster greater cross-sector collaboration during emergencies. The dynamic curriculum is designed by Harvard University faculty and tailored to the challenges business, government and nonprofit leaders face.

The Meta-Leadership Summit for Preparedness cultivated the critical problem-solving skills and connectivity that leaders need to be effective meta-leaders during times of crisis.  Being a meta-leader requires a unique mindset and skill set, which often goes beyond the scope of an individual's previous experiences. And it requires building strong alliances with a diverse array of leaders before an event occurs.

When disaster strikes, meta-leaders reach across organizations and sectors to build cross-cutting strategies to protect the safety of their families, businesses and communities. They exchange information, share resources and coordinate systems and personnel. They use their influence and connections to guide a cooperative course of action.

Ongoing collaboration will continue though the Meta-leadership program to strengthen the bonds that were created at the summit and Interfaith Ministries will continue to strive to implement Meta-Leadership tools to better serve our clients, employees, and partners.