Community Resilience Districts
The idea of the Community Resilience District ("CRD") came from volunteers who wanted to provide different ways to organize a NET that were not dictated by the boundaries of neighborhood associations and wish to include community organizations and assets beyond NET. The CRD concept not only offers this alternative but also encourages the formation of operational teams at a block scale, centralizes the administrative functions of a NET, and promotes the recruitment of Affiliated Team Volunteers (ATVs). This article focuses on explaining the roles and responsibilities of CRDs and NETs. The tone may sound directive, but the intention is for communities to adopt the elements that make sense to them and discard those that don't. Nothing in this article should be treated as prescriptive.
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Background
Concept development began in early 2018 in response to the following ideas and concerns voiced by NET volunteers in surveys:
- NET volunteers should organize at the block level rather than the neighborhood association level. Many NETs believe neighborhood associations are too large to effectively plan for an earthquake response, and it's more practical to focus on the hyperlocal level (block scale) where the response will likely take place.
- Team meetings have low attendance, and there could be various reasons for this. However, regardless of the reason, Team Leaders get frustrated and burnt out when they don't regularly hear from their Team Members and Affiliated Team Volunteers (ATVs).
- NETs need the support and involvement of the entire local community, not just a few neighbors who are interested in preparing for a disaster. NETs can act as advocates for disaster preparedness and response at the local level, but they will require assistance from less-engaged neighbors to respond effectively after an earthquake.
- Many NET Team Leaders prefer to focus on operational planning rather than administrative tasks. Some become leaders to plan for the response in their immediate area and may not necessarily want to manage rosters, conduct meetings, recruit others, or raise funds.
- There is a significant gap between the NET mission and the communities NETs serve. CRDs serve as a framework to pull in community resilience resources in local communities and break down silos between their missions.
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CRD Model Precepts
PBEM shaped the Community Resilience District model with the following guiding principles in mind:
- Many hands make light work. Don't expect one volunteer or a small group to handle all the tasks. Workloads should be manageable, considering that people are busy and have lives.
- Defy the Pareto Principle. The Pareto Principle states that 20% of people do 80% of the work. In the case of NET, this principle tends to hold true (approximately 25% of NET volunteers log 75% of all the hours). However, the principle harms the resilience of volunteer teamwork by placing too much burden on a few individuals, leading to burnout or a team relying on one or two people to thrive. Leaders should invest in their fellow volunteers' capacity and delegate appropriately. In other words, spread the effort around instead of depending on a few willing hard workers.
- Align volunteer responsibilities with personal interests. Everyone has a role in disaster preparedness and response. Make use of the diverse skills and interests of volunteers to create a more effective response team. For instance, a registered nurse could be valuable in a medical response unit, and someone who enjoys cooking could contribute to a kitchen unit. Non-NETs (ATVs) can and should participate in community resilience.
- Keep response plans up to date. A response plan is a dynamic document. Even if a charter or operations plan is written, it should be regularly reviewed and updated as resources change.
- Build strong foundations. It's tempting to tackle all problems at once, but this leads to burnout and incomplete solutions. Instead, prioritize and focus on resolving issues decisively. Then, move on to the next priority, giving it the same attention. Be realistic about what can be accomplished based on available resources.
| Problem | CRD Solution |
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| 1.) NET volunteers should organize at the block level rather than the neighborhood association level. | Structure a Community Resilience District so that it is made up of block-scale operational NETs that report to a larger administrative body. |
| 2.) Team meetings have low attendance. | Include a function of the CRD charged specifically with maintaining the CRD's roster and tracking volunteer involvement (called the "Whip", see below). |
| 3.) NETs need the support and involvement of the entire local community, not just a few neighbors who are interested in preparing for a disaster. | Use Volunteer Support Functions (VSFs) and Operations Planning to set and implement resource goals for the CRD and the block-scale NETs. Give ATVs clear volunteer position descriptions with training arcs. |
| 4.) Many NET Team Leaders prefer to focus on operational planning rather than administrative tasks. | Allow NET Team Leaders to take charge of a service area they determine themselves and turn in an Operations Plan for that area to PBEM. |
Details of these issues are outlined in an internal PBEM memo accessible HERE.
The CRD model is intended not just to resolve issues in NET organization, but to apply Community Resilience as a key concept of practice in volunteer teams. The implications of that mean:
- A CRD is not just a group of trained NET volunteers, but includes local volunteers and programs from any discipline that promotes community resilience of any kind.
- Disaster preparedness and response skills and knowledge are only one kind of skill/knowledge valued in a CRD.
- A CRD should be made up of community leaders who give all volunteers access to the expertise and perspectives needed to form and practice a holistic approach to community resilience.
Community resilience dividends are the positive additional outcomes of an active CRD. For example, among the most important things a person can do to prepare for a disaster is getting to know their neighbors. The CRD model promotes that activity through the Community Resilience Workbook. It is well documented that when neighbors know each other, crime in the area drops. The effort a CRD makes promoting neighborhood connections results in a neighborhood more resilient from both a disaster prep and a crime prevention approach. Therefore, if a CRD takes an orientation to community resilience broader than the one presented in this CRD Guide, work preparing for a disaster may result in other community resilience dividends.
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Basic Community Resilience District Structure
The CRD model involves three main components: Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM), Community Resilience District (CRD), and Neighborhood Emergency Teams (NETs).
Although it may seem hierarchical, the CRD is intended to serve as a supportive team for the administrative needs of NETs rather than a direct authority. In fact, notwithstanding the diagram below, the CRD could serve as an organization lateral to the individual NET teams inside a CRD service area. Its strength lies in empowering any community member interested in emergency preparedness and response, offering them roles and responsibilities. The goal of this model is not to create bureaucracy, but to strengthen community resilience by actively involving more individuals.
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What is a Community Resilience District?
Under PBEM guidance, a CRD is made up of four essential parts:
- A service area: A CRD has a service area that can be geographically depicted on a map. Inside that service area are operational teams that plan for and activate in a disaster...the NETs. PBEM recommends that a CRD's service area conform with a Fire Management Area (FMA). FMAs are ideal because each FMA has its own fire station and FMAs tend to have a consistency in operations planning risks inside their area. For example: FMA 27 is in Forest Park. A CRD and associated NETs working in FMA 27 all need to consider and plan for the problems that emerge with living in a wildland/urban interface area (such as wildfires). Meanwhile, a CSD and NETs in FMA 4 (Downtown Portland) must contend with the issues of organizing and responding in a dense urban environment, and so on.
- A committee: The CRD committee is a group of volunteers (almost none of whom need to be NET trained) charged with providing administrative support to the NETs in their service area. That administrative support may include volunteer recruitment, convening meetings, outreach, fundraising, arranging training events, and more.
- A charter: Despite its arcane name, the CRD charter simply clarifies responsibilities and sets goals for the CRD and associated NETs.
- The individual block-scale NETs associated with the CRD: These are teams of NETs and neighbors who determine their own service area boundaries and operations plan. Their service area boundaries are inside the CRD service area boundary. Only NET Team Leaders are expected to interact with the CRD Committee.
Community Resilience District Service Areas
Every CRD begins with a Service Area: a geographic area of Portland inside of which the CRD Committee has jurisdiction and carries out its CRD Charter. The guidelines applying to CRD Service Areas are:
- CRD Service Area boundaries are a part of a CRD Charter and, therefore, are subject to PBEM approval.
- PBEM recommends that a Service Area be entirely inside City of Portland city limits. A Service Area can extend contiguously over the border of Portland and into another city or incorporated county area. However, volunteers operating outside of Portland city limits are never indemnified by the City of Portland.
- Except in unusual circumstances, CRD Service Area boundaries will be contiguous.
- CRD Service Area boundaries will never overlap with the boundaries of another CRD Service Area.
- CRD Service Area boundaries should include a minimum of one active NET team.
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What's an FMA and why do they matter?
FMA stands for "Fire Management Area" and FMAs are historically the service areas of single fire stations. Ironically, PF&R doesn't really use FMAs any longer. Today, a computer system dispatches the nearest available fire apparatus to a call, negating the need for FMAs. In the early days of Portland NET, FMAs served as the service area as a single team though they are no longer used for that either. But they are still possibly of use to PBEM and NET for community organizing purposes.
PBEM recommends that CRDs choose an FMA for their service area boundaries, for the following reasons:
- Each FMA has their own fire station. This makes working with PF&R easier, since it means fire officers need only keep tabs on one team instead of multiple teams.
- Each FMA has similar public safety problems to solve. With an exception here and there, FMAs were plotted with the response capabilities of fire stations in mind. For example, FMA 27 is up around Forest Park and the firefighters there are ready to fight fires in the Wilderness Urban Interface (WUI). Go down the slope and you're in FMA 6, Portland's industrial part of town. The firefighters there are prepared for industrial accidents. It makes sense for NETs to organize themselves around these similar response challenges.
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Phases of CRD Development
PBEM recommends CRD Committees develop the CRD with the following arc in mind, and approach each phase as a goal in and of itself:
1.) Assessment/Planning Phase
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2.) Outreach Phase
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3.) Organization Phase
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4.) Continuance Phase
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Community Resilience District Committees (CRD Committees)
(GENERAL DESCRIPTION TBA)
What the CRD Committee Does (and Doesn't Do)
- The CRD Committee is an ADMINISTRATIVE committee, as opposed to concerning itself with disaster operations and response (which is the job of the NETs).
- The CRD committee is STRATEGIC, as opposed to tactical (which is the job of the NETs). The CRD committee works big picture issues inside the CRD concerning community outreach and engagement, finding resources (e.g. fundraising), and identifying and completing community resilience goals. The CRD Committee can give tactical advice to its NETs, but cannot write a NET’s operations plan.
- The CRD Committee will identify issues particular to its service area (e.g. hazardous material tank farms) and appoint task forces to research and make operational policy recommendations to their NETs on how the community will deal with/respond to those issues.
- The CRD Committee is concerned with managing resources that are limited or unique inside the CRD service area (such as a BEECN, the HAM radio at the local fire station, or training opportunities offered by the local fire station).
- Though the CRD is not a NET, NETs collaborate with the CRD. It is CRD business to monitor how many block-scale NETs are inside the CRD, how well organized they are, and how ready they are to deploy. It is CRD business to cultivate and create more NETs inside the CRD service area. The goal is for 100% of the CRD service area to be covered by block-scale NETs.
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Recommended CRD Committee Officers
(FULL POSITION DESCRIPTIONS TO FOLLOW; summary position descriptions included in this article)
PBEM recommends one person per job. Emergency response training (such as Basic NET training) mandatory only for the Operations Manager and the Training Officer.
- Committee Chair (sets agendas, schedules meetings, convenes meetings, designates task forces, interfaces with outside partners (such as PPS, PBEM, PF&R, etc))
- Committee Secretary (finds meeting venues, runs meetings, takes and posts meeting notes)
- Committee Whip (makes sure Committee members attend meetings and are up to speed on the upcoming agenda)
- Operations Manager (interfaces between CRD NETs and the Committee, helps NETs get on their feet and running, holds NET Team Leaders accountable to progress)
- PF&R Fire Station Liaison (firefighter from CRD fire station in advisory role, preferably an officer (Lieutenant or Captain))
- Training Officer (identifies skill gaps in community and priority training needs; requests/locates training resources)
- Outreach Officer (interfaces with the PBEM outreach manager, leads community outreach efforts to promote preparedness in partnership with local NETs, identifies barriers to community participation)...will probably need the help of other volunteers who can/will interface with the business community, social media groups, Spanish-speaking community, persons with disabilities, etc.
- Resources Officer (also serves as a Treasurer, administers the CRD account (if there is one), manages fundraising efforts, and finds team resources (such as in-kind donations).
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Summary Position Description: Committee Chair
Not unlike a queen bee, the Committee Chair has both an essential and (intentionally) narrow set of responsibilities. Nor is it a position intended to bestow great swathes of power and influence upon the recipient.
The Chair is focused on identifying Committee goals and holding Committee members accountable to completing them. The Chair also helps the rest of the Committee think through priorities and what resources are needed to accomplish a goal.
The Chair has some executive authority: hey are responsible at meetings for calling a vote, creating/disbanding task forces as needed, and scheduling meetings. The Chair also is the Committee’s representative to City bureaus such as PBEM, PF&R, PPB, ONI, and so on.
The Chair is shielded from, and not permitted to, take on any other responsibilities for the Committee.
KEY COMPETENCIES: delegation, leadership, judgement, public speaking, diplomatic, good listener.
Estimated time commitment: 10 hours/month.
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Summary Position Description: Committee Secretary
The Secretary is responsible for handling all Committee meeting logistics. This includes chasing down meeting venues, emailing out meeting notices and agendas as provided by the Chair, taking competent notes during meetings and disseminating those notes to interested parties.
Though the Chair sets meeting agendas, it is the Secretary who actually runs meetings by calling out agenda items and keeping the Committee on task.
The Secretary also acts as the keeper of the CRD’s map, which is provided by PBEM.
KEY COMPETENCIES: Robert’s Rules, notetaking, familiarity with Committee charter (if there is one), meeting facilitation.
Estimated time commitment: 5 hours/month
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Summary Position Description: Committee Whip
Previous experience in NET has demonstrated that the NET Team Leader spends a lot of time verifying whether members are still active and encouraging them to participate, and verifying that projects are on track for completion.
In order to allow the Committee Chair to focus on strategic planning, the Committee Whip takes the responsibilities of checking in with NPW officers, ensuring they and their projects don’t just “drop off radar”, leaving the Chair and the rest of the Committee wondering what happened and how to redirect resources and committee energy.
The Whip emails and calls CRD officers prior to meetings to confirm attendance, track statuses, and report to the Chair when an officer departs from the Committee and a replacement must be found.
The responsibilities of the Whip should not suggest that officers can never be absent from a meeting; the Whip is not an “enforcer”. Their role should be seen more in terms of keeping tabs on the Committee’s goals and interests.
KEY COMPETENCIES: persistence, people skills, email use.
Estimated time commitment: 5 hours/month
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Summary Position Description: Operations Manager
The Operations Manager represents the interests of NETs at the CRD, and coordinates the NET Team Leaders inside the service area boundaries. This is a crucial position, as s/he acts as a bridge between the administrative work of the Committee and the operational work of the NETs. The Operations Manager works to cultivate the formation of NETs inside the District, reviews NET operations plans and provides advice on writing them when appropriate. The Operations Manager helps NETs problem solve around operations issues, such as how to prepare for anticipated team needs. NET Team Leaders report up to the Operations Manager their progress (e.g. how many certified NETs, how many ATVs, and how many households reached for each NET). The Operations Manager tracks this information and reports it to the Committee and PBEM. KEY COMPETENCIES: NET trained, people skills, attention to detail, can think through operational/tactical needs for NETs and advocate for fulfilling those needs at the Committee level. Eventually, ICS-300 certified. Estimated time commitment: Depends on the number of active NETs...estimated an hour or two each month per active NET in the NPW
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Summary Position Description: PF&R Fire Station Liaison
Instead of a fire station interfacing with each active NET in the CRD, it is more efficient and effective if the FMA’s fire station is represented at the CRD. Therefore, this proposal recommends a dedicated seat on the Committee for an officer from the station. This gives PF&R an opportunity to learn about what the community is doing to improve resilience, and provide feedback and advice.
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Summary Position Description: Training Officer
The responsibility of the Training Officer is to match CRD objectives to training opportunities. This might mean researching/arranging for guest trainers to visit the community and provide a class (and making all necessary logistical arrangements), as well as providing an ongoing series of operational trainings for NETs the work inside the FMA (e.g. classes on splinting, building markings, etc). If CERT TTT certified, this person would also be responsible for arranging Basic NET classes inside the FMA. Works closely with the Operations Manager to ensure that NET certified volunteers and ATVs have needed training. KEY COMPETENCIES: instruction and public speaking, logistics, CERT TTT certified (recommended). Eventually, certified IS-120 (Introduction to Exercises) and IS-130 (Evaluation/Improvement Planning) certified. Estimated time commitment: 10 - 15 hours a month, depending on how much instructing the training officer does.
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Summary Position Description: Outreach Officer
More than any other officer, the Outreach Officer is the most likely to need help and will likely need to coordinate the work of other outreach volunteers. The Outreach Officer is responsible for organizing block scale preparedness campaigns in conjunction with the NETs (such as distributing emergency preparedness materials door to door). The Outreach Officer will also coordinate the presence of NETs at local community events (such as parades and picnics) and interface with PBEM’s Outreach Manager to obtain materials. With the Committee Chair, it is also the responsibility of the Outreach Officer to identify where specialized materials and efforts may be needed; for example, reaching out to non-English speaking communities, schools, the local business community, persons with disabilities, or “vertical” communities such as apartment high-rises. Finally, the Outreach Officer is responsible for - or appoints someone to help with - the CRD’s internet and social media presence (NextDoor, Facebook, PortlandPrepares.org, etc). It is not necessarily intended that a single person undertake all of the indicated tasks. They can be “farmed out” to other volunteers that specialize in them; for example, by appointing someone to focus narrowly on working with the business community and assisting with business continuity planning. Or, a Committee may find that they don’t need to do a particular branch of outreach work at all (e.g. business outreach not needed in a fully residential community that has no, or few, businesses). How the Outreach Officer organizes other outreach volunteers should reflect the composition of the CRD, available resources, and the goals set by the Committee Chair. KEY COMPETENCIES: people management, diversity awareness, communications, marketing. Estimated Time Commitment: Elastic and dependent on how much help is available from other volunteers; but, in order to avoid burnout, the Outreach Officer should not put in more than 20 hours a month.
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Summary Position Description: Resources Officer/Treasurer
The Resources Officer is responsible for keeping an inventory of local emergency supply caches, controlling access to them and finding places for them, and finding materials to supply them with. In this capacity, the Resources Officer also oversees any local BEECN cache and equipment. Furthermore, the Resources Officer acts as the CRD’s Treasurer if the CRD has an account with Friends of Portland Fire & Rescue. This means keeping tabs on the cash account and requesting reimbursements from the FoPF&R Board as needed. Finally, working with the Outreach Officer as needed, the Resources Officer raises cash and in-kind donations for team supplies. KEY COMPETENCIES: basic accounting, fundraising, asset management, record-keeping. Estimated Time Commitment: Seven hours a month.
Community Resilience Districts Program History
The ideas behind CRDs coalesced into a draft program called "Neighborhood Preparedness Wards" in 2017. The Wards program was developed concurrently with the Portland Fire Bureau's Blueprint for Success concept, proposed by Chief Mike Myers, which included many of the same philosophical underpinnings. A concept paper was developed for the St. Johns neighborhood. The concept paper was presented to St. Johns NET and community partners in the spring of 2017, and the present committee approved moving forward with it.
Jeremy Van Keuren (PBEM Community Resilience Manager) presented the first CRD concept paper to NET volunteers on November 8, 2018. NETs responded optimistically to the presentation and directed PBEM to develop the concept further by piloting it in several neighborhoods. A pilot had already started in late spring that year in the St. Johns neighborhood, where it continues today. Jeremy also set about meeting with Downtown NET volunteers to develop a CRD charter, but the effort ultimately failed under stress from the COVID pandemic in 2020. Response to COVID, in fact, effectively shelved implementation of the CRD concept. A meeting of NET Team Leaders and PBEM during the 2022 NETcamp affirmed that the CRD concept is still something NETs and PBEM should explore pursuing.
As of 2023, St. Johns/Cathedral Park is the only NET that has piloted the CRD concept.