Building Resilience for Vulnerable Communities through Emergency Preparedness
The presentation, ‘Building Resilience for Vulnerable Communities through Emergency Preparedness,’ explores how trust, readiness, and confidence in government authorities, especially emergency preparedness services, play a crucial role in enabling vulnerable communities to effectively manage emergencies and disasters. This comprehensive evaluation plan, developed for the Seattle Office of Emergency Management, is informed by data from emergency events and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. By examining the impact of community-based emergency preparedness and outreach initiatives, the study highlights the importance of tailoring programs, enhancing communication, and building trusted partnerships within linguistically and culturally diverse minority communities. These efforts are essential to mitigate disaster impacts on the most vulnerable and increase risk avoidance behavior. Through a mixed-methods approach encompassing surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions, the evaluation plan seeks to provide valuable insights into program effectiveness, barriers to engagement, and opportunities for improvement. Join us to explore the critical role of trust, readiness, and confidence in bolstering the resilience of vulnerable communities, with implications for emergency preparedness and response efforts
About the Presenters
Kathleen Edison, MPH, brings a unique perspective to public health and emergency preparedness. Her scientific background in biochemistry, her successful corporate career in financial leadership, and her passion for strengthening health equity and community resilience has led her on a journey to pursue an MPH and a current doctoral endeavor in global health, emergency preparedness, and systems thinking.
Kathleen’s commitment to public health is evident through her volunteer service and current work with the Office of Emergency Management in King County. She collaborates with diverse organizations and community groups, to address disaster preparedness and foster community resilience. Her academic focus centers on public health emergency management, emphasizing the interdependence of ecosystems, environmental sustainability, and population health equity. Kathleen’s holistic perspective, combined with her dedication to sustainability science and bridging the gap between policymakers and the public, positions her as a forward-thinking advocate for resilient communities
Sophia Lopez has been surviving disasters her whole life. Now, she gets to educate others how to do just that. Having personally experienced and survived tornadoes in Texas, hurricanes in Georgia and Louisiana, snowstorms in Eastern WA, and volcanoes and earthquakes in Hawaii, Sophia was a preparedness expert long before discovering she could major in it, let alone dedicate her life to it.
Sophia received her Master of Professional Studies in Homeland Security Studies from Tulane University. She is a Certified Emergency Manager with over ten years of experience in Emergency Management and over 25 years of experience in Customer Service. She has served on multiple deployments and activations, including supporting the USDA with the Avian Influenza outbreak in 2015 (H5N1) and serving as the Logistics Section Chief for the King County COVID-19 response in 2020. Her passion, however, is and always will be, talking preparedness with the whole community, finding ways to reach everyone with this critical, potentially lifesaving information, and helping to build a strong professional base. She has worked in Emergency Management as a volunteer, student, and in private and public industry. She is currently the Community Engagement Manager at the City of Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management.
Shantala (Shanti) Martin has a background in Psychology and Sociology, Shanti currently works as an Asset-Based Community Builder for the Rainier Vista Community at the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) in Seattle, Washington. Prior to being a Community Builder in the Rainier Vista Community, Shanti worked as a Community Builder in SHA’s Low Income Public Housing (LIPH) South Portfolio. Shanti also assists with Emergency Response for the agency, a member of steering committees for pilot programs and projects and provides SHA oversight for the Resident Action Council (RAC) a resident lead group, independent from SHA.
A Seattle native, Shanti has extensive experience working with many diverse resilient populations. With a client-focused approach and meeting individuals where they are at; Shanti strives for equity in the communities she serves. Shanti looks forward to being a part of creating a safe, healthy, and thriving community at Rainier Vista.