ALLIANCE FOR RESPONSE NEWS BRIEF

November 2011 – January 2012

This bi-monthly newsletter is shared with local Alliance for Response Steering Committees to provide information and inspiration. Please share it with your listservs. You can find more details about the activities of all Alliance for Response networks here.

Heritage Preservation is pleased to announce that three new Alliance for Response (AFR) forums will be held over the next two years, thanks to generous support by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Forums are proposed for Miami, Minneapolis–St. Paul, and Chicago. In addition, a new Alliance for Response Online Resource Center is planned.

Alliance for Response networks have been busy creating unique programming and broadening the program’s reach throughout the nation.

Galveston–Houston hosted its first Alliance for Response forum in July to a crowd of approximately 80 cultural and emergency management representatives. Speakers at the day-long forum addressed emergency management procedures, the nuts and bolts of disasters, and the regional network’s next steps. Galveston–Houston is planning a series of follow-up activities. For more information, please visit their AFR Web site.

To close out last year’s Alliance for Response kick-off forums, Salt Lake City hosted a one-day event that inspired a state-wide network. More than 80 participants saw presentations from federal, state, and local emergency managers and local cultural representatives. Two break-out sessions defined what each community – cultural and emergency – needed from each other to successfully prepare for and respond to disasters. Utah AFR will host a follow-up activity in the coming months with the goal of creating an annex to the state emergency operations plan. Information on this region’s activities can be found both on the AFR website and the Utah State Archives’ AFR listserv.

While new programs were being launched across the country, existing networks were hard at work. AFR New York hosted the event “Have You Planned for and Considered the Cost of Implementing Your Emergency Plan?” on November 29. The program focused on planning not just for logistical response and recovery but also for the financial side of emergency preparedness. In February, members of the Steering Committee will give a presentation to the NYC Office of Emergency Management entitled “Emergencies at Cultural Institutions with Collections.”

In Colorado, members of the cultural resources community, including Denver Alliance for Response, met with the Colorado Division of Emergency Management (CDEM) in January to discuss the scope of cultural resources within the state’s existing emergency preparedness efforts. CDEM invited the cultural resources community to create a Cultural Resources Task Force to continue working with CDEM to develop the state’s capacity in the areas of response, recovery, mitigation, and preparedness. While the Task Force begins holding quarterly meetings to establish priorities for these areas, they will also collaborate on two immediate initiatives. The Task Force will provide technical expertise to CDEM as they revise state planning documents and will assist in the development of model templates for local emergency management offices to use to incorporate cultural resources into their plans. Also, the Task Force and CDEM will work together to create a cultural resources team to help staff ESF-11 at the state emergency operations center during exercises and activations. For more information, contact Leslie Williams, Acquisitions Librarian, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, at leslie.williams@ucdenver.edu.

Denver’s Alliance for Response is also able to boast within its ranks Carolyn H. Bluhm, who was honored at the White House as one of 17 Champions of Change. Carolyn is being honored for her work in preparing her community for the unexpected and embracing all members of the community. Carolyn has been the driving force behind the Denver Community Emergency Response Team (Denver CERT) and the Emergency Preparedness programs. Her efforts have results in the creation of a Spanish-bilingual CERT team as well as a bi-lingual Arabic CERT team that can communicate in Farsi, Urdu, and Somali.

In November, AFR Pittsburgh held their fall meeting at The Mattress Factory Art Museum. The group toured the museum’s archival storage area and offered advice. In addition, the group learned about winterizing collections. Pittsburgh is currently planning a spring meeting that will feature the city’s 911 capabilities. To find meeting minutes and news from Pittsburgh, visit their Web site.

In the coming months, Alliance for Response networks will have additional opportunities for activity. The National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), a framework that provides guidance for leadership and coordination among different levels of government and different agencies following a major disaster, is being introduced at stakeholder events across the country. Your participation in this event will help ensure that the cultural and historic heritage community is acknowledged and has a voice and role in the recovery process. Visit FEMA’s Web site to find out when and where the next stakeholder event will be held.

MayDay is also fast approaching. Each year, cultural institutions across the nation set aside May 1st to participate in MayDay, an initiative to protect cultural heritage from disasters. In the past, participants have held fire safety sessions, stockpiled emergency supplies, and updated disaster plans. Stay tuned for this year’s announcement of MayDay activities. Start planning yours today!

With the announcement of a new AFR cycle, we are happy to announce the arrival of Jenny Wiley, who has assumed Cindy Thompson’s role as Program Assistant for Emergencies. If you have questions or have news to report from your region, please do not hesitate to contact Jenny at jwiley@heritagepreservation.org.

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The Heritage Emergency National Task Force is a partnership of 40 government agencies and national service organizations formed in 1995. An initiative of Heritage Preservation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Task Force has helped to protect cultural heritage from the damaging effects of natural disasters and other emergencies. Find valuable disaster resources at the Task Force Web site, www.heritageemergency.org

Heritage Preservation is a national non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of the United States. By identifying risks, developing innovative programs, and providing broad public access to expert advice, Heritage Preservation assists museums, libraries, archives, historic preservation and other organizations, as well as individuals, in caring for our endangered heritage.