8. NEEDS + RESOURCES ASSESSMENT
OBJECTIVE:
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Identify strategies for assessing needs and identifying locally available resources before, during, and after an emergency.
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
Depending on the type and severity of the emergency, needs may vary throughout your community. For example, a hurricane may lead to the need for clean up or rebuild operations, but a blizzard may lead to the need for a volunteers to shovel sidewalks and hydrants.
After an emergency there may be resources coming from various levels of government, relief organizations, as well as community partners. Your network can play an important role in collecting and organizing information about what resources are available.
| Sample Needs: | Sample Resources: |
| Food/water | Commodity Distribution Points |
| Clothing/blankets | Red Cross |
| Clean up materials | Volunteers (Example: New York Cares) |
| Construction materials | Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) |
One of the key roles your network can play is to identify unmet needs and communicate them to people and organizations that may be able to help, such as City agencies, local elected representatives, and relief organizations.
How can your network effectively conduct assessments? Think about tools like the resource directory and the communications strategies you have already developed and how they can be helpful.
TO DO:
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Review the needs and resource assessment charts in the plan template. What strategies would you use to conduct a needs assessment? What about a resource assessment?
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Record any strategies or point people you may refer to to carry out these assessments.
SUCCESS STORY:
The Staten Island Interfaith and Community Long Term Recovery Organization (LTRO) is a coalition of community, faith-based, and national organizations dedicated to disaster recovery and preparedness on Staten Island. The LTRO hosts a monthly meeting open to the community that features speakers and relevant service updates.
Ahead of Hurricane Joaquin in 2015, the LTRO reached out to residents to help them prepare and organize volunteers who would pump out homes and conduct needs assessments if required.
Visit sisandyhelp.org to learn more.
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