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NORTHBRIDGE, Mass. – A meeting is planned Wednesday that may forever change the way Northbridge responds to emergencies.
The Northbridge Emergency Management Agency begins a faith-based initiative at 1 p.m. at Good Shepherd Church on Linwood Street, during which church leaders and members will be asked to become part of the town’s emergency response team.
Mark Widner, former emergency preparedness manager for the city of Independence, Mo. and now a certified emergency response trainer in Northbridge, said resiliency is needed in emergencies, and Massachusetts is one of the most resilient states he has ever seen.
That doesn't mean communities can’t become more resilient and that’s the goal of Wednesday’s meeting.
“If I ask someone to evacuate their home, I'm someone they don’t know so may refuse. I don’t have the credibility. But if the pastor of their church asks, they've already developed a trusting relationship,’’ Widner said.
Church leaders also know the day-to-day needs of their parishioners. “We want to build on that relationship and resources already known,’’ Widner said. It’s a two-way street. “What do faith-based organizations need that we can help them with?’’ Widner said.
People also have to start thinking of what defines a disaster, Widner said, and for most people it’s when they lose control.
The goal of emergency preparedness is to have as many people as possible maintaining control so emergency personnel can concentrate on those most in need.
Though state and federal help often is needed following a natural disaster, “all disasters start local and end local and response to a disaster is a group effort,’’ Widner said.
Becoming a member of the town’s certified emergency response team requires 24 hours of training, some of that hands-on.
Information on Community Emergency Response Teams training is available by calling Fire Chief Gary Nestor, the town’s emergency management director, at 508-234-8448.
Comments (9)
Faith based groups are volunteers that provide food, clothing, shelter, communications, medical, transport, clean-up and even SAR during disasters and nothing more the same as the rest of the "volunteers" that work with emergency management. God Bless.
If God really wants to bless us perhaps he could try preventing the disasters from happening in the first place. After all, an all Powerful Being shouldn't have too much of a problem with that! That would really be a big help wouldn't it?
Every town in the country uses faith based organizations in their emergency Preparedness plans. It doesn't have anything to do with religion. It has to do with helping our fellow man regardless of their religion. The problem with this country is the left wing nut jobs that are trying to destroy what we stand for at all costs and will do anything and say anything they can even when it hurts those closest to them.
"Every town in the country uses faith based organizations in their emergency Preparedness plans."
It would be interesting to know where you got this information. Or are you just making this up.
Were you trying to say that by sticking up for the US Constitution that I am a left wing nut job.? Interesting!
Me thinks there might be a little right wing nut job work going on here!
Have a good day!
They really need to get the amateur radio community involved. They are the unsung heroes of every Emergency Management Agency in the country. The Eastern MA Section Emergency Coordinator for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service is also the Skywarn Coordinator for the NWS, Taunton.
I agree that Amateur Radio Service would be a good idea as long as it isn't faith based Amateur Radio Service.
I've spent over twenty years working in and for Emergency Management at city and county level some of that time as Emergency Coordinator and other times as a volunteer. I've also worked on the committee of COAD (Community Organizations Active in Disaster) and VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster). Over half of the groups involved are faith Based groups. It has absolutely nothing to do with Seperation of Church and State. The Constitution does not say that Churches cannot work with Government. It says that the Government will not establish it's own religion.
It is not the Town of Northbridge's concern about what kind of help these faith based organizations need. The town should take care of their own needs and let the faith based organizations take care of their own business.
There is a little matter of separation of church and state here. Public money isn't to be spent on religion!
I am sure that I would need much more information about how the program would work before I could really tell if this is an issue. If any town money is involved by going to faith based organizations for any reason, this might be a problem. Tax money can not be spent in that way. There is no problem if these folks want to volunteer as private citizens, leaving the faith based organizations out of it. I know that this is a small issue,but I am concerned when ever there is a question about this stuff.
I am a non-religious person and don't like it when religion gets into government in any way.
I don't expect to make any further comments on this issue. I just wanted to bring this to the attention of the other readers.
Wish you the best of luck in your endeavor.