Well, here we are. If you asked me a month ago what work I would be doing in extension, I would have said something related to the 10th anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill or preparing to initiate our outreach on hurricane preparedness. Yet, the events over the past few weeks have us ramping up for rapid response to a new pandemic none of us could have anticipated.
The work of helping communities with increasing resilience takes on a new meaning and challenges us to find new methods for continuing our work in a relevant way. So, what are some of the community resilience needs Sea Grant is responding to during COVID-19?
Self-care during quarantine
One topic we are responding to is the need for information related to mental health symptoms and how people react to sheltering in place. This has become even more of a priority as depression, domestic violence and substance abuse increase due to job layoffs, stressful home-work situations and overall uncertainty. We are currently revising the Peer Listener Training to include information on biological disasters so it can be utilized by organizations to build a cadre of peer listeners who can assist their colleagues during this time.
In addition, we are working to make the training available in an online format which can be accessed on demand to train people from home. In uncertain times, focusing on mental and physical well-being are essential to maintaining normalcy.
Moving hurricane preparedness to a virtual platform
With May right around the corner, we are reaching out to coastal communities to see if there are ways to still achieve the outreach they provide as part of their community preparedness for hurricanes. Many communities are part of the Community Rating System (CRS), an incentive program that is part of the National Flood Insurance Program which helps lower flood insurance premiums for homeowners.
Many of the activities for outreach involve in-person interaction at preparedness fairs, local community events and booths at festivals. We are reaching out to our floodplain managers, building officials and CRS coordinators to see how the points for these events can be obtained in other ways. We are also working to find professional development opportunities for planners and floodplain managers who would normally receive continuing education credits through annual in-person meetings.
While our focus has changed, our mission has stayed the same. We are providing science-based research and extension information to coastal communities to assist them in “weathering the storm.” Whether it be a hurricane, oil spill or our current pandemic, our team is dedicated to serving others in time of need – please call on us!