South Florida Sun Sentinel | Featuring IEMers Megan Bond & Kirsten Raschko
“When everything starts shattering into little pieces is at these transition points, where people can go backwards and forwards and their unmet needs become greater and more compounding,” said Megan Bond, a program manager with IEM, an emergency management consulting firm.
Bond was among those who recently addressed the potential difficulties of coordinating shelter and long-term housing for people displaced after hurricanes — and how agencies can do better in the future.
Kirsten Raschko, another IEM program manager, said that having pre-existing relationships between local governments, private emergency recovery service providers, and nonprofits help recovery providers understand how to meet the needs of local communities. That is helpful, whether they’re helping coordinate shelter units, feeding people, or providing resources to promote shelter workers’ psychological well-being.
Establishing formal agreements between these organizations help officials map out the precise roles that different agencies and groups may play once recovery efforts are in motion.