The goals for this project were to reach the access and functional needs and disabilities community and senior citizens to teach emergency preparedness that is customized to them, as well as, provide them with a emergency preparedness kit fitting their specific needs.
The steps taken to achieve this goal and implement the program were structured in a project charter outlining the project initiation (brainstorming ideas, gathering stakeholders, media, presentation outline, sponsor buy-in, community collaboration, etc.), planning (risk identification, communications plan, preliminary planning meetings, budget and schedule estimating, etc.), monitor and control (analyzing risk matrix, tracking the schedule and budget to ensure they are within reasonable tolerances, continuously adjusting for unseen circumstances, etc.), and executing (purchasing products for class, reaching out to the Medical Reserve Corps, canvassing the area with advertisement through posters, radio, social media, partnering organizations, and word of mouth, setting up a registration for classes, instructing classes, procuring interpreters for classes, procuring transportation for classes, etc.), and we ended with a train the trainer course to give the Medical Reserve Corps members the ability to go out into the community and give this training to continue this project on a wider scale.
The initial time frame for the project was one and a half years to complete a six session training series, twice (12 classes), which included a free emergency kit customization class and a train the trainer class providing thumb drives, presentations, materials, and handouts in order to expand the reach of the project throughout the community. There were many stakeholders involved from the center for disability rights, Rochester Institute of Technology, National Institute for the Deaf, Prevention First, Niagara University First Responders Disability Awareness Training, Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, Communication Service for the Deaf, etc.
Stakeholders aided in the process of creating an inclusive logo outlining class curriculum, advertising to the community, helping provide training locations, equipment, and staff. The project was a great starting point to foster these community relationships and begin to coordinate long-term collaboration. The initial project utilized $12,500 from the NACCHO MRC Challenge Award to purchase supplies, transportation, logo design, and interpreters. The start up cost and continuation costs can be zero by utilizing volunteers and partnering with organizations. It is completely scaleable to meet the resources. Providing customized emergency kits, transportation, and interpreters would be the three areas where funding, donations, volunteers, and agency collaboration would aid the project success. Local transportation allowed us to set up a line of credit with them for transportation cost since transportation could vary from $50 - $500 depending on the type of medical transportation. We also purchased local bus transit passes to mail or hand out participants that needed public transportation two classes. We allocated $300 for the bus passes, which covered transportation for a majority of those who needed it. The sign language interpreters cost around $30/hour and we needed to have two interpreters for each class due to the length of time. $500 was spent on a guest speaker and $500 was spent on logo design for flyers and the website. This design is established and able to be used in any County that would run this program free of charge.