West Virginia Citizen Corps
Prepare. Train. Volunteer.
“What can I do?” “How can I help?”
The West Virginia Citizen Corps program is a state and local initiative created to answer these questions and involve community organizations, individuals and volunteers in building a culture of preparedness. Regardless of where we live and who we are, we all have a role in making our communities safer, stronger and better prepared.
At the state level, the West Virginia Citizen Corps program promotes the message of citizen preparedness and supports the integration of local trained disaster volunteers into the state’s emergency plans. Across the state, local Citizen Corps Councils and volunteers are actively engaged in promoting and enhancing community preparedness.
Nationwide, Citizen Corps Councils reach 80% of the total U.S. population. In 2009, more than 800 WestVirginians volunteered to plan, train, participate in exercises, or conduct outreach to increase
community safety and resilience.
It starts with you. Are you ready?
West Virginia Citizen Corps
Impact -
Individuals who have volunteered to help in a disaster are more likely to be prepared than those who have not volunteered. (45 % compared to 25%). Volunteers participate in community outreach events, talk to children about being ready, plan and participate in trainings and get the skills they need to help their families and neighbors in the event of a disaster.
Citizen Corps funding, training supplies and other programmatic support reach 30 of West Virginia’s 55 counties (compared to 16 in 2007/8). Of the 30 active counties, 10 counties received $136,564 in grant funding from Volunteer West Virginia. Those counties are: Barbour, Doddridge, Greenbrier, Harrison, Jefferson, Marshall, Pendleton, Tucker, Tyler and Wood. (Current as of January 2010)
Program Areas
ReadyWV is an online tool and public education campaign that helps West Virginians know what to do before, during and after an emergency. The web site and materials list potential hazards and provide preparedness checklists, kids' activities, and more. To order bookmarks, family emergency guides, or other supplies for your public meeting or organization contact Heather.R.Foster@wv.gov.
CERT members get training to help first responders during an incident, participate in search and rescue efforts, and provide crowd control at public events, along with addressing a variety of locally identified needs.
In West Virginia, teen and adult volunteers in schools and youth groups engage kids in preparedness and safety activities through programs like Teen Community Emergency Response Training (Teen CERT). Teen CERT prepares youth to help themselves, their families, and their schools in the event of an emergency.
National Service Partnerships-
Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America national service members help strengthen West Virginia’s emergency preparedness at the local level. They distribute preparedness kits to home-bound seniors, coordinate emergency response trainings, and design disaster-related service projects.
September: National Preparedness Month-
During this month, Citizen Corps and other volunteer programs organize events and trainings to improve people’s ability to help themselves and others during an emergency.
Community Development-
Citizen Corps helps communities develop preparedness and response systems through grant support, training scholarships, and opportunities to participate in federal, state, and local trainings and exercises.