We have been blessed with individual and group contributions as well as grants to support our various programs. Without that support we would not be able to continue our trainings (including CPR/First Aid and others), warming center operations, the Eastern Hancock Outreach and our other community engagement events. We are grateful for that support.

However, we have other regular operating costs that need to be covered as well – accounting, insurance, web site hosting, printing etc. Being an all volunteer organization it is a challenge to sustain a regular fund-raising program. Might you consider a gift to the Hancock County COAD fund at Community Foundation of Hancock County as a part of your year-end giving?

Here is the link to make that contribution online. HancockCOAD.org Just select the MAKE A DONATION button. You can also mail a check to Hancock County COAD at 1517 Bowman Drive, Greenfield, IN 46140.

30-day status report for the warming center.

We have opened 15 nights in the past month. However, we had guests on only 4 of those nights. We have had 7 different individuals come in.

To put things in perspective, the status of our regular guests from the past two years is as follows:

– at least 3 are currently guests of the sheriff

– at least one is staying at Hope House

– at least  7 have been able to find more permanent accommodations.

So we easily could have had 10 or more guests each night.  

Thank you again to our hosts at Boys and Girls Club and the volunteers who have filled shifts so far.  I appreciate your patience as we worked through the details of our new location.

Some of us remember the California wildfires of the 1970’s. Various jurisdictions operated under very different protocols and command structures.  They were unable to communicate with one another. The result was chaos and an ineffective response, resulting in greater loss of property than was necessary.  The long term result was federal legislation to standardize some areas for better response. FEMA was created, the concept of VOAD’s and COAD’s was instituted.

Most importantly there is now a standardized command structure, called the Incident Command Structure (ICS for short), that all players follow in the case of multi-jurisdictional response.

Regardless of the role you might be asked to play when a disaster strikes, you will find yourself in a position to request additional resources. Knowing how to do that within the ICS system will make your effort more effective and efficient.

Come to the EOC, 640 South Franklin, Greenfield on 11/2 at 7:00 PM to participate in an interactive demonstration/exercise of  the general message form (ICS-213) and the Resource Request version (ICS-213RR).