Prepare Your Community
Community Emergency Readiness Based on Compassion, not Fear
Our goal is to help communities across the nation prepare for disasters. We do that by providing recommendations at no charge to first responders, emergency managers, elected officials, and community champions.
We’re Good with Numbers
50K
volunteer hours
have generated our
best practices
14
communities so
far have adopted
our program
5
minutes is how
much time you need
to get started
$0
is what it
costs to get
recommendations
How We Can Help You
Our recommendation kits include:
Best Practices and
Planning Guides
Grant
Suggestions
Templates andSample
Documents
Gear & Supply Checklists
Standard Operating Procedures
Talking Points
Best Practices
and PlanningGuides
What’s the Catch?
There's no catch. We want to help. We have adopted a freemium business model, generating revenue through the consulting fees that some communities choose to pay to get additional support and guidance from us. This revenue stream enables us to give all other communities our recommendation kits free of charge.
Our Expertise
Our recommendations are based on the nearly fifteen years of experience of Bainbridge Prepares, an award-winning nonprofit serving the Bainbridge Island community, which is located across Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington, in earthquake and tsunami country.
What Makes Us Stand Out?
We operate out of compassion, not fear, which means that we approach emergency preparedness with eyes wide open and the ability to see, assess, and focus on the specific needs of the communities we serve. Our tried, tested, and refined recommendations to these communities are based on the fifteen years of experience of Bainbridge Prepares. They emphasize the power of volunteerism and a community approach through which people work together to achieve increased resilience.
This community approach extends to partnerships with and among organizations as well as up-the-stack strategies that integrate with federal and state agencies and down-the-stack strategies that work at the street and neighborhood levels. Our recommendations are also driven by practicality: Start with your strengths, start where the energy and personnel are, start with the biggest and most likely risks.
Sample Communities Adopting our Model
Edmonds, WA
"Connecting with PYC has greatly improved our knowledge and confidence for creating our own emergency preparedness program."
— Georgina Armstrong
South Whidbey Island, WA
"The PYC Model is just what we needed to organize ourselves with enthusiasm, commitment, curiosity and community care. It's contagious and so satisfying."
— Terra Anderson
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
"PYC has been an incredible asset to our community. Adapting their thoughtful, community-centered approach has helped us launch Carmel Prepares and bring our residents together around safety, resilience, and preparedness in a powerful way."
— Wanda Vollmer
South Whidbey Prepares is one of Prepare Your Community’s early adopters.
This powerful short film shows how South Whidbey residents are not only preparing for emergencies, but also enhancing their community:
What’s Your Situation?
Do you worry that in a disaster your community will be cut off from outside help?
Do you have volunteers in your community but no clear way to use them?
Are your elected officials, first responders, and community organizations all working independently on emergency prep?
Are you feeling overwhelmed and like you don’t know where to start?
Are you a community organizer frustrated that you can’t get traction on emergency prep with your community leaders?
Is your community ready to prepare but short on funding?
Don’t Worry! We Can Help.
We've Designed This for You
Prepare Your Community is built for residents, first responders, emergency managers, community champions, elected officials, and organizational leaders. Wherever you fit, your free account starts here.
Resident
You're a resident who wants your household ready for whatever comes, and you'd like to know your neighbors before you need them. You're looking for clear, practical steps you can start today, at your own pace and on your own budget. You hope to connect with the people on your street so you can look out for one another.
First Responder
You're a Fire Chief, Police Chief, or other Emergency Services Leader wanting to learn more about how to help your community prepare. You're looking for serious, experience-based recommendations that take into account NIMS and ICS (if you're in the United States) and the Emergency District Management Act (if you're in Canada). You want a program that acknowledges, supports, and integrates with Community Lifelines, EOCs, VOADs, and other county, state, provincial, and federal programs as well as with community-based organizations.
Emergency Manager
You're an Emergency Management Professional wanting to learn more about how to help your community prepare. You're looking for serious, experience-based recommendations that take into account NIMS and ICS (if you're in the United States) and the Emergency District Management Act (if you're in Canada). You want a program that acknowledges, supports, and integrates up to the county, state/province, and federal levels and with community-level organizations as well. You may manage an EOC or VOAD and want more insight into best practices.
Community Champion
You're a local volunteer who cares about the welfare of your neighbors. You want to increase the resilience of your community and are willing to spearhead efforts to develop local emergency preparedness. You hope to engage with local emergency professionals and local government to make this happen.
Elected Official
You're an elected official who cares about the welfare of your community. You have a mandate to increase the resilience of your community—or maybe this is a cause you believe in advancing locally. You want to engage with local emergency professionals, your fellow elected officials, and citizens to make this happen. You hope to recruit community volunteers to support the effort.
Organizational Leader
You're a leader of a local organization — a nonprofit, faith community, school, or business — that plays a role in your community's daily life. You want to build emergency preparedness into your organization's operations and extend that resilience to the people you serve. You hope to connect with local emergency professionals and government partners to strengthen your organization's readiness and its capacity to support the wider community.
FAQs
-
As mentioned, our recommendation kits are free of charge. If you want additional guidance, you may hire us to consult with your community.
-
Our guidance comes from 15 years of experience with Bainbridge Prepares, an award-winning volunteer-based emergency preparedness organization, and best practices cultivated from dozens of other towns across North America.
-
Included in the recommendation kit are strategies and steps to take to implement a preparedness program. We will help you figure out where to start and how to proceed through the process.
-
Every community is different. If yours does not have an emergency preparedness effort in place, then anyone—an elected official, a community champion, a first responder, an emergency manager—can lead the effort to increase your community's resilience. Don't wait for someone else to do it. You can get the ball rolling.
-
Getting prepared is an ongoing process. You will always be working toward increased resilience. Getting started, however, takes no time at all.