May 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 25

munity health can be. The social ties that develop
through community change efforts improve health outcomes
and support survival and recovery when disasters
occur. Too often, the under-resourced populations
in our communities are most affected by disasters.
Park and recreation agencies can take action to create
resilient communities. Consider these key factors
for preparedness and response:
Prepare - before an event
* Determine who is on your team. Identify and connect
with the right partners and staff.
* Create a component-based digital asset inventory in
GIS. Having a complete digital inventory of every
component your agency owns and manages can help
you secure federal funding, insurance dollars and
grants to rebuild.
* Know where your land and lease records are located
and have redundancy in case files are destroyed.
* Have a general security plan and emergency risk
management and communications plans. Make
sure staff know who is to work during an event,
how to contact each other, and how to cover for
personal needs.
* Create care and shelter plans. Often, park and recreation
facilities become shelter locations. Are you
ready to shelter hundreds of displaced families?
* Conduct training. Build your staff's preparedness
expertise, learn how to work with other regional
and federal agencies, and establish and understand
roles and responsibilities to prepare for the next
phase: response.
Respond - during an event, are you ready?
* How will your established Community Emergency
Response Team (CERT) react?
* Do you have mutual aid agreements with other
agencies so they can help, and can you reciprocate
as needed?
* Who will run your shelters and programs?
* Who will evaluate your parks, trails and facilities?
* In larger events, federal agencies - such as the Federal
Emergency Management Agency and Red Cross
- will respond. Are you ready to work with them
quickly?
Recover - the rebuild to normalcy
The best way to recover is to proactively plan so that
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No one likes to think about potential disasters,
but creating good plans, updating inventories,
and incorporating sustainable and resilient
designs will go a long way in preparing your
community and fostering resilience.
your parks and recreation facilities are designed and
updated to withstand natural disasters. When you
are building or updating your assets and programs,
incorporate disaster and resiliency planning as much
as possible. The more you prepare, the more quickly
you'll be able to mobilize, get funding to rebuild, and
help your community return to normalcy.
No one likes to think about potential disasters, but
creating good plans, updating inventories, and incorporating
sustainable and resilient designs will go a
long way in preparing your community and fostering
resilience. Additional help and training are available -
don't put off preparation any longer!
Teresa L. Penbrooke, Ph.D., CPRE, is Director of the Healthy
Communities Research Group for GP RED, a Consultant for BerryDunn,
and Co-Director/Faculty for the Parks and Recreation Emerging
Professionals Program for University of Colorado-Denver School of Public
Affairs Institute (teresap@gpred.org).
23_002191_Parks_Rec_MAY Mod: March 17, 2023 3:28 PM
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May 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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