Teamwork Builds Tools and Skills for Community Preparedness

News by Angela Downs

When collective power magnifies each individual’s strength, we see the beauty of gathering together.

Isabel, Lucy, Frankie and Marisa are four friends and collaborators with a shared vision of community wellness through an interest in safety that is mutual and inclusive.

With the help of Jefferson County Public Health, Local 2020 and the Neighborhood Preparedness team, they hosted Survive and Thrive Together, a free, community-based emergency preparedness event on May 31 at the Tri-Area Community Center in Chimacum.

With an emphasis on collective liberation through communities relying on one another and not the government, they offered a Go-Bag buffet, on a sliding scale of $10-60 per bag, with no one turned away for lack of funds, promoting generosity and abundance.

The go-bags contained emergency food, reusable, lightweight cutlery sets, paracord, duct tape, waterproof matches, emergency blanket, candle, compass, carabiner, permanent marker, pencil and pen, notebook, whistle, biodegradable soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, toilet paper, stacked first aid kit, pocket knife, and thick gloves.

There was also community art banner-making, bringing beauty into the space, and free food, some donated by Stellar Jay Farms.

Isabel organized the skill share part of the event: “It's not only having tools. It’s building skills and practices around survival and the poli-crisis [multiple, interconnected crises overlap and amplify each other, such as the pandemic, war, climate change, and civil unrest],” Isabel said. ”I want to emphasize that we are not safe unless everyone is safe.”

"Emergency preparedness does not have political affiliation, it can be a topic of common ground. When an emergency and disaster happens, you only have who's around. It was great to see all the different types of people who came to the event. I encourage people to engage with courage.”  - Frankie

Sessions included wildfire health and safety, herbal first aid, and social permaculture for times of resilience. Others were autonomous death care, cordage, how to build a fire, gun safety, stop the bleed, and a forest defense song share.

“I have known the importance of creating a go-bag but was overwhelmed,” said Marisa, a land steward. “I asked Frankie for help, and then asked the question, 'If I’m making one, why not make 100?’”

“2020 was when I encountered Octavia E. Butler and her book Parable of the Sower and the sisters adrienne maree brown and Autumn Brown and their book How to Survive the End of the World,” said Frankie, a queer transmasculine farmer/gardener managing the community Garden for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. “I learned the importance of go-bags and what it means to live in quickly changing times.”

Leading up to Trump’s second presidency and the potential civil unrest, the team of friends said they noticed a lack of preparedness tools in the community. And they wanted to help fill the gap.

The support from one another gave relief from solitary efforts. They hope the success of the Survive and Thrive Together event will evolve into the team collaborating on another event. Or potentially, others in the community will take it up.

After all, relationship building is preparedness, and knowing each other is the number one resource, they believe.

"Emergency preparedness does not have political affiliation,” Fankie said.”It can be a topic of common ground. When an emergency and disaster happens, you only have who's around. It was great to see all the different types of people who came to the event. I encourage people to engage with courage.”

All members of the small but eager team were proud of the community that attended.

“I was impressed with the community members' readiness to engage and ask questions,” said Lucy, a farmer and gardener. “Talking about emergency preparedness can be scary, and it says a lot when people are willing to show up and be open.”

Marisa encourages people to reach out and organize by finding people with whom to create and revolutionize.

Isabel said, ”I want to continue to encourage people to ponder what you have in abundance, then think of how you can share that. Sometimes it’s an abundance of energy or time. That is worth sharing.”

After the event, the team reported people asking about leftover materials to make a go-bag.

”A reminder that people have to come to things in their own time,” Frankie said.