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Columbia Explores Disaster Preparation Program
Thursday, October 26, 2006(Baltimore Examiner, Megan McIlroy) --
A new program could help Howard County residents work together to prepare for a terrorist attack, natural disaster or epidemic flu.
Through the Neighbor-to-Neighbor approach, "people will learn who is in the neighborhood daytime and night, who is retired and the psychological and medical needs of their neighbors," said Richard Krieg, president and chief economic officer of the Horizon Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes health and wellness.
The county foundation pitched the idea to Columbia's 10 villages, most of whom are interested in starting the program to make their communities more resilient.
The Neighbor-to-Neighbor program is part of the Community Emergency Response Network set up by the Horizon Foundation in Howard County after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Community Emergency Response Network is a partnership among the Horizon Foundation, county government and community agencies to prepare Howard County for disasters. The network recently helped organize the county's drive-through flu clinic.
About 180 people have attended Neighbor-to-Neighbor meetings in the county, and about 70 percent of those groups have met more than once, Krieg said.
The village of Oakland Mills plans to take the Neighbor-to-Neighbor program to its 75 street captains, leaders of a particular block who communicate information to residents from the village board.
"We are going to get involved at whatever level the residents choose," said Oakland Mills Village Manager Sandy Cederbaum. "It's a very grassroots means of being prepared."
Neighbor-to-Neighbor
In the program, residents of a block meet regularly to discuss people's needs and contingency plans for emergencies. Neighbors fill out forms that include:
- Cell phone numbers
- Pets
- Cars
- Names of people with special needs
- Names of people with skills that could be helpful in emergencies