A community-wide disaster seems doubtful—until it isn’t. That’s why preparation before a disaster strikes, and a robust response after, makes all the difference.

Adam Castle, the new Community Resilience Program Manager at Gryphon Place, leads a regional effort that’s making sure every community is ready to deal with any crisis. This role is made possible by the United Way of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region’s newly established Disaster Relief Fund, which grew out of United Way partnerships that addressed earlier crises.

Castle acts as liaison between Emergency Management and government partners and the nonprofit sector, coordinating nonprofit agency responses, as well as post-disaster reporting and debriefs. A partnership between Gryphon Place and United Way BCKR, the Community Resilience Program creates sustainable support, subject matter expertise and leadership of regional Response Consortiums. Community participants create readiness plans, take part in training, and connect so that when an event happens, they can easily guide people to the help they need.

“Communication is the biggest issue,” Castle explained. “In a disaster, it’s important to share helpful information and limit miscommunication and rumors.”

Recognizing United Way’s leadership in disaster relief funding, Castle proposed collaborating with Gryphon Place on the Community Resilience Program—specifically, funding a dedicated, focused role to keep the partnership informed and engaged. “After we’ve built the fundamental, individual capacity, how we collaborate is critical,” he said.

United Way agreed, and now Castle is helping partners build a stronger emergency response capacity across the region. That, he said, is key to resilience—the ability of the community and its people to respond to, cope with and recover from a disaster.

Helping communities respond to a crisis is nothing new for United Way. In recent situations, United Way worked with the Battle Creek Community Foundation and Kalamazoo Community Foundation to create response funds—the Help Now Fund following the 2016 mass shooting that took the lives of six Battle Creek and Kalamazoo residents, and the Flood Relief Fund for recovery efforts after the historic 2018 Kalamazoo River flood.

“By forming the Disaster Relief Fund now, before the next crisis hits, we’re prepared as a region to respond faster and better,” said Alyssa Stewart, United Way BCKR Vice President of Impact & Engagement. “Beyond our own investment in this fund, we’re grateful for the public and private partners who are joining with us to make Adam’s role a reality, including the City of Battle Creek, City of Kalamazoo, Calhoun County, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, and Stryker.”

While United Way handles disaster relief funding, Gryphon Place will coordinate volunteers when a disaster strikes. Meanwhile, Castle is connecting regularly with partners and preparing training programs. In fact, the Community Resilience Program has alerted response teams twice already this year—when ice jams threatened flooding along the Kalamazoo River, and when the 9-1-1 call system went down statewide.

Castle encourages residents to prepare themselves for disaster. The federal government’s website ready.gov has lots of ways for families to get ready.

“The more prepared you are, the easier it is for service providers to help you through recovery,” said Castle.

Want to help our regional community be disaster-ready? Support United Way’s Disaster Relief Fund! Click here to learn more.