Mobile. Fifty key stakeholders representing Mobile and Baldwin Counties community-based and faith-based organizations,state and local governmental agencies, and representatives from Project Reconnect of Houston,TX, will meet Tuesday, Dec. 15 to discuss “Emergency Preparedness, Management and Recovery for Vulnerable Populations”
The meeting is hosted by Tri-Coast Community Outreach, Inc., of Grand Bay and a
partner organization with sponsor Project Reconnect - a joint project of the Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Research Center (CDRC) at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, and the Intercultural Cancer Council (ICC), administered by the CDRC.
Participants will meet from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at the Community Foundation of
Southwest Alabama, 212 St. Joseph Street, in Mobile, to share ideas and recommendations about emergency preparedness and planning and working at the grassroots level in the community.
“The overall goal of Project Reconnect is to develop a web-based mapping process model
and plan that can be implemented to address health care needs of the chronically ill in response to future natural and man-made disasters - to “reconnect”
This plan requires assessment of regional strengths and challenges of each community,
and provide training and technical assistance for community-based organizations (CBOs) and faith-based organizations (FBOs) from the five Gulf Coast states, including Alabama, to work with local health departments and agencies, along with other organizations in dealing with emergency preparedness and disaster management.
Round table discussion topics include a method to integrate local CBOs/FBOs into emergency preparedness, management and the recovery process, a method for mapping existing community resources, assets, networks, and opportunities for such collaboration;
Project Reconnect began in January 2006 after the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when 180,000 people relocated to the Houston area. With funding from the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Project Reconnect conducted a series of meetings throughout the Gulf Coast region for community-based organizations who were located in the five target states – Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas – who were actively involved in working at the grassroots level within their community.
Four more round table discussions will be held during the next 30 days in Houston, Pascagoula, New Orleans and Tampa discussing the same topics related to each region. Project Reconnect also participates in a consortium of five other health care institutions funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and to address emergency preparedness and disaster management along the Gulf Coast.
For more information, contact Carolyn Thompson, Tri-Coastal executive director, (228) 623-0017.
About the Intercultural Cancer Council, Inc.
The Intercultural Cancer Council is the largest national nonprofit organization that addresses health disparities in the United States, and is located at the Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Research Center (CDRC) at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
About Tri-Coastal Community Outreach, Inc.
Tri-Coastal Community Outreach, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, grassroots community-based organization that provides short-term and long-term outreach assistance to families in Mobile County and the Gulf Coast region
community. They are located at 10520 Highway 188 in Grand Bay, Alabama..
