WAITSBURG – Nearly two dozen people gathered at the Waitsburg Christian Church to spend last Saturday learning how faith-based organizations can help in preparing for and dealing with disasters. The FEMA course was hosted by the Waitsburg Resource Center and sponsored by the Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium.

Instructor Chris Herring traveled from Durham, North Carolina to facilitate the course that he initiated and helped develop. The Mobilizing Faith-Based Community Organizations (FBCO) in Preparing for Disaster course was developed to help communities understand and tap into the unique characteristics of faith-based organizations in responding to large-scale emergencies.

Herring explained that only about 1% of the population works in emergency-related fields and can’t possibly take care of the population in the case of an emergency. Faith communities have several characteristics that make them unique when it comes to providing aid, he said.

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security study analyzed relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina and found that FBCOs “did not augment the government response. Rather, they took the lead, and the government augmented their efforts.”

FBCOs are often more in touch with the vulnerable populations in a community and sometimes receive greater trust from those in need than the government does. These advantages, along with several others, can allow FBCOs to reach those who might otherwise be forgotten, raise funds effectively, and gain cooperation.

Pastors, volunteers, and city representatives from Dayton, Waitsburg, Prescott, Dixie, and Starbuck attended the day-long course that covered everything from planning and preparedness to recovery and mitigation.

“I thought it was fabulous. It was such good information. I’m so glad the resource center brought it to town. I only wish more people could have attended,” said Waitsburg City Council member Kate Hockersmith, who is on the Flood and Emergency Preparedness Committee.