Center for Healthy Communities to lead new disaster resilience initiative in Mobile County
The USA Health Center for Healthy Communities will use a federal grant to support the taskforce of healthcare, public health, emergency management, and community partners in developing a countywide disaster preparedness plan.
By Michelle Ryan-Day
[email protected]
The USA Health Center for Healthy Communities (CHC) is helping lead a new effort to strengthen disaster preparedness, resilience, and health outcomes across Mobile County, thanks to a grant from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program.
The program has awarded more than $1.43 million through its Adaptive Capacities for Transformation (ACT) Initiative to 15 Gulf Coast projects across Mobile, New Orleans, and Houston. Among them, the Mobile County Disaster Health and Resilience Taskforce (DHRT) received a $99,949 planning grant.
Led by Ashley Williams Hogue, M.D., at the Center for Healthy Communities, the taskforce is intended to bring together healthcare, public health, emergency management, and community partners to develop a countywide disaster health preparedness plan. In addition to convening the group, CHC will also lead data collection and analysis.
“We will engage the working group in developing a health preparedness and response plan for Mobile County to ensure an optimal outcome for all before, during, and after any disaster,” said Williams Hogue, who is the center’s director.
The plan will form the basis for future grant proposals, program development, and implementation at the county level. It will also be shared with all partners to maximize the benefits for the entire county.
“CHC decided to form the DHRT, with support from the Gulf Research Program, because of its mission statement to ‘build stronger, healthier communities,’” Williams Hogue said. “Convening the DHRT allows us to learn from community members and organizations experiencing disaster-related impacts and outcomes. This knowledge can then be used to develop programs and strategies to contribute to the strengthening of Mobile County communities before disasters so that they are more resilient and healthier during and after disasters.”
Community engagement will be central, and will require active participation from local organizations, health agencies, and emergency management partners.
“We will deploy a survey to the community asking about health concerns, disaster preparedness planning, and resources they have available,” Williams Hogue said. “CHC will engage six community research assistants as data collectors to reach various communities and groups that CHC may not be able to reach on their own. The goal is to draw in as diverse a group of voices as possible from all over Mobile County.”
Williams Hogue added that collaboration is essential to the effort’s success.
“Our partners at Mobile County Health Department and Mobile County Emergency Management Agency bring diverse experiences, expertise, and resources to the table,” Williams Hogue said. “CHC values their partnership in understanding disaster-related issues in Mobile County and the development of the health preparedness and response plan that can serve as a basis for future partnership in program development and delivery of services.”
She emphasized that the project is a foundational step for future work.
“This grant is a planning grant,” Williams Hogue said. “It provides CHC with the connections and resources to undertake data collection and learn from the communities where the gaps are and what the community needs around disaster preparedness.”
The Gulf Research Program, created in 2013 after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, funds community-based projects aimed at improving resilience and health across the Gulf Coast.
