One Charleston for Resiliency: A Template for America’s Strategic Communities
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Rosalie J. Wyatt December 21, 2019
Augmenting the public sector response capacity by leveraging the capability of private, community and faith-based organizations. America’s security, in large part, depends upon the resiliency of its strategic military base and port communities. Federal, state, local law enforcement, agency leaders and first responders know the importance of this mission.
History reveals that America’s faith-based, community and private sector leaders have willingly collaborated during times of need to reinforce or augment the public sector response during the first 72 hours of crisis. This community-level collaboration is evident in the strategic port community of Charleston, South Carolina and can serve as a template for America’s strategic communities. Indeed, there’s room for every community to advocate this approach.
One Charleston for Resiliency emerged from a recent ReadyCommunities Partnership roundtable attended by Charleston-area stakeholders as a succinct description for Charleston’s model of collaboration and engagement for community resiliency in the first 72 hours.
Within the context of the incident command system, One Charleston for Resiliency brings together private sector, community and faith-based organization leaders to discuss their respective capacity and expertise with the public sector, sometimes on a moment’s notice. From the mayor’s office to the pulpit and across the community, One Charleston for Resiliency describes a community which looks to itself and not to others to remain resilient in the face of a large-scale crisis.
One Charleston for Resiliency describes the nature and behavior of the people of Charleston, SC and the tri-county area in response to crises. The Charleston community has experienced an array of large-scale crises including Hurricane Hugo and the Mother Emanuel tragedy. In response, locals drew together for what was needed during the response and recovery. As a result of these experiences, the community has demonstrated its tightly knit, collaborative and can-do nature that fosters compassion, forgiveness and solidarity to face new threats.
Again, the One Charleston for Resiliency approach was evident when Charleston faith-based, community and private sector leaders who participated in a ReadyCommunities Partnership hosted the Community Resiliency Initiative Roundtable on September 18, 2019. Here they identified Charleston-area practices, lessons learned and recommendations for buoying community spirit and sustaining civic institutions during the first 72 hours of a large-scale or national crisis.
Excerpts of a few of their roundtable remarks, posted at www.readycommunities.org, which underscore the intent and tempo of One Charleston for Resiliency are listed as follows:
“… if we would just work together to enhance what each other are doing, we could make a much more, larger impact.” (Rev. Dr. Byron LeaVance Benton; Pastor, Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church);
“….preparedness and expertise need to be just as present in the information age for a successful response. A plan integrating the community is even more critical now.” (Capt. John E. Cameron, U.S. Coast Guard (ret.), Tradeworthy, Inc.);
“…members of the city’s Jewish community made a circle and began to recite the Hebrew Prayer of the Dead…and that touched my heart…That was their way of showing solidarity to us (Mourning the Mother Emanuel Faithful Nine).” (Damon L. Fordham; Professor, Charleston Southern University);
” We’re not just rebuilding our communities using brick and mortar but by using love and compassion.” (Guy Van Horn, Critical Incident Stress Management and Peer Support Coordinator, Charleston County Sheriff’s Office).
“Where there is unity there is strength.” (Marsha Bibb-Goggans Johnson, Founder, Women Helping other Women WHOW, Inc.);
“We’re all in this together.” (Hurricane Hugo First 72 Hours) (Dr. Michael G. Schmidt, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina).
While the underlying principles of One Charleston for Resiliency are the same regardless of the community, not all communities will develop it in the same way, giving each the opportunity to develop their own approach.
Policy leaders for America’s strategic port communities might consider the value and return on investment in recognizing the modus operandi of One Charleston for Resiliency as a template and component of each overall community-level preparedness and response plan.
Furthermore, to formalize community-level engagement, teams can be formed with Corporate Crisis Response Officers (CROs), each of whom represent a sector or institution and bring its respective capacity to the response in coordination with the local public sector emergency response officials. CROs can also fill seats at public sector-initiated projects such as fusion or interagency operation centers. Integrating CROs from the local community, faith-based and private sectors for information sharing could be an opportunity to further enhance the value of port interagency operation centers in times of crisis. For example, Project SeaHawk is an interagency operations center committed to security at the Port of Charleston, SC. In an article published by the Coast Guard Compass on July 7, 2009, Lt. Connie Braesch mentioned that Project SeaHawk was piloted in 2003 under the Safe Port Act of 2006 to counter terrorism and other threats to the strategic port community.
To learn more about the corporate Crisis Response Officer, as advocated by the ReadyCommunities Partnership, which continues the work of the Gilmore Commission to develop national plan with a larger role for the private sector, please review the August 31, 2009 article by Dr. Michael G. Schmidt and Hon. Asa Hutchinson as published in the Washington Times: The Coming Pandemic; Can American Business Survive?
Author: Dr. Rosalie J. Wyatt, MBA directs the ReadyCommunities Partnership, a project of the Corporate Crisis Response Officers Association. Her professional experience includes over-the-counter trading in New York, NY and technology marketing in Silicon Valley, CA. She traveled to Afghanistan for Telephone Systems International, internationally for Motorola and to North Africa for international development. Dr. Wyatt has a Ph.D. in public policy and serves on the Bayat Foundation board.
One Charleston for Resiliency: A Template for America’s Strategic Communities
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Rosalie J. Wyatt
December 21, 2019
Augmenting the public sector response capacity by leveraging the capability of private, community and faith-based organizations.
America’s security, in large part, depends upon the resiliency of its strategic military base and port communities. Federal, state, local law enforcement, agency leaders and first responders know the importance of this mission.
History reveals that America’s faith-based, community and private sector leaders have willingly collaborated during times of need to reinforce or augment the public sector response during the first 72 hours of crisis. This community-level collaboration is evident in the strategic port community of Charleston, South Carolina and can serve as a template for America’s strategic communities. Indeed, there’s room for every community to advocate this approach.
One Charleston for Resiliency emerged from a recent ReadyCommunities Partnership roundtable attended by Charleston-area stakeholders as a succinct description for Charleston’s model of collaboration and engagement for community resiliency in the first 72 hours.
Within the context of the incident command system, One Charleston for Resiliency brings together private sector, community and faith-based organization leaders to discuss their respective capacity and expertise with the public sector, sometimes on a moment’s notice. From the mayor’s office to the pulpit and across the community, One Charleston for Resiliency describes a community which looks to itself and not to others to remain resilient in the face of a large-scale crisis.
One Charleston for Resiliency describes the nature and behavior of the people of Charleston, SC and the tri-county area in response to crises. The Charleston community has experienced an array of large-scale crises including Hurricane Hugo and the Mother Emanuel tragedy. In response, locals drew together for what was needed during the response and recovery. As a result of these experiences, the community has demonstrated its tightly knit, collaborative and can-do nature that fosters compassion, forgiveness and solidarity to face new threats.
Again, the One Charleston for Resiliency approach was evident when Charleston faith-based, community and private sector leaders who participated in a ReadyCommunities Partnership hosted the Community Resiliency Initiative Roundtable on September 18, 2019. Here they identified Charleston-area practices, lessons learned and recommendations for buoying community spirit and sustaining civic institutions during the first 72 hours of a large-scale or national crisis.
Excerpts of a few of their roundtable remarks, posted at www.readycommunities.org, which underscore the intent and tempo of One Charleston for Resiliency are listed as follows:
While the underlying principles of One Charleston for Resiliency are the same regardless of the community, not all communities will develop it in the same way, giving each the opportunity to develop their own approach.
Policy leaders for America’s strategic port communities might consider the value and return on investment in recognizing the modus operandi of One Charleston for Resiliency as a template and component of each overall community-level preparedness and response plan.
Furthermore, to formalize community-level engagement, teams can be formed with Corporate Crisis Response Officers (CROs), each of whom represent a sector or institution and bring its respective capacity to the response in coordination with the local public sector emergency response officials. CROs can also fill seats at public sector-initiated projects such as fusion or interagency operation centers. Integrating CROs from the local community, faith-based and private sectors for information sharing could be an opportunity to further enhance the value of port interagency operation centers in times of crisis. For example, Project SeaHawk is an interagency operations center committed to security at the Port of Charleston, SC. In an article published by the Coast Guard Compass on July 7, 2009, Lt. Connie Braesch mentioned that Project SeaHawk was piloted in 2003 under the Safe Port Act of 2006 to counter terrorism and other threats to the strategic port community.
To learn more about the corporate Crisis Response Officer, as advocated by the ReadyCommunities Partnership, which continues the work of the Gilmore Commission to develop national plan with a larger role for the private sector, please review the August 31, 2009 article by Dr. Michael G. Schmidt and Hon. Asa Hutchinson as published in the Washington Times: The Coming Pandemic; Can American Business Survive?
Author: Dr. Rosalie J. Wyatt, MBA directs the ReadyCommunities Partnership, a project of the Corporate Crisis Response Officers Association. Her professional experience includes over-the-counter trading in New York, NY and technology marketing in Silicon Valley, CA. She traveled to Afghanistan for Telephone Systems International, internationally for Motorola and to North Africa for international development. Dr. Wyatt has a Ph.D. in public policy and serves on the Bayat Foundation board.
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