Alliance for Response Groups
Spring into Action

A Forum is only the first step in Alliance for Response. Heritage Preservation encourages local planners to structure programs that lead to long-term benefits for cultural heritage and communities. Significant achievements have resulted.

Following their Fall 2009 Forums, the newest Alliance for Response alumni have announced programs for 2010:

• Vermont Alliance for Response is sponsoring a day-long workshop to prepare members of the Vermont Emergency Response Team for Cultural Institutions (VERTCI) to respond to disasters. The group is also working with the Vermont Emergency Management Agency to organize Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) training for cultural heritage staff.
• Among the priorities for Denver Alliance for Response are creating a local listserv, conducting a survey of Forum participants on progress with preparedness efforts, participating in the Colorado Emergency Preparedness Partnership, and developing a tabletop exercise in cooperation with the Denver Office of Emergency Management.
• The Triangle Alliance for Response, based in Raleigh, NC, plans to form a mutual assistance network, and the group is considering what kind of structure and organization will help them sustain efforts long-term. Priorities include the purchase of disaster supplies for a shared cache and response training for members.
• Savannah Heritage Emergency Response (SHER) is undertaking multiple efforts. On May 4, a day-long workshop will teach local institutions to use tools from Heritage Preservation’s pilot Risk Evaluation and Planning Program. Results of the risk assessments will help shape city-wide plans. SHER members are also working with the Chatham (County) Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) to develop the Emergency Support Function for cultural and historic resources.

It’s been a busy spring for other Alliance for Response partners as well. Efforts in Boston have led to a new annex for cultural heritage in the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The semi-annual meeting of Atlanta’s Heritage Emergency Response Alliance (HERA) on April 21, 2010, will feature guest experts on commercial disaster recovery and insurance issues. Members of Philadelphia Alliance for Response responded to a January 2010 fire at the Philadelphia Armory. Alliance for Response Pittsburgh hosted a March 23 meeting to promote MayDay 2010 and learn from the volunteer response to the Armory fire.

For up to date information about upcoming events in all of the Alliance for Response networks, visit the Alliance for Response Web pages.