2022 Chapters (Layout Features)

Building Child-Focused Community Resilience Utilizing A Community-based, Multi-modal Educational Approach

Schlegelmilch, Jeffrey; Sury, Jonathan

The case study presented explores the disaster literacy facets of the Resilient Children/Resilience Communities (RCRC) Initiative. The community-based project aimed to build the capacity of six unique communities in the United States and its territories. The RCRC aimed to build a model of child-focused community resilience through a community mobilization approach. The community mobilization approach seeks to engage a broad range of sectors, groups, and individuals across a given community to facilitate change. In this case, the approach was focused on building disaster knowledge, providing evidence-base for child-focused preparedness at the institutional level, enhancing disaster planning, and supporting local and national advocacy for the unique needs of children in disaster. The following case study provides the theoretical underpinnings behind the model and demonstrates the educational outputs throughout the entire initiative. The model presented is not one-size-fits-all but aims to illustrate how community-driven and contextually appropriate disaster preparedness and resilience programming can lead to significant improvements in disaster planning and an enhanced culture of preparedness.