Broward Municipal Services District Community Recovery Aides Program

About the Program

Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

After 13 years without a direct hit from a hurricane, Broward County felt the devastating impacts of Hurricane Irma. Recovery from property damages and losses is especially hard for unemployed Irma survivors. A ground assessment of unmet needs within the unincorporated Broward areas where some neighborhoods experience unemployment rates as high as 34 percent was vital to mitigation and emergency management. The County did not have the resources to deploy staff who were consumed by other Hurricane Irma recovery demands and regional obligations. In response, the County partnered with CareerSource Broward to create jobs for twelve unemployed Broward residents as temporary part-time Community Recovery Aides (Aides). Funding provided by the National Dislocated Worker Grant awarded to CareerSource Broward for humanitarian services offered a pathway to jobs and attaining needs assessment. Aides performed door-to-door community outreach and recorded data of unmet needs within the Broward Municipal Services District, unincorporated Broward. While earning income for their personal recovery, residents conduct face-to-face interviews and record data relevant to Hurricane Irma’s impacts within the Broward Municipal Services District. The Program delivers an evidence-based tool to analyze the community’s state of recovery and indicators for specific needs without a significant budgetary impact for the County.