Community Organizations Active in a Disaster Program

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Charlotte County strives to preserve and enrich the quality of life for those who live, work and vacation here and the COVID-19 pandemic has been a true test of its level of dedication, ability to collaborate with other agencies and foresight in providing strong support to the county departments and local organizations who created the Community Organizations Active in Disaster Program, otherwise known as the COAD. By March 2020, the novel coronavirus had spread worldwide and locally, schools, businesses and public facilities had begun to close, with several thousand workers being furloughed, laid off or displaced. To respond to this crisis, a coalition of nonprofits, government and private interests came together to form the COAD. Within 24 hours, a website was launched as a “single point of entry” for assisting residents experiencing economic hardships caused by the pandemic. The public immediately had access to up to date virus information (including testing locations and registration) and a universal emergency assistance application that could be used by all COAD partners.. The COAD model and the energetic people who implemented it have proven this program to be highly successful, efficient and accountable, all while operating remotely and under a state of emergency. To date, approximately 4,000 applications have been processed, 10,566 residents have been served and over $5.7 million was distributed to households throughout the county.