Prioritizing Equity in Recovery -Sonoma County post Winter Storms 2023

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

Beginning on December 26, 2022, and continuing through January 18, 2023, Sonoma County, CA was battered by a series of rainstorms that, resulted in death, loss, and devastating economic impacts to working families who typically experience institutional marginalization and underservice during disaster response and recovery. While these impacts did not result in a federal major disaster declaration, many local families were impacted by housing, food, and income instability due to weeks of lost work and ongoing power outages. Recognizing this even as the disaster was unfolding, Sonoma County and its Community Based Partners launched a pilot recovery program which placed equity and trust at the foundation. The Recovery Support Center program allowed the community based organizations to reach into their trusted relationship with the communities affected to provide funding and resources to those most affected. Through the collection of meaningful real-time data the County and its project partners have learned important facts about those affected that can feed programmatic elements in future recovery efforts to help families move forward post disaster to a new and better level of sustainability.