Operation Step Up

For the three years (2002-05), Martin Volunteers applied for and received Operation Step Up grants for local projects aimed at lessening the effects of disaster and enhancing the community’s ability to respond. The grants brought about $60,000 in funding to Martin Volunteers and its partners.

Across the state, Operation Step Up projects engage volunteers in homeland security initiatives and disaster planning and response. The grant program was sponsored by Volunteer Florida through a grant from the federal Corporation for National and Community Service. In 2005, Operation Step-Up concluded the third year of a three-year funding cycle.

In Martin County, the funding has helped in several areas:

Business Continuity:

For two years, Martin Volunteers helped the Martin County chapter of the American Red Cross with the business continuity classes it holds for people who operate small businesses or nonprofit agencies. Martin Volunteers’ Operation Step Up funding purchased training materials and weather radios for participants in the classes, which teach ways for businesses and agencies to be operational as soon as possible following a disaster. Martin Volunteers also recruited Markus Ford, the volunteer who led several of the training sessions.

Amateur Radio:

Also for two years, Martin Volunteers’ Operation Step Up grant helped an amateur radio service group (Martin County ARES/RACES) with training materials, recruitment efforts and communications equipment. Emergency managers continue to rely heavily on amateur radio volunteers in the immediate aftermath of disasters, and additional trained volunteers are needed to ensure that such back-up communication is always available.

Disaster Volunteer Management:

This Operation Step Up initiative helped Martin Volunteers develop its role in managing unaffiliated volunteers following a disaster. Martin County emergency managers rely upon Martin Volunteers to set up a volunteer reception center for recruiting, registering and assigning spontaneous volunteers. Through Operation Step Up, Martin Volunteers was able to train staff and volunteers, hold drills and fine-tune policies and procedures in order to manage volunteers. All of these efforts paid off following the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005.

Community Health:

In the third year of Operation Step Up, Martin Volunteers helped an effort to recruit more retired and practicing medical professionals to volunteer in the wake of disaster. Martin Volunteers worked with the Martin County Health Department to attract health care workers who would be interested in volunteering either after a disaster or on a routine basis at the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic.

MISC:

In the first year of Operation Step Up, Martin Volunteers also received grants related to event security and volunteer management mentoring.