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Operation Step Up
For the three years (2002-05), Martin Volunteers (then
known as the Volunteer &
Community Resource Center) 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 VCRC 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, VCRC 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. VCRC’s 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. VCRC also recruited Markus Ford, the volunteer
who led several of the training sessions.
Amateur Radio:
Also for two years, VCRC’s 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 VCRC develop its
role in managing unaffiliated volunteers following a disaster. Martin County
emergency managers rely upon VCRC to set up a volunteer reception center for
recruiting, registering and assigning spontaneous volunteers. Through Operation
Step Up, VCRC 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, VCRC helped an
effort to recruit more retired and practicing medical professionals to volunteer
in the wake of disaster. VCRC 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, VCRC also received
grants related to event security and volunteer management mentoring.
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