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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0112.003 2014-2016PI ftsm Murashige, Laura From: Gomes, Kerrey <Kerrey.Gomes@redcross.org> Sent: Friday, April 10, 2015 8:03 AM To: Council Testimony Subject: Written Testimony for 4/14 hearing Attachments: County of Hawaii Testimonial FY16 - American Red Cross (for 4-14-15 hearing).pdf Hi, Attached is written testimony we would like to submit for the Human Resources and Social Services Committee meeting on April 14, at 10:OOam in support of the recommendations for nonprofit grant organizations for FY2015-16 (Communication 112.2). Thank you, Kerrey Gomes Major Gifts Officer American Red Cross of Hawaii ? c't 0 4155 Diamond Head Road s eo Honolulu, HI 96816 redcross.org/hawaii Email: Kerrey .Gomes(dredcross.org o Phone: (808) 739.8140 'Cs Fax: (808) 735 8626 American Red Cross 115 n� ✓ Pacific Islands Region t Comm. No. \ k 2-• 3 Ref. To:NSss� lef. DW _._ American 17.cd r-.>fi� Hawaii State Chapter April 10, 2015 Hawaii County Council West Hawaii Civic Center Council Building A 74-5044 Are Keohokalole Highway Kailua-Kona, H196740 Re: Recommendations for Nonprofit Grant Organizations for FY2015-2016 (Communication No. 112.2) Dear Councilmembers: The Hawaii State Chapter of the American Red Cross requests your support of FY2015-2016 County of Hawaii non-profit grant funding of $15,000 for our Disaster Response and Preparedness Program in Hawaii County. The Red Cross is the only non-profit organization that responds to disasters 24/7, 365 days a year. The Red Cross delivers help, hope and healing to people affected by disasters by transforming donors' generous funding into shelter, food and emotional support. Our mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. The primary goal of this program is to recruit, train, and coordinate volunteers to be on call to provide immediate disaster relief assistance to victims of disasters big and small, anytime, anywhere. In Hawaii, we respond to disasters every 4 days. Our immediate and compassionate services reduce the harsh physical and emotional distress that prevents people from meeting their own basic needs and helps them get back on their feet after tragedy has struck; our services are essential and irreplaceable. Response is only the tip of the spear. It takes preparation, resources, and infrastructure to be able to respond everyday throughout the year. We accomplish this with a small staff and hundreds of volunteers who work 12-hour shifts, morning, noon, and night. Volunteers need to be recruited beforehand and trained, put nn call, and deployed at a moments nol. whenever there is a disaster. We are a very efficient and effective organization because we highly leverage our volunteer resources and use them wisely. County of Hawaii non-profit grant funding would be used to support the partial salary and benefits of our only paid staff person on the Big Island who recruits and trains volunteers, works with volunteers to secure, inventory, and preposition disaster supplies, ensures that volunteers are mobilized to help disaster victims anytime and anywhere on the Big Island, organizes volunteers to conduct community disaster education outreach, and engages the community in disaster preparedness planning. These duties entail direct program expenses that are necessary and directly related to our disaster preparedness and response program efforts on the Big Island. If not all of the funding is received, we may not be able to train as many volunteers to carry out our humanitarian mission and educate as many individuals about being prepared for disasters. All disaster response and training are provided to the public free of charge. 55 Ululenl Street • Hilo. H196720 , Tel: 608-935-8305 Fax: 505-969-3673 o www.redcross oralhawail Page Two Red Cross Letter to Hawaii County Council According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2009 to 2013, 11.2% of the state of Hawaii's population lived below the poverty level, and 18.3% of Hawaii County's population lived below the poverty level. It is this vulnerable population that benefits the most from Red Cross services. Without the immediate emergency assistance of trained Red Cross volunteer responders, these poor and needy disaster victims would lack food, medical supplies, and delayed access to crisis counselors and financial assistance, which could result in more government resources being needed down the road. In the last fiscal year (7/1/13-6/30/14), the Red Cross in the County of Hawaii responded to 22 disasters on the Rig Island enabling 97 individuals to recover from their losses and begin rebuilding their lives; reached 1,865 people with disaster preparedness information through community presentations; held 10 disaster training courses, issued 171 disaster training certificates, and maintained a base of 160 active disaster volunteers in the County of Hawaii; trained 14 partner volunteers for a total of 56 partner volunteers (reserve corps of disaster partner volunteers who can be activated during large-scale disasters). During the first three quarters of FY35, we have already responded to 14 disasters in Hawaii County helping 50 individuals, reached 3,274 people with disaster preparedness information through 21 community disaster education presentations. Throughout the year, we will continue to train volunteers, conduct disaster preparedness education outreach in the community and provide disaster relief assistance. In addition to responding to every day disasters, when major disasters strike, like Tropical Storm Iselle, the Red Cross plays a critical role. Working with State and County Civil Defense as well as other partners at Emergency Operations Centers across the state, we put 1,500 volunteers on alert and over 200 Red Cross workers assisted with the response (about 94% were volunteers). The public was informed on how to prepare and what items to take with them to hurricane shelters. We opened 32 evacuation shelters housing 2,041 people in one night. Red Cross evacuation shelters were staffed with Red Cross volunteer nurses and trained mental health workers, and these workers helped 950 people with health assessments and emotional support. Over 4,500 meals and snacks were provided, and about 19,500 relief supplies were distributed, including water, ice, batteries, work gloves, trash bags, comfort kits, clean up kits and tarps. Every day, the power of nature shows us exactly how vulnerable we are, and no one can predict when or where the next disaster will strike. For the past 98 years, the Hawaii Red Cross has kept a simple promise—to be thereto alleviate human suffering. As an island state and considering the time it takes for assistance from the mainland, having the response capacity on island immediately after a disaster is essential. Although we work side by side with police, fire fighters, military and civil defense, we are not a government agency and receive no funding from the federal or state government for disasters. Instead, we rely on donations to provide critical services to the community. We humbly ask for your support, which will enable us to sustain our ability to help people through the entire disaster cycle— preparedness, response and recovery. Wi th Coralie Chun Matayoshi Chief Executive Officer