Community Engagement – Strength in Numbers

Return on investment (ROI) is a common metric for evaluating investment profitability. Although the term often refers to financial activities, it can also apply to human interactions, which can be much more profitable. When community leaders in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery invest in engagements with community members, the ROI can be measured in lives, properties, and money saved:

• Teaching children how to prepare for disasters makes them less vulnerable to many threats.
• Listening to and working with people with disabilities ensures that resources are allocated where they are needed most, not where others assume they will be useful.
• Leveraging resources and information from the community reduces costs and time after a disaster.
• Identifying and bridging gaps within the community improves access to critical medical and other supplies that can be scarce when demand is high.
• Bringing all community stakeholders to the table for planning and exercises addresses unmet needs that could otherwise go unnoticed.
• Building awareness of new and emerging threats protects vulnerable people from devastating consequences.

The authors in this August edition of the Domestic Preparedness Journal address all these benefits and more. Community engagement is not simply about building relationships. The ROI of these interactions provide a foundation to strengthen the entire community against known and not-yet-known threats.