As hurricane season approaches, what may be its most intense stretch, free shelter-volunteer training is being offered to Florida residents who may want to help when severe weather forces people from their homes.<\/p>\n
Here’s what to know<\/p>\n
American Red Cross and Jefferson County Emergency Management hosted the event last week in Monticello at the Jefferson County Emergency Management office, according to<\/a> local news outlet WTXL.<\/p>\n Organizers say the training is intended to prepare volunteers for hands-on disaster work in emergency shelters, including meal service, supply distribution, and support for families.<\/p>\n Candi Collyer, a community disaster program manager with the American Red Cross, said the organization already works closely with the county, adding to WTXL: “They have an excellent [Community Emergency Response Team] so we work with them very well, but we always could use shelter volunteers or volunteers in general.”<\/p>\n People interested in helping with disaster response, whether they live in Jefferson County or elsewhere in the region, are always welcome.<\/p>\n “Volunteers are 90% of our workforce,” Collyer said, “and we could never have too many.”<\/p>\n More background<\/p>\n In rural communities such as Jefferson County, emergency response often depends heavily on local volunteers. Running a shelter takes a village \u2014 it requires people who can welcome evacuees, organize food and supplies, and help keep the space safe, clean, calm, and functioning.<\/p>\n Around the world, advocates have also called for staff and volunteers to be trained to meet the needs of marginalized groups, including children, women, and LGBTQ+ people.<\/p>\n Shelter workers educated to maintain the availability of diapers and menstrual products<\/a> and to look out for threats of gender-based violence<\/a> can help ensure that emergency shelters are safe and welcoming for everyone.<\/p>\n Where can I learn more?<\/p>\n Here are some more insights on disaster preparedness, relief efforts, and recovery fundraising:<\/p>\n \u2022 Floridians could support survivors through Red Cross and Feeding America<\/a> donation efforts.<\/p>\n \u2022 Rescuers warn residents against common storm mistakes<\/a> that turn deadly.<\/p>\n \u2022 In Houston, a survey showed many residents still lacked basic hurricane plans<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 FEMA drew scrutiny after rescinding a key strategic plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 Communities across the Southeast organized fundraising and donation drives<\/a> for survivors.<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As hurricane season approaches, what may be its most intense stretch, free shelter-volunteer training is being offered to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2738,77426,52284,28,30,29,16694,10463,161650,161651],"class_list":["post-406897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-american-red-cross","tag-disaster-response","tag-emergency-shelters","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-residents","tag-jefferson-county","tag-jefferson-county-emergency-management","tag-shelter-volunteers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}