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To learn more about the Broomfield Volunteer Emergency Response Team, email co-chairs Carina Martin and Karen Steele at BroomfieldVERT@gmail.com.
A group of Broomfield organizations have come together to create an emergency disaster team that could deploy as soon as the next fire, flood or other disaster hits.
The new Broomfield Volunteer Emergency Response Team, or VERT, aims to coordinate efforts between nonprofits, churches and volunteers, so everyone can work together safely and efficiently when people need help.
The goal is to join forces during disasters to create a stronger support network for victims while avoiding the duplication of efforts, said VERT member Kent Davies, emergency manager for Broomfield.
“Emergency management is about involving the whole community,” he said.
VERT founders Carina Martin, of A Precious Child, and Karen Steele, of Broomfield FISH, said the two organizations are used to helping members of the community, especially after the September 2013 floods. Yet Martin and Steele felt a wide variety of Broomfield organizations could effectively and rapidly share resources in the event of a future disaster.
“We can’t do it all ourselves. We’re just the catalysts for this” group, Steele said.
At an introductory meeting on Tuesday, VERT organizers and volunteers from around the city met each other for the first time to offer ideas about disaster response, and to ask questions about the best ways to respond to emergencies as a Broomfield-wide team.
Members of The Salvation Army, Mental Health Partners, FRIENDS of Broomfield, the Broomfield Police Department, the Broomfield Community Foundation, numerous church groups and other organizations crowded into a meeting room to share their ideas.
The group is still seeking volunteers to join the effort.
The meeting addressed questions such as how to organize and communicate with cohesive groups of volunteers, offer appropriate shelters for families, offer bilingual services and provide meals, showers and other basic necessities.
Participants also filled out forms with basic information, such as whether their church or building had a commercial kitchen, showers or space for people to sleep. VERT will compile that information into a database to organize and share resources, Martin said.
The volunteers also talked about ways toavoid overcomplicating relief efforts.
“We all want to help. That’s what drives us, but we need to do it in a coordinated fashion,” Davies said. “We want to cut down on the duplication of efforts and not miss the things that need to be done.”
During the meeting, participants also watched a video from Rev. Drew Depler of LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont.
During the 2013 floods, the church found itself in a position of having to house, feed and care for many people affected by the flood. Depler’s congregation stepped up to provide sleeping space, food and other resources for people who were stranded at the church.
It was a major learning process, but it made a major impact, he said.
The LifeBridge model can serve as an example from which Broomfield organizations can learn, Martin said.
With teamwork and communication,organizations can work together to smoothly offer services and support during a time of emergency, she said.
VERT “is new, but it’s powerful for our city,” she said.
Megan Quinn: 303-410-2649, quinnm@broomfieldenterprise.com or twitter.com/MeganQuinn2
