In order to better prepare for future natural disasters, the NC Housing Coalition hosted a week of disaster recovery training designed specifically for housing counselors. The September 9-13 training, developed in partnership with NCRC and the JPB Foundation, provided 60 housing counselors and other housing professionals from across North and South Carolina with a variety of education and resources. In addition to equipping attendees for frontline response to events such as Hurricanes Michael and Florence, the training included proactive strategies to prepare for future storms. The weeklong training featured topics such as housing counselor roles in recovery efforts, outreach planning and activity, and administering a disaster counseling program. “We look forward to putting into practice everything that we learned during the training,” said Roselin Rodriguez-Pinto from Fairweather Family Lodge in Fayetteville.
With the prospect of increased frequency and intensity of future storms, it is more important than ever for housing counselors to be prepared for the specific challenges that natural disasters bring to communities. One year after Hurricane Florence, many homes and businesses have yet to fully recover, and some much-needed affordable housing stock has been permanently lost. Disaster recovery training is one crucial step to building resilience in the wake of these storms. We hope to provide future trainings. If you are interested in being alerted when those trainings become available, become a member, and you will receive training alerts.
