3 ways changemakers can START to prepare for emergencies

Changemakers are community builders, you can spot a need in your community, and figure out how to address it in a way that moves the community forward in the direction you envision.

• You may be a teacher supporting students to link history to current events,  

• Or you may be an outreach workers helping immigrants navigate government supports,

• Or you may be an artist teaching people how to reclaim their creativity,

• Or you may be a therapist helping clients living under oppressive systems,

• Or you may be a farmer, planting the food that nourishes your community,

• Or you may be a city councilor supporting community projects from city hall.

And you often find yourself too busy to take anything else on, but you might anyway. 

• You are already juggling the bureaucracy in the institutions you work at

• Or you are aiming for work life balance but find it hard to get all the work done at work

• Or you are just feel busy cuz you are so burnt out you don’t have a lot more energy to give

So you feel that addressing emergency preparedness is not something you are ready to take on right now, and I would agree with you. 

But I also know that as changemakers we struggle to ask for help, to delegate, to trust, or to be cared for in return.

So let’s start with you. How do you care for yourself by preparing for an emergency?

1. START your at home emergency kit. 

   1. My DIY 72hr Emergency Kit List makes it easy to know where to start, to start where you are at (you don’t need to go out and buy anything), and there is no pressure to complete it in one sitting.

   2. Preparing SOMETHING is better than preparing NOTHING, and starting NOW because emergencies always come when you least expect them to.

2. BUILD on your emergency kit. 

   1. Maybe you started with a reusable shopping bag and want to upgrade to a backpack, or you only have one asthma inhaler and want a second one that you can toss in the bag, or maybe you don’t have dependable emergency communication equipment and want to get a crank radio - and now are on the lookout for those items when you are on your local Buy Nothing group, at second hand stores, or grocery shopping.

3. LEAD by example.

   1. When your coworkers, clients, students, and community members ask you what you did over your weekend you can let them know what you did and that you were looking for items for your kit, perhaps ask if they know if they have come across that item. They might point you in the right direction, gift it to you, or at the very least start preparing themselves following your example.  

Caring for yourself is the FIRST step, and in doing so others start to care for themselves. 

Yes emergency plans that need to be made for you and your organization and your clients, yes there are probably funds that need to be found for kits, consultants, and other emergency measures. 

But start with taking 5mins to find the items you have at home and make yourself a kit, and make sure to talk about it with others. You might not even be at home to access your kit and you might depend on others to have a kit they can share with you, or vice versa. So the more folks getting prepared, the better it is for all of us.

And remember, we aren’t just preparing for an emergency, we are preparing for the future we want to live in.