Who We Are
The East Vancouver Joint Co-op Emergency and Resilience Planning Project is an initiative of six housing co-ops: Paloma, Sitka, Rising Star, Sunrise, Westerdale and Laura Jamieson. Located within a five-block radius of one another in East Vancouver, our co-ops have been working together since 2017 to develop a joint emergency and disaster response, with the aim of ensuring greater emergency preparedness and increased resilience through a uniquely collaborative approach.
Over the past six years, our Joint Emergency and Resilience Planning Committee, made up of representatives from each co-op, has met regularly to share information on emergency planning, problem-solve and design a co-ordinated emergency and disaster response. The Toolkit featured on this website, prepared with the financial support of the federal Community Housing Transformation Centre, represents the culmination of our work to date. The full Toolkit, with its various components, is displayed in the “Toolkit and Resources” section of this website. All of the materials are downloadable, and we encourage anyone to use them freely.
Project Rationale
As Joint Planning Committee members began to learn about emergency planning though research, information-sharing and City of Vancouver emergency-preparedness workshops, we realized that none of our co-ops were well prepared for the “big one.” Few individual co-op members even had grab-and-go kits, let alone emergency water supplies. None of us had a fully developed building-level emergency plan. Our Joint Committee initially started planning for fire and earthquakes, but with the climate emergency literally on our doorsteps, we expanded our planning to cover extreme heat, drought, smoky air, power outages and infectious-disease outbreaks.
Our collaborative response is based on a “mutual aid” model, in which community members step up to support one another rather than relying on traditional government-led emergency response. In the event of a major emergency or disaster, government supports may be unavailable for days, weeks or even longer. An effective collaborative plan will allow our six housing co-ops to leverage our invaluable human and physical assets at the local level in response to both acute and long-term emergencies, as well as to other economic and social stressors.
Three Levels of Planning
The materials developed by our Joint Committee cover three levels of emergency and disaster planning: 1) the individual member or unit plan; 2) the building-specific plan; 3) and the joint co-op preparedness and response plan.
Individual Member Preparedness
An effective emergency and disaster response relies on co-op members having their personal emergency preparedness plans in place. These include up-to-date grab-and-go kits; sufficient shelter-in-place supplies, including water; an emergency contact list; and a good understanding of co-op evacuation procedures. This is the first line of emergency preparedness. Our goal is that, even if the wider community response fails, members of all six co-ops will be prepared for an emergency event at this basic level.
Much of our Joint Planning Committee work over the years has been aimed at supporting co-op members emergency preparedness. This is ongoing work, since we know that some of our members still do not have these essential supplies or plans in place. We continue to explore strategies that will make it easier for members to get their emergency plans in order, whatever barriers they may face.
Some of the strategies that we have used include:
- Purchasing grab-and-go kits for all members out of the co-op’s general budget.
- Encouraging members to purchase grab-and-go kit items on a weekly basis, rather than buying all items at once. (see Appendix P: Weekly Grab-and-Go Kit Challenge in the Toolkit and Resources section of this website.)
- Holding “show and tell” workshops where members can see what emergency kits look like
- Purchasing bulk emergency-water supplies for members
- Creating trivia games about emergency procedures and preparedness to play at co-op socials
- Making emergency planning a standing item at co-op general meetings
Building Preparedness
Each of our six co-ops has, or is in the process of completing, a building-wide emergency plan to be distributed to all co-op households. These plans cover various aspects of household disaster preparedness as well as outlining co-op procedures for safe evacuation and sheltering in place.
Since our six co-ops are similar in physical construction, size and number of households, we have created a building plan that each co-op can replicate with only slight modifications.
This sample plan, entitled “Paloma Member’s Emergency Plan,” is available for download from the Toolkit and Resources page. Although we developed it for housing co-ops, we feel that this sample plan will be generalizable across many different housing contexts, in particular apartment complexes. Feel free to use it and to customize it according to your own building’s needs.
Each co-op’s Emergency Planning Committee is responsible for ensuring that their members are familiar with the building emergency plan. People can be resistant to thinking about emergency planning, so our Joint Committee continues to brainstorm strategies for engaging and informing members. Holding regular fire and evacuation drills for members is one important way to do this.
Preparing co-op buildings for an emergency can also include assembling common emergency supplies. A list of “Common Emergency Supplies” is available for download from the Toolkit and Resources page. Our six co-ops have approached the question of common supplies in various ways. Some of us have designated storage space, either in the building or in an outdoor shed, for common supplies. Most co-ops have a large amount of water stored for emergency common use. One co-op constructed cisterns on-site to store co-op tap water for drinking that is replaced every six months. Common emergency supplies should also include items for outdoor cooking, shelter and latrines.
Joint Co-op Emergency Preparedness
The third level of planning encompasses our collaborative emergency response, including a communications protocol for our six co-ops and a detailed plan for setting up emergency hubs, both in our individual buildings and in a central shared location.
The Emergency and Resilience Planning Co-ordinator’s Guide downloadable from the Toolkit and Resources section details the plan and procedures for our collaborative disaster response. The guide is intended for those co-op members who will assume leadership or coordination roles in the event of an actual disaster.
Memorandum of Understanding
An important part of our collaborative process was the creation of an emergency planning Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is signed annually by the Board of Directors in all six co-ops. The MOU formalizes the agreement among our co-ops to support each other to the best of our ability in the event of an emergency or disaster. Through the MOU, each co-op commits to maintaining a minimum level of emergency preparedness, including the following:
- A comprehensive member and building emergency plan
- A designated Emergency Committee with a minimum of three members
- Grab-and-go kits for all suites, with supplies based on the number of household members
- A sufficient emergency water supply for all members for at least three days, ideally longer
- Adequate common emergency supplies to meet members’ basic needs
- Annual fire and earthquake drills
The Memorandum of Understanding can be downloaded from the Toolkit and Resources section.
Next Steps
With our Toolkit now complete, each co-op’s Emergency Planning Committee will start the work of establishing and training a team of Emergency Co-ordinators who can step up as leaders when called upon during a disaster. The Emergency Committees will also keep all co-op members up to date on the co-op’s emergency plan through workshops and other information-sharing activities.
Our Joint Planning Committee will continue to meet regularly to share information and to support each other’s efforts to get our co-ops fully emergency prepared. We consider our Joint Co-op Emergency and Resilience Plan to be a living document, and we’ll continue to revise and update it as we learn more about emergency and disaster planning.
What is perhaps most important, now that our joint emergency response plan is in place, is a focus on strengthening our social connections across co-ops. Relationship building lies at the heart of resilience and mutual aid. Shared activities like joint potlucks, craft groups, community work parties and more will help us to build and strengthen community – whether a disaster ever hits or not.