The purpose of the S.M.I.P.P. is to take action in response to recent FEMA research which indicated that there has been little increase in the number of prepared citizens over the past six years.
Forty percent of survey respondents did not have household plans.
80 percent had not conducted home evacuation drills.
Nearly 60 percent did not know their community’s evacuation routes.
The S.M.I.P.P. will seek to increase individual preparedness and resiliency among the citizens of Sierra Madre by including and collaborating with all identified stakeholders of the City of Sierra Madre, both traditional and non-traditional, along with their respective social networks. The facilitator of this project believes that individual preparedness will increase when the collective efforts of all community stakeholders are focused on the common goal of increasing preparedness.
This goal can be accomplished by maximizing the tools and resources that currently exist in FEMA such as The Ready Campaign along with the inclusion of the individual citizen. As Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, said before the Council on Foreign Relations in July of 2009;
“For too long we’ve treated the public as a liability to be protected rather than an asset in our nation’s collective security…We need a culture of collective responsibility, a culture where every individual understands his or her role.”
Now is the time to put the Secretary’s words into action.
A number of distinguished organizations have volunteered to participate in this project:
FEMA and the National Preparedness Directorate
The Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security
City of Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre Police Department
Sierra Madre Volunteers in Police Service
Sierra Madre Fire Department
Sierra Madre CERT
Sierra Madre Fire Safe Council
Sierra Madre Emergency Communications Team
Sierra Madre Library
Bethany Church of Sierra Madre
St. Rita's Catholic Church
Sierra Madre Congregational Church
Sierra Madre United Methodist Church
Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce
Sierra Madre Senior Commission
Sierra Madre Civic Club
Sierra Madre Women's Club
Kiwanis Club Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre Rotary Club
Alverno High School
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
Sierra Madre Individual Preparedness Project
info@SMIPP.org