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38

E

UR

A

MERICA

organization, a local EM agency may meet quarterly with local

non-governmental groups to share information and discuss EM

issues. Compared with private companies, non-governmental

organizations are viewed more philanthropically as they work

voluntarily with local governments, consider human needs, and

are more involved in the community providing shelter, medical

services, food, and clothing during disasters. A small county

director mentioned that the following:

I will ask help from non-profit [organizations] if I don’t

have enough manpower. Like if I had a family that lost

their home . . . we don’t even have a clothing store here,

so we may have to have the United Way four miles

away send them [the families] the clothes or whatever

to help the families or send furniture to help the

families, not relying on the staff from other [public]

agencies. The non-profit . . . we have the network and

they all work together and try to get the supplies you

need to victims. (ID9)

Local faith-based groups are also important volunteer

partners providing manpower to local governments in response

to disasters. The director of a large county noted the following:

There are lots of churches within our communities.

They have large followings . . . that is a huge resource

there in the way of manpower and facilities . . . we try

to work with the faith-based organizations as well. (ID2)

Non-governmental organizations have their own strengths

with respect to providing diverse assistance in case of an event.

Local EM agencies collaborate with these partners, offering

whatever they can do best. Local EM agencies are responsible

for recognizing the professional capabilities of each non-

governmental organization and assigning it appropriate duties

when responding to various types of disasters. An interviewee

mentioned the following: