TOWN HALL MEETING ATTRACTS CHURCHES ACROSS GALVESTON COUNTY

Close to 80 residents were in attendance to hear the
importance of being alert and prepared for the possibility
of having to respond to an attack by an individual or
individuals with the purpose of taking lives. We live in
such a different world. So much anger directed out –
perhaps to an individual, perhaps an institution, perhaps
a group of people lumped together due to a belief, a way
of looking or thinking. The idea that one’s home, one’s
place of worship, might be the least safe place to be, is
a difficult reality to grasp. But a reality it is and to ignore,
to stick our heads in the sand, helps no one and could
hurt far too many.
A Hate Crime is defined as a criminal act motivated
by bias. Far too often the crimes we see where tens of
hundreds of innocent lives are lost, begins with bias
against someone or something. We are coming to realize
that these threats all too often, do not originate from
outside our country but come from disaffected citizens
of our own country. Far too often these crimes can be an
extension of domestic violence or mental illness gone
unchecked unnoticed or unheeded.
Combine those ingredients with a small town, a rural
house of worship, and no planning due to no expectation
of violence and you have opportunity for a mass
shooting. That said, this Town Hall Meeting brought out
these and many other salient points all leading to the
conclusion that having a plan is an excellent first step
toward taking a responsible approach toward eliminating
an unacceptable act. There is a guide provided by
the federal government at FEMA.gov/plan which provides
guidance on the fundamentals of planning and
development of Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs).
Here is an excerpt from the FEMA Strategic Plan
The whole community approach to emergency management
calls for those who manage disasters to
understand and recognize both the needs and the
capabilities of affected survivors. Strategic Priority 1
promotes this approach, focusing on supporting and
empowering disaster survivors—including individuals,
households, organizations, and communities. Living
through a disaster can be a traumatic, life-altering experience.
Survivors then face additional challenges as
they navigate the systems designed to help them begin
the process of rebuilding their lives. Survivor-centric
programs prioritize ease of access to services, continuously
incorporating survivor feedback and shaping
processes to fit the needs of those affected. FEMA will
work with the whole community to ensure equal access
to disaster services and to meet the functional needs of
all individuals without discrimination. Through the following
objectives, FEMA will continue to work to ease
the impact of disasters on survivors and increase their
capacity to take effective and
practical steps to help themselves,
their families, and
their communities. Objective
1.1: Streamline and simplify
disaster services for individuals
and communities FEMA
plays a critical role in helping
survivors recover from
federally declared disasters.
Complex and disconnected
processes for accessing
disaster assistance and
critical services can add to
the burden faced by survivors,
impeding their ability to
successfully recover from a
disaster in a timely manner.
FEMA will focus on improving
the clarity of and access
to actionable information,
streamlining and simplifying
processes and policies, and ensuring that survivors
receive disaster assistance quickly and conveniently.
Emphasis will be placed on improving services for
individuals during initial contact, whether it involves
individual registration assistance, referral resources, or
reporting critical unmet needs. FEMA will also focus on
improving and streamlining community recovery services,
including grant processing and related interactions.
In addition to the assistance provided through a wide
range of FEMA programs, many survivor services are
also provided by other organizations including public-,
private-, and nonprofit-sector programs. FEMA plays
an important role in working with whole community
partners to help ensure that survivors can access applicable
services as efficiently and effectively as possible.