With the scope and scale of disasters increasing, municipalities need to move beyond the typical emergency preparedness routine. Cities, both large and small, can adopt strategies that include community organizations, social networks, and public health all working together to improve resilience.
Resilient DC was a collaborative project sponsored by the District of Columbia Department of Health to bring together government and community-based partners to build a more resilient community in the face of natural and man-made disasters.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, in partnership with RAND, UCLA, Emergency Network of Los Angeles, and Loma Linda University developed and tested a community resilience toolkit as part of the larger Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project. The toolkit was designed for community coalitions to try out resilience building and see what worked for their residents.
