Mr. Ready Goes to Washington

B. Ready flew all the way from Colorado to Washington D.C. where he met up with his old friend, Penny Burke.  Penny works for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Community Preparedness Division National Citizen Corps Office. 

Penny and B. Ready went on the Metro Rail and discussed how important community preparedness and resilience is in times of emergency. Penny explained that the National Citizen Corps office works hard to ensure that community resiliencey is at the forethought of FEMA policy and also provides support to the close to 2200 Citizen Corps Councils across the country.  Penny went on to stress the importance of Citizen Corps Councils working with emergency managers on developing community plans for disasters.  Citizen Corps Councils, who bring both emergency management and community leaders to the table, have a great opportunity to not only coordinate volunteer activities, but also to have a comprehensive group of community voices to assist in preparing an Emergeny Operations Plan.  Penny challenged B. Ready to help Colorado Citizen Corps Councils work closely with emergency management on their Emergency Operations Plans and make sure that Citizen Corps and community needs are being well reflected through the plan.

B. Ready arrived at the National Citizen Corps Office and Penny introduced him to some of her colleagues.  First, B. Ready met National Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Director, Rachel Jacky.  Rachel expressed her pleasure to have B. Ready visit and went on to inform him of some exciting things happening to CERT.  Rachel gave B. Ready a little inside information and told him to pass on to Colorado CERT Teams to be expecting some changes to CERT coming in the Spring of 2008.  Additionally, Rachel explained how wonderful CERT training is and how wonderful the program can be for communities.  B. Ready said he was well aware of the benefits of CERT, thanks to his time spent with the North Central Region Citizen Corps Council and hearing about all of the great work their CERT teams are doing, including the CERT Summer Games.

After his meeting with Rachel, B. Ready met Angela Palombaro.  Angela works with each of the Citizen Corps Program Partners including CERT, Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS), Neighborhood Watch and Fire Corps.  The National Citizen Corps Office maintains a close relationship with the Partner Programs so that all of the Citizen Corps Councils are able to learn more about the wonderful Partner Program volunteer opportunities. 

B. Ready couldn't believe all of the hussle and bussle of Washington DC, and began to greatly miss the mountains and knowing which direction West is.  Before leaving, Penny took B. Ready to the United State Capitol.  Although overcome with the beauty of our nation's Capitol, B. Ready bid a fond adieu to Penny and the National Citizen Corps Office.  B. Ready said that Washington D.C. has far too much air and he prefers the fine thin air of the Rocky Mountains.   

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