Thinking Small

I work for a civic technology startup in San Francisco, but I’m a small-town native who works daily with small to mid-sized communities. As such, when I read or hear about the latest “answer” to civic problems, created by a team of geniuses and piloted in one of the largest cities in the country, I’m a little wary.

While shining examples of city use of technology like San Francisco and New York City are well worth profiling and learning from, if their solutions don’t fit a town of 9,000 the problem has not yet been truly solved. Small communities need solutions too.

Presenting: Things I have overheard in Big Cities

New Feature: Community Featured Image

This past week, we released another new feature for the community organizers using our Recovers.org online toolkit: Community Featured Image.

Where is it?

You can think of this image as the “profile picture” of your community. It appears in two places:

1. On the upper left corner of your community’s homepage at [yourtown].recovers.org
   
2. On the Recovers Communities page at recovers.org/communities
   

How Can I Change It?

What not to do during a Red Flag Warning.

“Red Flag Warnings” are issued when there is a high risk of wildfire in the region. Here are some simple preventive steps you can take.

1. Clear dry and/or flammable materials away from your house.

Do a quick walk around your house, and keep an eye out for brush, dry leaves, or dead branches and make sure to move them away from your house. If you’re feeling friendly, do it for your neighbor’s house, too!

What Recovers does, and what it means for you

When recovering from a disaster, it’s crucial to have someone in your court who understands the process — similar to how wedding planners makes weddings go more smoothly, accountants ease the complex process of filing taxes, or real estate agents help make negotiations when buying a house more navigable.

MacGyver Didn’t Prepare me for an Earthquake

I think of myself as a pretty resourceful guy, and handy with duct tape and a pair pliers. When a deer charged my car and knocked my rearview mirror off a few months ago, I was able to fix it myself just fine. But as a new resident of the state of California, I’m starting to realize that I am not really ready to deal with EVERY problem.  A large earthquake is going to hit California in the near future,  a fact confirmed recently by scientists and researchers. So how should I react when it happens?

The Earthquake Flowchart I made

This is the question I asked myself last week, to which I had no definitive answer. Unlike many other dangerous situations, watching episodes of MacGyver had not prepared me for an earthquake. Therefore, I decided to search the net for earthquake safety tips. I have distilled my findings into the following blog post. 

Be a Helpful Neighbor – what would you do in a storm?

What would you do in a storm to help your neighbors? The team at Recovers.org is pleased to announced the launch of the Helpful Neighbor Campaign. By visiting http://Neighbor.Recovers.org  signing up with your zipcode and email, you are pledging to be just a little bit more prepared. For each participant in the campaign, the team at Recovers will donate $1 to Hurricane Sandy recovery, up to $5,000.

It takes a local: Recovers honored at Women in the World Summit

Recovers co-founders Caitria and Morgan O’Neill took a quick trip to New York City this weekend to attend and accept an award at the 2013 Women in the World Summit. The summit, now in its 4th year, brings together lady-changemakers from all over the world to discuss issues of importance to people everywhere. These are women fighting crime, challenging poverty and building stronger communities.

We were honored and humbled to have been included as awardees of this year’s Mother of Invention Award and $50,000 grant for development. Both the grant and the recognition will help our organization expand and assist many more communities preparing for and recovering from disasters.

Watch the interview with co-founders Caitria and Morgan by actress Claire Danes

At the summit, we announced the launch of the new Helpful Neighbor Campaign. By visiting the site and signing up with your zipcode and email, you are pledging to be just a little bit more prepared. For each participant in the campaign, the Team at Recovers will donate $1 to Hurricane Sandy recovery, up to $5,000.