Preparing Today for Tomorrow’s Disasters

Since 2008, governments, nonprofits, businesses, and funders have worked together through Linn Area Partners Active in Disaster (LAP-AID) to strengthen Linn County’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. As a founding partner, the Community Foundation has invested significant staff time and leadership in these efforts.

Since 2022, Vice President of Learning, Carrie Walker, has served as LAP-AID Chair. As her term concluded in July, we sat down with Carrie to reflect on the organization’s accomplishments and the work ahead.

What is a memorable experience from your time with LAP-AID?

We’ve continued to learn from the derecho and pandemic experience and take steps to strengthen the network. Through external grants, we hired a project manager and hosted an Inclusion Cohort. Equity is central to LAP-AID’s mission, and the cohort connected communities historically left out of disaster planning with the broader preparedness network.

We also had the opportunity to share Linn County’s story with communities across the country. What we’ve built here is rare, and other communities are interested in learning from our collaborative approach.

That success is because our partners are committed to working together and learning from every experience.

What is LAP-AID doing when there isn’t a disaster to respond to?

Our community’s recovery from the derecho was possible because strong partnerships existed before the storm. Today, LAP-AID includes more than 40 organizations that work closely with Linn County Emergency Management to maintain a coordinated disaster response network.

The group meets quarterly to share information, strengthen relationships, and practice disaster response. We welcome organizations that could play a role during a disaster, especially those serving vulnerable populations.

How will the Community Foundation continue supporting LAP-AID and disaster preparedness?

Although my term as Chair has ended, I’ll continue serving on the leadership team as Past Chair to support the network. Community Foundation Program Officer Casey Baustian also serves on the LAP-AID Advisory Council.

Disaster preparedness and response remains a community leadership priority for the Community Foundation. We’ll continue investing in preparedness while maintaining our Disaster Recovery Fund, ensuring resources are available to support Linn County when future disasters occur.

Learn more about LAP-AID here.