Disaster Relief & Response
The Lampkin Foundation is a member of the Emergency Network Los Angeles (ENLA). ENLA is the Los Angeles County unit of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) and the Southern California VOAD, a coalition of volunteer organizations whose mission is to help survivors and their communities in the wake of natural or man-made disasters.
Background
Since serving as a relief source for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and most recently assisting the survivors of Ontario, California’s fireworks explosion (Francis Incident), and South Los Angeles Fireworks Explosion (27th Street Incident), the Lampkin Foundation has established itself as a leader in disaster recovery efforts for Los Angeles County and residents of the Greater Ontario region. Additionally, over the last 3 years, the Lampkin Foundation’s Disaster Relief Effort Initiative augmented the Los Angeles Region Community Recovery Organization (LARCRO) by coordinating volunteer activities assisting survivors of the 2018 Woolsey Fire in Agoura Hills, California.
We continue to be inspired by the stories of ordinary citizens, our first responders, emergency management leaders, and people from all over the nation volunteering their time and resources to help those in need. We remain steadfast in ensuring our response is in direct alignment with our vision for communities that are strong, fully engaged, and resilient; where all stakeholders are self-reliant and fully supported by sustainable ingenuity and grassroots efforts.
Ontario, California Francis Incident
Approximately one-hour following the explosion, the Lampkin Foundation received a notification to evacuate its offices following a nearby explosion in Ontario, California. Although we learned the evacuation order, as it pertains to our offices evacuating, was sent to our office in error, we recognize emergency managers’ efforts to keep residents safe and informed. We are grateful for the heroism and well-coordinated response of our fire and police department and recognize the strong desire by Ontario residents to assist the disaster survivors. As an Ontario-based 501(c)(3), we are committed to providing whatever resources are needed through our Disaster Relief Effort. Anyone wishing to make a donation to assist the Francis Incident survivors are encouraged to do so here.
The Road to Recovery
Like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the road to recovery following today’s natural disasters are still long. But we don’t have to make the same mistakes made in response to the recovery efforts in 2005. While the D’Andre D. Lampkin understands the desire for immediate relief, we encourage everyone to follow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), which serves as a companion document to the National Response Framework (NRF). The NDRF is a guide to promote effective recovery, particularly for those incidents that are large-scale or catastrophic.
The NRF is structured to help jurisdictions, citizens, nongovernmental organizations, and businesses:
- Develop whole community plans
- Integrate continuity plans
- Build capabilities to respond to cascading failures among businesses, supply chains, and infrastructure sectors
- Collaborate to stabilize community lifelines and restore services
The National Response Framework includes:
Emergency Support Functions that describe federal coordinating structures that group resources and capabilities into functional areas most frequently needed in a national response.
Support Annexes describe how support is organized among the private sector, non-government organizations, and federal partners.
2018 Southern California Wildfires
Following the outbreak of the 2018 southern California wildfires, The D’Andre D. Lampkin Foundation met with our donor partners, Kiss the Monkeys to coordinate and organize disaster relief supplies at the front lines of the fire. While organizing supplies at Los Angeles Fire Station 84, volunteers saw first hand what the first phase of a disaster response looks like. First responders do the best they can on behalf of residents and cooperation between first responders and community organizations is an absolute necessity so that they can focus on what they are trained to do best.
When we needed additional assistance supporting cleanup and intake efforts associated with the 27th Street explosion, we found our friends at the Lampkin Foundation to be knowledgeable, accessible, and highly motivated. We are proud to have the Lampkin Foundation as part of our VOAD and look forward to partnering with them on boosting the county’s emergency management infrastructure of both “blue” and “gray sky” days.
The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.
We are very honored to join this well-respected organization who has demonstrated time after time their commitment to facilitating a more coordinated, cooperative response throughout the disaster cycle.
As an organization, we at ENLA have had familiarity with the Lampkin Foundation since its work with the Los Angeles Region Community Recovery Organization on the Woolsey Fire.
In Our Volunteers Words
Dr. Alison Thompson is a D’Andre D. Lampkin Foundation supporter, donor partner, and full time global humanitarian volunteer who has run refugee camps and field hospitals in most of the major natural disasters around the world for the past 18 years. The Lampkin Foundation had the fortunate opportunity to partner with Dr. Alison Thompson during the 2017 humanitarian response in Puerto Rico following hurricane Maria. She received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in the Humanities from Loyola Chicago University, The Order of Australia from Queen Elizabeth 2nd and the ‘Medal of Excellence’ from General Simeon Trombitas and the 82nd Airborne. She is the current Ambassador to the Haitian Ministry of Environment (Appointed. by J. R Toussaint 2012).
Recovery is a Process
It is best to think of recovery as a process because there are various levels or steps to recovering from a natural or man made disaster. By definition, the term ‘process’ refers to a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. A part of the disaster recovery process is to already have a plan in place. The plan serves as the general framework for how communities will recover from an incident. Good plans are strong enough to steer disaster recovery organization members during and after a disaster in a way that ensures the communities survival. Comprehensive disaster recovery plans have an all-hazards approach, meaning, at its core the plan can be applied to most, if not all, foreseeable disasters. But it’s always important to remember recovery takes time. It could be months or years before a community can recover completely.
Read A Firsthand Account
After we announced our efforts to provide disaster relief, messages began to come in expressing thanks and appreciation for donors and supporters. But one letter stood out. It was a firsthand account by a D’Andre D. Lampkin Foundation volunteer who resides in Houston, Texas and the heart of where Hurricane Harvey did the most damage. Latoya Christman, a mother and Los Angeles native asked that we share her observations with you.
The Human Impact
In terms of human impacts of disasters, the kinds of impacts we can expect when a major disaster occurs are both physical and psychological. There are the obvious impacts like physical damage to the body. People get injured, or worse, die. But there are other factors like stress, which can lead to depression and other health related conditions. Perhaps most concerning is the psychological and emotional impact. According to the National Disaster Recovery Framework, a successful recovery process includes addressing the psychological and emotional needs of the community. The process includes providing counseling, support, screening, and treatment of effected individuals when needed. We should expect people to be in shock, stressed, and in need of support and mental health treatment. Addressing mental health issues during a disaster is a challenge to law enforcement and other first responders. So it is critical to consider providing relief for short term and long term mental health treatment.