Our Equity Work
The RDPO is dedicated to improving the disaster resilience of community members
who are underserved, marginalized, and disproportionately impacted by disasters.
The RDPO is currently undergoing organizational change to yield more equitable planning, programming, and funding, as well as more diverse and inclusive committees, work groups, and task forces. This equity work began in 2021 with an Equity Resolution and charter of a new Equity Subcommittee Charter. It continued in 2023 with the creation of an Equity Framework.
Implementation of the RDPO’s new equity goals are currently underway. Equity is being embedded in the creation of a new 5-year strategic plan to ensure this core value is a foundational part of future work.
CURRENT & PAST Equity-Centered Projects
Accessible, community-led, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed disaster communications from the Disaster Messaging Work Group, including accessibility improvements to the region’s emergency preparedness website, PublicAlerts.org.
Thousands of urgent safety messages translated into 25-32 languages, including American Sign Language, via the Critical Safety Messages Project.
Learning about the emergency alert and warning needs of disaster-vulnerable communities via the Accessible Alert & Warning Workshops.
Advocating for language and disability access improvements in state and federal alert and warning systems via the national Language & Accessibility in Alert & Warning Workgroup.
Participating in the State of Oregon’s Disability in Emergency Management Advisory Committee and Sub-Committee for Recommendations in Alerting Practices
Learning about the messaging and engagement needs of disaster-vulnerable communities via the Community Engagement Lessons Learned.
Supporting community-led preparedness initiatives via the Community Resilience Project.
Development of mapping tools to better understand disaster vulnerabilities via the Social Vulnerability Tools Project.
Equity-driven planning for disaster response and recovery via projects such as: Emergency Transportation Routes Update, Regional Recovery Framework, Economic Analysis of a Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake, and Earthquake Economic Impact Analysis, and Mass Sheltering Training Tools.
Creation of a report on regional Disabilities, Access, and Functional Needs Inclusive Planning, and an accompanying Summary, Best Practices, and References document.
UPCOMING Equity-Centered Projects
Creation of regional disaster messaging standards, with a focus on language and disability access.
Creation of a Language Mapping Tool that provides more robust, accurate information about the languages spoken in our communities.
Hosting an event with local media to discuss accessibility concerns with the Emergency Alert System, which sends public alerts via television and radio.
Conducting a usability study of the PublicAlerts.org website to ensure it is meeting the needs of our most disaster-vulnerable community members.