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Introducing Transformational Resilience Coordinating Networks: A Public Health Approach to Disaster Preparedness

From Christian Thompson

In September of 2020, the convergence of both unusually high winds and drought conditions brought with it a wildfire that decimated the Rogue Valley region of Southern Oregon. Dubbed in subsequent weeks as the Almeda Fire, this natural disaster razed substantial portions of Ashland, Talent and Phoenix—outlying communities of the region’s population center, Medford.

As the smoke began to rise, I found myself wondering how I would get home from a traffic jam in Talent, just north of the fire’s ignition point. Panic reverberated through the idle cars as people began pulling off Highway 99, finding any available routes of egress to avoid the looming pillar of smoke. My compact car struggled across a dirt lot as the wind continued to rip through the small community, driving the smoke and flames closer while residents scrambled to avoid the onslaught. With several backroads behind me, the immediate danger had been quelled. Meanwhile, during frantic calls, my partner and I determined that we would convene at a relative’s house on the north side of the Valley. The subsequent hours were spent anxiously as we prepared to evacuate from a second fire burning close to our rally point. We stayed up through the night to remain ready to continue fleeing the flames, uncertainty creeping in as we wondered if our apartment was still standing underneath a wall of thick, black smoke. However, it was our strong social connections that provided an opportunity for not only shelter, but also emotional support as the reality of our situation settled. Similarly strong social connections throughout the community at large would serve as the primary response mechanism to this locally unprecedented crisis.

While the smoke cleared and the flames were finally contained, Valley residents were left reeling from the fire’s destruction. Approximately 2,600 hundred homes were reduced to ash, disproportionately impacting residents of low-income housing as trailer parks and senior living complexes vanished in a matter of hours. With three deaths and thousands displaced permanently from their homes, limited government support and the pressures of a global pandemic further complicated response and recovery efforts as residents scrambled to escape with no warning or preparation. It felt as if time had stopped: work obligations and the minutiae of daily life melted in the heat of the flames as Valley residents emerged from shelter to find a drastically changed world. The roar of a fire-bomber punctuated the silence of the group that gathered on the 5 freeway in anticipation of the way home opening as the fire was contained. While we were grateful to return to an apartment complex that was still standing, over the following several days we processed the mass trauma inflicted upon the Rogue Valley community in quiet consideration. These challenges required Valley residents to initiate acts of mutual aid for their very survival, addressing needs through prolific volunteer work and donations, as well as by offering temporary housing and selfless generosity in the face of deep loss.

As a case manager for an outpatient mental health clinic at the time of the Almeda Fire, I was continually astounded by the willingness of community members to contribute to the immediate response and recovery efforts. Throughout the region, residents quickly offered their supplies, expertise, and living space to accommodate the needs of people who had been strangers just days before, bringing together those bonded by shared connections to place and community. Joining the recovery efforts with other case managers and those familiar with accessing local and government resources, we established ongoing open video call sessions for those seeking assistance with navigating the morass of paperwork. Our alliance also provided access to the internet that is often both necessary and limited in disaster recovery efforts. Through this network, I observed grassroots mutual aid taking place through vast spreadsheets, populated with the contact information of those offering a spare room or couch. Churches and local restaurants, particularly those serving the Rogue Valley’s Latiné population, functioned as donation staging areas while also offering food and shelter. Volunteers, including myself, many of my fellow mental health workers, and compassionate community members, offered emotional support and onsite case management services alongside food truck vendors who whipped up free meals for those sleeping on cots at the county fairgrounds. Seemingly unceasing examples of community resilience, wrought from the shared trauma of a disaster event, reflected the inherent strength of communities across the globe who for millennia have addressed and met the needs dictated by crises.

The salience of community mutual aid throughout the immediate response to and recovery from the Almeda Fire underscored the need for a population-level approach to building resilience in the face of the climate crisis. This strategy, predicated on strong social connections within the community in conjunction with an understanding of the mental health impacts of climate-driven disasters, serves as the basis for continued preparation for disasters that will increase in frequency and intensity. To this end, Trauma Informed Oregon is excited to announce the Resilient Oregon Toolkit—a document that provides resources and guides to initiating resilience in communities across the state. The toolkit centers the mental health impacts of the climate crisis, offering ways to build social connections throughout the community, develop mental health and climate crisis literacy, and create opportunities to process climate grief through mutual support. It also provides skills and resources to aid in the organization of community-led efforts that assess climate-driven threats and plan for potential contingencies.

Centering the development of community resilience on a global scale, the International Transformational Resilience Coalition (ITRC) and the Campaign for Trauma Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP), in close partnership with Trauma Informed Oregon, have launched the Transformational Resilience Coordinating Network (TRCN) initiative. The TRCN framework builds upon previous work undertaken by the ITRC and CTIPP and seeks to offer communities support for organizing responses to disasters that are based on their needs and resources. Embodying the “transformational” component of their moniker, TRCNs seek to establish justice-centered economic and ecological conditions through partnerships that not only produce coordinated preparation and response efforts to disasters, but also improve environmental conditions for diverse community members.

When initiating the programs as “Prospective TRCNs,” communities will organize steering committees comprised of representatives from diverse groups and organizations throughout the region to establish a set of guiding principles and shared vision of resilience development. As TRCN efforts progress, they transition into the “Emerging” phase and continue to “develop and implement locally appropriate strategies that help all residents remain socially, psychologically, emotionally, and behaviorally healthy and resilient during persistent adversities” through ongoing participation in community of practice sessions hosted by the ITRC and its diverse collection of community partners.

As the Prospective TRCN completes its action plan and begins community-wide strategic implementation, these efforts culminate in the third and final phase of the Transformational Resilience Coordinating Network process: graduating as a “Commissioned TRCN.” As a fully-fledged Network, the Commissioned TRCN is provided with additional materials, resources, and an officially endorsed logo for use from the ITRC. The Commissioned TRCN will also gain an opportunity to support up-and-coming participants in communities of practice and advocacy efforts.

There are currently over 20 organizations registered as Prospective TRCNs and one operating as an Emerging coalition, representing a diverse collection of mental health and public health practitioners across four continents. As informational sessions continue, facilitated by the ITRC in partnership with CTIPP and TIO, hundreds of organizations interested in joining this effort tune in from regions throughout the world impacted by the climate crisis to make a coordinated effort to address both the mental health and community challenges caused by our changing environment. The CTIPP website offers an in-depth overview of the Transformational Resilience Coordinating Network commissioning program, complete with handbooks that accompany each stage of the initiative. Links to recorded video sessions that discuss this process while hosting practitioners from throughout the globe currently involved in these efforts are also available. We look forward to seeing you there!

Please feel free to contact the ITRC team at tr@trig-cli.org or Christian Thompson, Trauma Informed Oregon at cdt3@pdx.edu regarding any questions.

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