Cheriesa Lenea
Selman

What I aspire to accomplish from my cumulative experience is to provide user-friendly content that is up to date with research from around the world on what it takes to create resilient solutions to environmental disasters that make individuals and communities vulnerable. The purpose of resiliency is to prevent vulnerability or alleviate prolonged vulnerability with resources and humane assistance. Therefore, resiliency is closely correlated with long-term recovery in the disaster management community.

The content I hope to produce and provide for the Resiliency Training Center will be useful and user-friendly to all walks of life and all audiences. I hope that corporations and companies will utilize the Resiliency Training Center as a form of job training dependent on the region and prevalence of disaster. Much of the content will be training programs that are available through FEMA and other countries such as Australia.

​

In a perfect world, individuals would not be burdened unecessarily with prolonged vulnerability because the modern infrastructure would be built, and modifications would be made to prevent and withstand the destruction of disaster. Yet even still in a perfect world, disaster is inevitable. Even in our current reality, we utilize science appropriately to predict weather forecasts based on documented climate and weather patterns gathered over the past century.

​

The most difficult feat in teaching new material or familiar material to individuals who are not truly or intentionally interested in garnering any information about resiliency and prevention. Some individuals may be truly and genuinely interested, but the content might be missing a more personal touch. I plan to utilize more animated content to assist in capturing a diverse target audience while remaining prudent to the management of a disaster and certain processes and protocols to implement resilient solutions to responses. Animated illustrations of content will assist in painting a picture of what to expect in worst-case scenario situations. For example, an animated illustration of the chain of command of the disaster operation system could easily assist in maintaining the diverse target audience’s attention. With the helpful utilization of visuals and narrated information, the target audience is also more likely to retain the content.

​

I hope to illustrate both hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are the best practices for NGOs, volunteers, and homeowners. Including mucking and gutting, debris removal, and most importantly FEMA application process and how to track a FEMA application. Other hard skill content would be tailored for a narrower target audience of NGOs, providing a warehouse manual to organize and supply a warehouse.

Soft skills to provide in the content are navigating the disaster management system at your most vulnerable and preparing to prevent prolonged vulnerability. Other soft skills would include psychological services for vulnerable communities, first responders, and volunteers. With the advent of Resiliency Training Center Centers in permanent locations, and while the majority will be mobile by region, I believe that the literature and training provided could easily be tailored and or modified through partnerships and collaborations with local, state, national, and international disaster response networks. Those in permeant locations could act as a hub or collaborative hall that considers the strengths and weaknesses of organizations from public to private and deriving solutions with the ultimate goal of resiliency.

​

Chris Cameron, the Executive director for the non-profit HandsOn New Orleans, believes that the Resiliency Training Center should operate under one director in order to operate efficiently (Uddo et.al., 2019). I disagree and believe that the Resiliency Training Center should operate under a panel of disaster management professionals, volunteer-based first responder organizations, local members of municipalities, and, most importantly, individuals within the communities with the highest prevalence of disaster.