AUSTIN, Texas – The School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin is responding to many inquiries about how the Social Work community can help those impacted by the recent wildfires in the Austin area.
“At this point, it seems most appropriate to work through existing disaster response organizations,” said Dr. Calvin Streeter, who chairs the School of Social Work Disaster Mobilization Committee.
“We’ve been in contact with several emergency response organizations, and they said that they are still in crisis mode and just beginning to conduct damage assessments. As the immediate crisis passes, there will likely be opportunities for us to organize some kind of special effort through our school,” Streeter said.
Ways you can help now:
University of Texas Staff Emergency Fund: http://www.utexas.edu/hr/current/services/sef.html
National Association of Social Workers –Texas Chapter: http://www.naswtx.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=13
American Red Cross of Central Texas:http://www.centex.redcross.org/index.asp?IDCapitulo=F9ZLZNZ3KD
Capital Area Food Bank of Texas: http://www.austinfoodbank.org/
United Way Capital Area: http://www.unitedwaycapitalarea.org/
Austin Disaster Relief Network: http://www.adrntx.org/
Catholic Charities of Central Texas: http://www.austindiocese.org/donations_firevictims.php
Volunteer TX http://www.volunteertx.org/
Bastrop Relief http://www.bastroprelief.org/
More resources will be added to the list above as they become available.
The School of Social Work Disaster Mobilization Committee was established in 2008. In the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the City of Austin approached The University of Texas to establish a formalized relationship for the coordination of activities in the event of future disasters. This initiative culminated in a Memorandum of Cooperation between the City of Austin and The University of Texas.
Officially signed in January 2008, the memorandum delineates the “cooperative efforts to be undertaken by City of Austin and The University of Texas at Austin through the School of Nursing, the College of Pharmacy, and the School of Social Work, in relation to preparedness for large scale medical shelters and vaccination or prophylactic medication clinics in the event of a disaster, terrorist event, or in the event clinics are otherwise required due to a public health emergency.”
At the beginning of each academic year, the Dean of the School of Social Work appoints a Disaster Mobilization Committee to review and revise the school’s Disaster Mobilization Plan and to serve as the Incident Command Staff in the event that a major disaster event requires mobilization of school resources.
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