Citizen Corps Celebrates
Five Years!
This month marks the fifth
anniversary since President George W. Bush announced the creation of Citizen
Corps during the State of the Union Address in 2002. Created as a component of
the USA Freedom Corps initiative following the events of September 11, 2001,
Citizen Corps is based on the simple premise that we all have a role in
hometown security. Our remarkable growth these past five years is due to the
many thousands of citizens across the country, who recognize the importance of
civic responsibility and participation to achieve community preparedness
Citizen Corps Councils One of the central tenets of Citizen Corps is to bring
together government and non-governmental community leaders to develop a more
inclusive approach to community preparedness by involving the public in
all-hazards emergency preparedness,
planning, mitigation,
response, and recovery.
In January 2002 there were
no registered Councils; today, there are now over 2,100 Citizen Corps Councils
in every state and territory serving more than 73 percent of the U.S.
population! Many thanks to all of you who serve on your State, tribal, county,
or community Citizen Corps Council and the leadership you provide.
Recognizing the importance
of an informed and prepared citizenry, Citizen Corps Councils around the
country have held numerous outreach events to improve preparedness in homes,
schools, workplaces, and places of worship and to educate all Americans on
local alerts and warning systems, evacuation routes, shelter locations, and the
fundamentals of emergency preparedness and basic first aid. While public
education events are held year round, during the 3rd Annual National
Preparedness Month in September 2006 Citizen Corps Councils registered nearly
1,000 separate events, including: preparedness booths at the State capitol or
State fairs; proclamations, press conferences or town hall meetings on
preparedness issues; statewide public service announcements and awareness
campaigns; large scale emergency first aid and safety trainings; group projects
to put together, and distribute, emergency preparedness kits for others;
emergency exercises and drills; and targeted outreach to vulnerable
populations.
Citizen Corps Councils have also collaborated to begin volunteer programs to support emergency responders, from law enforcement, to fire services, to public health and emergency medical services, to emergency managers. From January 2002 to January 2006, each of the program partners expanded significantly: the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program joined Citizen Corps with 170 programs and has grown to nearly 2,500 in all 50 States and six U.S. territories. The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) has grown to over 600 Units in all 50 states since it started in 2002. Neighborhood Watch, which started over 35 years ago, reports nearly 14,800registered groups nationwide today. Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) started in 2002 with 76 programs and now has close to 1,500 programs nationwide. And Fire Corps, which started in 2004, now has 550 programs. In addition, the 25 National Citizen Corps Affiliates are also more closely integrated and are working more closely with Citizen Corps Councils around the country. These numbers only tell part of the story; each of these programs represent thousands of trained and skilled volunteers who are actively helping their communities be safer every day. When a local emergency or large-scale disaster occurs, these citizens represent the critical additional trained resources needed to assist emergency responders. Over the past five years, citizens have played an increasing role in disaster response, ranging from local floods,tornadoes, snow emergencies, and power outages, to the powerful hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 which required immense national support— including the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who responded.