A Year of Rural Skills Workshops and Emergency Preparedness

After Hurricane Helene grazed Floyd and trashed our neighbors to the West. After the Tuggles Gap fire and the California fires. It has become clear that disasters are happening more frequently and it is time to get more organized and prepared.  To get community more connected. To increase our Rural Living Skills . To increase our emergency skills. To decrease fear and anxiety. And to thrive as a community!

When we live in a rural location we need to be much more prepared for emergencies than living in a city.  It may take more than an hour for a 911 call to get us to a hospital on a good day.  Every year after an ice storm, most of the folks in our county are isolated.

In bad weather or a large-scale emergency, we might be totally ignored. We may be on our own.  We may have to depend totally on ourselves and our neighbors.

Partnership for Floyd will be partnering with Floyd County, the NRV, local organizations businesses and individuals to share, to teach and to learn.  Floyd is an amazing community with so many good people who want to work together to offer their skills.  This series offers folks a chance to step up and help their neighbors thrive.  Although there will be emergency planning workshops, this series is not totally focused on emergency.  We will focus on learning, sharing and thriving in our mountain home. Which includes being prepared for personal and local emergencies.

Our Floyd County leaders will be especially focused on the Floyd Emergency Preparedness Fair to be held September 19 at the EcoVillage.  This Fair will be set up like past Floyd Health Fairs which were sponsored and organized by PFF. A community  event to include our emergency services and related organizations with booths to provide information, demonstrations and two panel discussions.

Jane Cundiff with help from PFF volunteers, will do most of the organizing for the workshops, similar to last year’s Floyd Earth Month and similar to the Wild Garden Club (which she has been organizing for 14 years).  Setting up & organizing a calendar of workshops. Working with the Library, the County, NRV organizations and local  professionals.  Advertising through the PFF website, through Facebook event pages, through emails.   Email Jane at PartnershipForFloyd@gmail com if you have questions or workshops to offer.

Let’s work together to help make our Floyd community more resilient to the crazy changing world around us.  Let’s help each other thrive!