What are good ways to build community connection before a disaster?

Four places connection already happens: faith communities, community gardens, neighbors and mutual aid, and CERT and civic on-ramps. Each one builds the same thing: people who know each other before an emergency, so they already know whom to call, where to gather and what they can offer.

Community Resilience: Build Connection Before a Disaster

Why it matters

What the research shows about neighbors and disasters

Supplies carry a household through the first days. Much of what comes after depends on people: who checks on you, who shares what they know, and who helps you find your way through recovery.

Chicago, 1995 and 1999

Contact was protective

A July 1995 heat wave in Chicago caused 485 heat-related deaths. Across the 1995 and 1999 heat waves, the risk of dying was higher for people who lived alone. A working air conditioner and taking part in group activities where heat illness might be noticed were the most important protective factors.^[1]

In 1999 the city's emergency plan reduced the death toll by increasing the number of daily contacts with older residents.^[1]

Disaster research

Two kinds of ties

Researcher Daniel Aldrich, whose work FEMA summarizes for emergency managers, finds that ties among people who are emotionally close, and among acquaintances from different backgrounds, are “critical in the first stages of survival.” Ties that connect residents with people in positions of authority are the best predictor of how a community recovers.^[2]

In his words, social ties give people “informal insurance or mutual aid” for problems one household cannot solve alone.^[2]

Federal guidance

Everyday ties come first

ASPR, the preparedness office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says people are better able to help one another after a major disturbance “in communities in which members are regularly involved in each other’s lives.”^[3]

FEMA’s Whole Community doctrine makes the same point: “disaster-resilient communities are, first and foremost, communities that function and solve problems well under normal conditions.”^[4]

The practical lesson: build on groups that already meet. FEMA’s discussion guide asks emergency managers to encourage workplaces, schools, faith-based organizations and other groups to hold drills, discussions and tabletop exercises.^[2] The four ways below start from groups like that.

Four ways in

Four places connection already happens

Each one builds the same thing: people who know each other before an emergency, so they already know whom to call, where to gather and what they can offer. Pick the one that fits your week.

Faith communities

Churches, synagogues, mosques and temples

What it looks like. A congregation that keeps a member contact list, checks on people who live alone, and decides ahead of time who does what when the power is out.

Why it helps. ASPR advises people to “maintain connections to meaningful groups like families, places of worship and volunteer organizations.”^[3] A congregation already meets on a schedule, so someone can notice who is missing.

First step. Our faith guide suggests budgeting about two hours for the first leadership meeting and choosing one neighborhood role the congregation can perform well.

Community gardens

Shared beds, shared tools, regular workdays

What it looks like. Neighbors who grow food side by side, share a tool shed and a water schedule, and show up for the same workdays.

Why it helps. NC State Extension writes that a community garden “can help transform a group of strangers who live near each other into a supportive community,” and that gardens “build relationships that last beyond the growing season.”^[5]

First step. Visit one workday at a garden near you and ask the coordinator how newcomers can help.

Neighbors and mutual aid

Your block, your building, your road

What it looks like. A short contact list for the households nearest you, a communication tree that still works without cell service, and simple offers: a ride, a medication pickup, a check-in after a storm.

Why it helps. FEMA’s guide on social capital suggests block parties, a “10 last names” campaign to help people meet their neighbors, and neighborhood list servs.^[2] The goal is knowing whom to call before you need to call.

First step. Introduce yourself at the four doors closest to yours. Keep any list of neighbors’ needs on paper, held by two or three people the block trusts.

CERT and civic on-ramps

Training that turns goodwill into a plan

What it looks like. A Community Emergency Response Team class, a weather spotter course, a Red Cross volunteer shift or an amateur radio club.

Why it helps. ASPR lists CERT alongside CPR, first aid and psychological first aid as trainings to take.^[3] Utah’s emergency management office describes CERT as training that “teaches you basic disaster response skills,” with a basic course of 24 to 30 hours of classroom training.^[6] Schedules vary by program.

First step. Find the CERT program that serves your county and ask to be told about the next class.

This week

One small step you can take this week

Pick one. Each is a small first move, and none needs special gear or a budget.

1
Faith community
Ask your congregation’s office whether anyone checks on members who live alone during an outage, and offer to help start a call list, kept on paper by two or three trusted people, if no one does.
2
Community garden
Show up for one workday. Bring work gloves and ask the coordinator what needs doing.
3
Neighbors
Knock on the four doors closest to yours and ask one question: “If there were an emergency and you needed help, how would I reach you?”
4
CERT and civic groups
Look up your county’s CERT program or a local amateur radio club and get on its notice list.
5
If meeting people is hard
That is common, and it does not rule you out. Leave a short note with your name and number at the four nearest doors, or volunteer for a task-based role where the work, not the conversation, is the point.

The guide library

More guides in the community section

The faith and garden collections are linked in the four ways above. More of the section’s guides are here, grouped by what you are trying to do.

Neighbors and your block

Know Your Neighbors

How to meet, map and keep in touch with the people near you.

The Four-Door Introduction

Scripts for a first conversation with the four closest households.

Organize Your Block

Turn neighbors who know each other into a block-level plan.

Communication Tree

A communication tree that still works when phones and internet are down.

Mutual Aid Networks

What mutual aid is, how it works, and how to find or start a group.

Being a Good Neighbor Across Differences

Keeping working relationships with neighbors you disagree with.

Volunteering and civic know-how

Civic On-Ramps

CERT, Red Cross, SKYWARN, amateur radio and volunteer fire: how to find yours.

CERT

What the training covers and what volunteers do.

How Your Town Actually Works

Where local services come from and how to reach the people who run them.

Who Decides in an Emergency

From your county emergency operations center to FEMA, in plain language.

Verifying Public Information

Check an alert or claim before you act on it.

Getting Things Done at the Counter

Permits, public records, appeals and public meetings.

When Government Services Are Interrupted

Find alternatives, document the gap and protect your deadlines.

The bigger picture

Building Roots

The everyday relationships that set how much help you can count on.

Social Capital and Disasters

An introduction to the research on why connected communities recover.

The Long View

Retreat, compound or community: why connected households endure.

When to Stay and When to Leave

A framework for the shelter-in-place or evacuate decision.

When It All Falls Apart

A calm guide to the disruptions that actually happen.

Preparing Without a Bunker

Right-sized readiness for a normal household.

Prepare When Money Is Tight

What to do first when every dollar counts.

Avocations: Morale and Resilience

The creative and social activities that keep people going through a long disruption.

Building a life, by state

Where a young adult can put down roots.

State guides for people in their twenties deciding where to stay or where to go: what rent costs against local wages, how often you can get outside, where the college towns and third places are, how a newcomer becomes a regular, and whether a first home is realistic. One state at a time, each with its numbers and sources. States without a link are being rebuilt to this standard.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

The foundation

Start with your own household.

Community resilience begins with a household that can take care of itself. Cover the first 72 hours, then extend outward to your street, your neighborhood, your town.

Start with the first 72 hours

Primary sources

Where these findings come from

Each source was opened and read on October 13, 2026, and every quotation on this page was checked against it word for word. The Chicago findings describe heat waves; the other sources describe disasters in general.

CDC, Heat-Related Deaths, Chicago, Illinois, 1996–2001, and United States, 1979–1999 (MMWR 52(26), July 4, 2003). Accessed October 13, 2026.
FEMA PrepTalks, Discussion Guide: Social Capital in Disaster Mitigation and Recovery (Daniel Aldrich) (undated). Accessed October 13, 2026.
Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), Community Resilience (web page). Accessed October 13, 2026.
FEMA, A Whole Community Approach to Emergency Management: Principles, Themes, and Pathways for Action (FDOC 104-008-1, December 2011). Accessed October 13, 2026.
NC State Extension, How to Organize a Community Garden (AG-737), Lucy Bradley (web publication). Accessed October 13, 2026.
Be Ready Utah, Utah Division of Emergency Management, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) (web page). Accessed October 13, 2026.

Near you

Find organizations near you

Enter your ZIP to find volunteer groups, training programs, civic organizations and food programs in your area.

Organizations and programs near you

Emergency response & training

Food & mutual aid

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Civic & service organizations

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What’s next

Recovery

Build your community before you need it.