New World Survival · Community planning
Faith Community Preparedness Planning Workbook
Use this workbook to choose a realistic role, assign authority, assess the facility, protect private information, coordinate partners and test the plan before offering a public service.
General U.S. planning aid. Complete it with local emergency management, public health, fire and building officials, insurers, safeguarding leaders, legal counsel and service partners as appropriate.
Workbook record
1. Identify the institution and planning authority
People who must participate
- Governing or authorizing leader
- Facilities or property representative
- Finance or treasurer representative
- Safeguarding or youth-protection representative
- Communications representative
- People with disabilities or disability-led organization
- Proposed service partner
- Local emergency-management contact
Mission and limits
2. Write the preparedness covenant
Why this program exists
Who the program serves
Activities the institution authorizes
Activities the institution will not perform
Emergency assistance is offered according to need and available capacity. It is not conditioned on religious belief, membership, attendance, worship participation, donation, immigration status or political affiliation. Spiritual care is offered only with consent.
Hazards and interruption
3. Identify the conditions you are planning for
| Hazard or interruption | Warning time | Likely duration | People most affected | Facility impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Facility closure triggers already known
- Fire or structural concern
- Unsafe air or contamination
- Loss of safe water or sanitation
- Unsafe temperature
- Electrical or fuel hazard
- Inaccessible or blocked route
- Security condition
- Staffing below safe minimum
Add thresholds supplied by the authority, inspector, partner or equipment plan. Do not invent a technical threshold in this workbook.
People and access
4. Understand needs without building an unsafe list
| Need to plan for | How people will participate in planning | Partner or accommodation |
|---|---|---|
| Mobility and accessible transportation | ||
| Deafness or hearing loss | ||
| Blindness or low vision | ||
| Electricity-dependent equipment | ||
| Medication refrigeration | ||
| Language and interpretation | ||
| Infants, children and caregivers | ||
| Service animals and household pets |
Privacy decision
Capability inventory
5. Record what is available during the actual disruption
| Resource | Available normally | Available during outage | Qualified operator or owner | Limit or dependency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building or rooms | ||||
| Accessible entrance and toilets | ||||
| Kitchen and refrigeration | ||||
| Heating, cooling or filtration | ||||
| Backup power | ||||
| Communications | ||||
| Vehicles and drivers | ||||
| Trained people |
Do not count a member's generator, vehicle, professional license, food, tools or time as an institutional capability until the person has agreed, the limits are written and the relevant insurance or credential questions are resolved.
Role selection
6. Choose one internal and one community role
| Level | Possible role | Selected | Evidence it can be sustained |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Internal alerts, evacuation or continuity | □ | |
| 2 | Verified information and referral | □ | |
| 3 | Voluntary wellness checks | □ | |
| 4 | Charging, respite, meals or supplies | □ | |
| 5 | Formal mass-care partnership | □ |
Internal role selected
Community role selected
Roles deferred and why
Authority matrix
7. Name who can approve each commitment
| Decision | Primary authority | Alternate | Written approval location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activate the plan | |||
| Open the facility | |||
| Spend emergency funds | |||
| Release a public message | |||
| Share information with a partner | |||
| Close or transfer a service |
Partner map
8. Build the relationships before the event
| Partner | Named contact | What we request | What we may provide | Agreement needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency management | ||||
| Fire or building official | ||||
| Public health | ||||
| Voluntary disaster organization | ||||
| Disability-led organization | ||||
| Nearby faith community |
Agreement topics
- Activation and notification
- Facility access and keys
- Staffing and supervision
- Credentials and licenses
- Insurance and liability
- Costs and reimbursement
- Supplies and equipment
- Communications and records
- Cleaning, damage and restoration
- Closure and termination
Service design
9. Apply the operating test
Activation card
10. Decide what opens, who leads and when it closes
Public message
Closure or transfer conditions
Training matrix
Match preparation to each assigned role
| Role | Orientation | Skill or credential | Practice required | Refresher and owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decision and activation | ||||
| Communications | ||||
| Facility and safety | ||||
| Volunteer supervision | ||||
| Access and safeguarding | ||||
| Selected public service |
Exercise and correction
11. Test the plan before announcing the service
| What happened | Correction | Owner | Due date | Retest date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Approval gate
12. Confirm readiness to operate
- Governing authority approved the role.
- Coordinator and two backups accepted their assignments.
- Facility, insurer and local requirements were reviewed.
- Partner roles are written and current.
- Volunteers were trained for assigned jobs.
- Accessibility and communication needs were tested.
- Privacy and safeguarding rules are in place.
- Opening, capacity and closure conditions are written.
- The exercise corrections were completed and retested.
- The next review date is on the institutional calendar.
Hard stops
Keep these with the activation card
- Do not open an unsafe or inaccessible service area.
- Do not operate without authority, supervision or minimum staffing.
- Do not ask volunteers to work beyond their qualifications.
- Do not circulate private information outside the authorized service team.
- Do not accept more people or material than the site can manage safely.
- Do not self-deploy into closed or hazardous areas.
- Do not improvise overnight sheltering.
- Do not condition assistance on religious participation.
- Portable generator: outside only, at least 20 feet from the building, exhaust facing away, never inside a building or garage (CPSC guidance for homes, applied here to any building).
- Life-threatening emergency: call 911 first, then tell the supervisor.
Annual program audit
13. Reauthorize demonstrated capabilities
| Review item | Current evidence | Finding | Owner and due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authority, succession and delegations | |||
| Hazards, community needs and partner map | |||
| Facility, accessibility and utilities | |||
| Volunteer roster, training and safeguarding | |||
| Supplies, contracts, insurance and budget | |||
| Privacy, communications and records | |||
| Exercises and closed corrective actions | |||
| Opening, reduction, transfer and closure |
The library now includes plan, facility, accessibility, wellness, network, communications, volunteer, exercise, support-site, feeding, shelter, security, continuity, spiritual-care, donations and recovery tools, plus the one-page household handout.