In May, community members came together at Blackburn’s Chapel to imagine what community resilience could look like in Todd.Together, we defined community resilience as:

The ability of a community to survive, respond, and adapt to disasters and disruptions with an orientation toward thriving. Resilience is a community responsibility and requires us to imagine a new way forward.

For our next meeting, we will focus on three areas of work the group identified:

• Blackburn’s Chapel Resilience Hub: fundraising for and installing power back-up systems, and being a space for connection, resources, and preparedness workshops.
• Community Response Planning: exploring a Mobile Response Unit and creating mesh networks/radio skills and community response plans.
• Community Resilience Schools: community members can hold workshops to share skills that make a community more resilient — everything from foraging and canning food, mental health first aid, to flood and wildfire preparedness.

During our next meeting we will form working groups, decide which projects to prioritize, and launch a plan for the Community Resilience Schools.

Whether you attended the first meeting or are joining for the first time, we invite you to be part of building a more resilient Todd. Bring a friend, neighbor, skill, idea, or simply your curiosity. Join us Sunday, July 19, at 4 p.m. at Blackburn’s Chapel.