The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD), City of Port Alberni and CUPE Local 118 have appointed Karen Freethy to the temporary position of Emergency Support Services Director with the ACRD for a six-month term.
The three parties entered into a secondment agreement to allow for the development and coordination of an Emergency Support Services Program within the Alberni Valley.
READ: VALLEY SENIORS: Karen Freethy dedicates her life to recreation
The Emergency Support Services Program is volunteer-driven and coordinates the temporary delivery of resources and services to those who have been displaced from their home due to an emergency or disaster. By connecting evacuees with accommodation, food and clothing during an emergency, the program is designed to help support the well-being of those struggling with the physical and emotional aftermath of an emergency or disaster.
Freethy is familiar with the way the ESS program works: she helped set up the emergency centre at Echo Centre during a tsunami evacuation warning in January 2018, among others.
READ: Tsunami warning prompts evacuations in Port Alberni
In her new role, Freethy will promote community awareness, recruit and train volunteers, identify and prepare emergency facilities, coordinate response services and develop service agreements with local businesses and organizations to provide resources, supplies or services during an emergency.
Freethy started her new position on July 1, 2020.
susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com
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