As Boulder and much of the Front Range mark the one-year anniversary of the devastating 2013 flood, three foundation leaders – Josie Heath, Rich Lopez and Carmen Ramirez – offer their perspectives this week, setting the stage for other voices from our community to share their thoughts and experiences on this blog in the days ahead.
By Carmen Ramirez, Program Coordinator, Community Relations Office, City of Longmont, and Foundation board member
It was really great to see how everyone at the City of Longmont pitched in to do whatever needed to be done. From the top to the bottom of the organization, we helped our community in a variety of ways during last year’s flood – from first responders helping to evacuate people and animals, to the call center where people could get information, to setting up shelters at a local gyms and helping people with resources for the immediate needs. That was followed by helping to staff the disaster relief center, and setting up meetings with people in the flood-impacted neighborhoods. Several of us went door-to-door with FEMA representatives to make sure that people were aware of the resources available to them, and that they registered with FEMA.
One mobile home park was severely affected by the flood, and we knew it wouldn’t be safe for anyone to remain in that area. So we immediately set up meetings with the owners and residents of the park – we facilitated all the meetings in both English and Spanish, and made it possible for people to talk confidentially about their individual situations. Again, we went door-to-door to check in and talk to people, in Spanish if needed, to let people know the information and resources available to them.
During a disaster, unless you’re a first-responder, most of us aren’t trained or equipped to cope with the challenges that arise. That’s when existing collaborations with nonprofits are critical: in a crisis, we can quickly coordinate efforts based on trusted, established relationships; and we can reach out to those populations in our community that we know are especially vulnerable due to language barriers and not knowing how to navigate systems that are in place. It’s also an opportunity to look internally at who your cultural brokers are, and how to engage them in the outreach efforts.
Another service that we provide at the City of Longmont is conflict resolution. We have an established relationship with our Latino community, which is especially important when there’s a crisis. People are beginning to understand the value of cultural brokers who understand both sides – culturally – of an issue, and who can then help mediate solutions that build bridges among various community populations and institutions.
Knowing who our cultural brokers are – and engaging them more quickly – is an important lesson we learned. Even just knowing who your bilingual employees are can make a difference if immediate communication is needed.
More broadly, I’ve been involved with the Latino Task Force to work toward bringing more Latino voices to the table, to have authentic conversations about achieving transformational leadership that benefits everyone. For example, I’m not just bilingual, I’m bicultural. That gives me the understanding and knowledge that’s needed to go into a Latino community with credibility and respect – honoring what’s already there, what’s already known, and the assets within the community.
We need to build bridges that aren’t just one way, but that enable all of us to cross back and forth, building mutual understanding and respect. That includes access to decisionmakers who have an understanding and appreciation of all people as assets, not deficits – perhaps seeing gifts you haven’t seen before.
Strong community partnerships and collaborations require training and support around cultural competency; as well as a path to better engage and network with everyone in our community.
