The objective of the CADRE (Collaborating Agencies Disaster Relief Effort) Conference is to provide a forum for addressing the needs of vulnerable populations in disaster through collaborative planning, raising awareness of community & government disaster resources, and dialogue. The participants that attended the conference are those that work in community based agencies and who work with people that are vulnerable in disasters and county and Local emergency management personnel.

The 4th Annual “Together We Do Better” Conference was held on March 24, 2009 at NASA AMES Conference Center. The Theme this year was “Meeting Accessibility and Functional Needs in a Disaster”. We had presenters from Santa Clara County Emergency Managers Association, Bay Area Super Urban Area Security Initiative (SUASI) California State Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA), FEMA, American Red Cross and Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil rights and Civil Liberties among other local speakers and presenters. Some of the workshops of the day were disasters 101: Roles and Responsibilities in Emergency Planning and Response, Serving Diverse Communities in an emergency Disaster, & Safe Spaces for children in a Disaster. It was a very Productive and engaging conference were over 200 people attended. At the end of the day they all received free emergency preparedness goodies which included 3 day first aid kits donated by California Volunteers.

This is my second year helping organize this conference. As the logistics coordinator I oversaw projects, organized workshops, and mentored the food coordinator as well as the registration lead. I definitely felt that this was something I help create and pull off. I have learned and grown so much from organizing this conference 2 years in a row. I have enjoyed working with the vulnerable populations committee and networked a lot! It was a difficult at times, but knowing that so many people gained necessary skills in networking, resources, and knowledge in disaster preparedness made it all worth it! It was great seeing a large community take a step towards disaster preparedness!

--Adriana Garcia, CSC member

American Red Cross of Silicon Valley