At the April 7 meeting of the Windsor Town Council, the council heard the latest on the establishment of a COPE (Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies) group in Windsor, and what next steps they are looking for support for.
The Windsor Wellness Partnership announced the launch of the Windsor Neighborhood Community Program, including the COPE groups, in October of 2020. At the meeting on April 7, the council received a presentation about what the organization is and does, and what support the fledging group is looking for from the town.
“COPE’s mission is to help residents, families visitors and Neighbors become and remain better prepared to respond to and recover from emergency situations,” said Diana Borges, Windsor Neighborhood Community Program coordinator, who gave the presentation to the council alongside Cyndi Foreman from the Sonoma County Fire District.
According to Borges, COPE is a grassroots effort that “engages communities in emergency preparedness, education advocacy, training and planning” and is built on the concept of neighbors helping neighbors. COPE groups help residents create individual and neighborhood response plans, reduce potential risks on properties, disseminate communication and assure first responders have information to better protest the community.
COPE has been in Sonoma County since 2017, and was started by Oakmont residents following the Tubbs Fire with help from the Santa Rosa Fire Department and the American Red Cross. COPE Northern Sonoma County, which Windsor would be a part of, encompasses 45 different COPE communities and holds monthly meetings attended by COPE leaders, fire officials, law enforcement, SoCoEmergency staff and more.
According to Foreman, COPE groups are credited with lowering property damage and saving lives during the 2019 and 2020 wildfires.
“(COPE) allows us to find out what the resources … the strengths are in our community,” said Foreman. “Do we have a nurse do we have a firefighter, do we have a contractor, do we have a ham radio operator? What are those resources in our community that can help us be resilient? Why is this important to the town, because we desperately need a program that empowers the community and the beautiful things is that North County COPE has done a lot of that hard work for us.”
What is the group looking for from the town? They want an official endorsement, in order to help recruit volunteers to be community and neighborhood leaders. They’d like permission from the town to place signage to increase the groups visibility, and they’re hoping to make promotional videos for COPE, as well adding it to the program and guidebook on the town’s website.
From town staff, the group is hoping to be a part of coordinating the Windsor Reliance Plan and Hazard Mitigation Plan, and that they’ll be a part of grant preparations for community need studies.
“Why Windsor? Because we’ve identified this a thing we need in the town of Windsor,” Foreman said. “When you can empower your community, when you make them self-sufficient, that’s going to be a success for us.”
“I’d like to extend a personal invitation to the town council and anyone listening at home, to take a look at our website … and decide if it’s right for you, please reach out. This is a fantastic program that works.”
To learn more about COPE, or to volunteer, go to: https://www.windsorwellness.org/cope
To view the COPE Handbook: https://windsor-ca.granicus.com/metaviewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=1240&meta_id=76510
To view the Windsor COPE Preparedness Guidebook: https://windsor-ca.granicus.com/metaviewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=1240&meta_id=76512
