Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-2nd MS) Reaffirms Importance of Home Safety Council’s Work in Emergency Preparedness

The House Committee on Homeland Security, in collaboration with Home Safety Council and Citizen Corps, sponsored a Congressional Briefing on Community & Home Preparedness on Capitol Hill September 20, 2007.

Panelists of the briefing were:

• Meri-K Appy, President, Home Safety Council
• Jacqueline Snelling, FEMA’s Community Preparedness Division, Citizen Corps
• Rocky Lopes, Senior Consultant for Disaster Preparedness for the Home Safety Council

Kathleen Henning, President Region 3, International Association of Emergency Managers, moderated the event.

Attended by over 30 people, most of them Congressional Staffers, a large contingent of high level staffers from both Democratic and Republic offices, including members of the Homeland Security Committee, were present at the briefing.

After an introduction by Kathleen Henning about the importance of National Preparedness Month, Jacqueline Snelling kicked off the briefing with an informative presentation about how preparedness depends begins with communities. Rocky Lopes followed Snelling with a presentation on how to engage families about the importance of communicating disaster preparedness to their loved ones.

Meri-K Appy ended the briefing with a description of several new initiatives the Home Safety Council is introducing to get kids, parents, teachers and community educators involved and taking the actions needed to prepare for disasters.

The briefing was also attended by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson. Thompson addressed the audience for a considerable amount of time, passionately speaking about his personal experiences in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina and reaffirming the importance of what the Home Safety Council and the other panelists were doing. Thompson, who has 26 years of experience as a volunteer firefighter in Hinds County, Mississippi, has constantly fought to ensure that our nation’s first responders are fully equipped with the resources and tools they need to effectively respond to any and all emergencies.

The Home Safety Council extends a special thank you to all participants, the House Committee on Homeland Security and especially to Chairman Bennie Thompson and Ranking Member Peter King for their collaboration and support in making the Community & Home Preparedness Briefing a huge success.