Our focus for this week of National Preparedness Month is knowing your neighbors. Comprehensive preparedness requires the whole community to participate and FEMA, the State of Texas, and City of Austin place a tremendous value on a "Neighbors Helping Neighbors" approach. Neighbors Helping Neighbors empowers community leaders to involve and educate individuals from their community about simple steps one can take to become more prepared. 

Knowing who in your neighborhood may need help during a disaster is critical for a more resilient community.

There are many ways to Get Involved and know your community before an emergency or a disaster occurs, the content found below will give you some ideas of how you can take action in your community.

• You Are the Help Until Help Arrives, designed by FEMA, are trainings that can be taken online or in-person, where you learn through simple steps how to save a life before a professional arrives.
• During a disaster donate to a reputable organization of your choice through the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (NVOAD), and volunteer to respond to disasters and help your fellow Americans.
• Volunteer and receive training to support disaster and preparedness efforts in your community.
• Promote preparedness online by sharing preparedness tips on your social media account with Ready’s online social media toolkit or public service announcements.

Visit Ready.gov and AustinHSEM.com for information on disaster preparedness.