Q: Why volunteerism via the Disaster Recovery International Foundation? A: The concept of the Foundation when first developed by Al Berman, former president and CEO of DRI, and now supported by AnneMarie Staley, DRI Foundation chair, was to provide a vehicle for Certified Professionals to ‘give back’ to people, communities and entities in need following an outage or disaster impacting many. What better way to do that than with the global community of Certified Professionals within our network?
Q: Are these Certified Professionals uniquely qualified to help out?
A: Yes, we believe that the everyday skills and experiences of our professionals makes them great resources to help out and be supportive of people, communities and organizations under duress from an outage. Their understanding of crisis situations and their passionate belief of emergency response and business continuity practices quite clearly makes them qualified to assist.
Q: Are any specific construction or rebuilding skills required?
A: No, many projects will involve non construction activities and those willing to help will always have meaningful assignments provided.
Q: Will the volunteers be working alone?
A: No, our methodology for volunteerism promotes a practice of partnering with local authorities, aid organizations and support groups.
Q: Will I have guiding principles and best practices from the DRI Foundation to help me do my work in the field?
A: Yes, an operating toolkit is being produced for that purpose.
Q: Other than the primary purpose of helping people in time of need, are there other reasons for me to get involved with the volunteerism efforts in a specific location?
A: Yes, DRI has agreed to award Continuing Education Activity Points (CEAPs) for the work you do and the time spent helping out and ‘giving back.’ You will also have the opportunity to network with others at the volunteer sites and to learn from the aid organizations and local responding professionals. For more information on earning CEAPs through volunteerism, contact Michele Oslter at mostler@drii.org or 866-542 3744.
Q: How do I get more information about volunteerism with the DRI Foundation?
A: You can fill out this form or contact Michelle Ostler, director of volunteerism for the DRI Foundation at mostler@driif.org
Q: Can I get people from my company, not necessarily certified professionals, involved in the volunteer efforts with the DRI Foundation?
A: Yes, we encourage all of our Certified Professionals to become active and get their companies involved. We welcome the participation of all those willing to help out. Learn more.
Q: How can I sign up to be on a list of willing volunteers?
A: Please fill out our Volunteer Form.