With an increase in extreme weather-related natural disasters, Continuums of Care (CoCs) must consider emergency preparedness and response with and for people experiencing homelessness on a year-round basis, not just when disasters occur. Communities must forge proactive connections among providers, the CoC, state and local emergency management offices, and culturally specific organizations to ensure people experiencing homelessness are included in any disaster preparedness planning, response, and recovery efforts.
Disaster Preparedness: Planning, Response, and Recovery
There are several resources to help CoCs specifically in disaster preparedness and response:
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s guide, Disaster Planning and Response: A Guide to Preparation for Homelessness Response Programs, details questions that homeless service providers should answer in preparing for a disaster.
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has made available a Disaster Recovery Homelessness Toolkit for communities in the response and recovery phases of a disaster.
“The outcomes of major disasters are nearly always inequitable, which increases the vulnerability of those who struggled before the disaster and often displaces large portions of communities – as disasters become more frequent and severe, it is more important than ever to determine what can be done to promote more just and equitable disaster recovery.
Alessandra Jerolleman Natural Hazards Center
Equitable Recovery Resources
According to a 2024 research brief by the Consortium for Equitable Disaster Resilience, people of color, people with disabilities, people with limited English proficiency, and undocumented households are disproportionately impacted in recovery efforts and face additional barriers to recovery.
Communities can ensure nobody gets left behind in recovery efforts by consulting the following resources:
- The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Advancing Equity: Strategies, Tactics, and Best Practices for Disaster-Impacted Communities guide offers a comprehensive toolkit for advocates.
- Published in 2021 by the NAACP with local and state emergency management, In the Eye of the Storm: A People’s Guide to Transforming Crisis & Advancing Equity in the Disaster Continuum can help communities to promote equity-based emergency management practices.
During the recovery phase of a disaster, the National Alliance to End Homelessness urges state and local officials across impacted communities to:
- coordinate with their homelessness lead agencies to ensure everyone has a safe place to go after evacuation or as they exit from disaster shelters, regardless of housing status prior to the disaster;
- identify additional resources to meet both the urgent and long-term needs of people experiencing homelessness as part of a fair, accessible, inclusive, and representative recovery effort; and
- suspend any state or local ordinances, such as public camping bans, that could disrupt response and recovery efforts.
The needs of unhoused people are often unmet in disaster preparation, response, and recovery phases. The Alliance urges state and local leaders to dedicate more resources to their most vulnerable residents and prioritize humane and evidence-based practices that save lives. Removing harmful policies (such as public camping bans) in the wake of natural disasters will allow communities to focus on immediately sheltering and re-housing everyone who has been impacted by these catastrophic events.
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