Currents had the opportunity to ask Scott James, Bainbridge Prepares Founder and author of Prepared Neighborhoods, some questions about their upcoming event, “Virtual Day of Preparedness.” This event will take place on Saturday September 26 from 10am to 2pm via Zoom.

C: What are the biggest threats to our community at this time? 

SJ: Complacency, whether it relates to mask usage for pandemic or creating a family reunification plan for earthquake. 

C: How is Bainbridge Prepares addressing them? 

SJ: Over the years we’ve created a wide variety of resources – live classes, online videos, and much more – to encourage folks to take action. Even the smallest step forward is the key to overcoming complacency and inertia. 

C: What’s been your most successful strategy? 

SJ: Helping folks understand that looking at preparedness through a lens of love and community-building, rather than fear, is the key to creating a more resilient life for yourself and those around you. Group resilience is where it’s at! 

C: Each year you hold a three-day Preparedness conference. What’s different this year? 

SJ: We’re going virtual, of course, and using a new collection of videos from our Team Leads to better answer the question I constantly receive from readers of my Prepared Neighborhoods book about how to replicate Bainbridge Prepares in their towns. 

C: What should we expect from the Virtual Day of Preparedness? 

SJ: In addition to the recorded videos from our Team Leads, we’ll have three super interesting keynote speakers speaking live: two earthquake scientists and one emotional resilience expert. We’ll end the day with a Town Hall style open Q&A session with our leadership team and all the Team Leads you see listed at bainbridgeprepares.org. Come with all your questions!

C: What keeps you awake at night? 

SJ: The climate crisis. We need worldwide and national leadership to galvanize every conscious person, but it’s not happening fast enough. 

C: What gives you hope? 

SJ: My children. 

C: What has helped Bainbridge Prepares best navigate these challenging times? 

SJ: Having a solid team with deep, trusting relationships. We know we can rely on each other. Our three-way partnership between the fire district, city hall, and community nonprofit has been crucial to our ability to respond and pivot quickly as needed throughout the COVID crisis. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

---

September 26 Agenda
10:00 AM Welcome!
10:05 AM History of Earthquakes on Bainbridge: Steve Angster, PhD, Jessie Pearl, PhD
11:30 AM Emotional Resilience in Times of Disaster: Avanti Bergqist, PhD
1:00 PM Open Q&A with Partnership Leadership and Team Leads
To register for the event, click here.