What is COAD?
The Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD) is a collaborative network of organizations, agencies, individuals, businesses, and others based within a community or geographic area representing public, private, and non-profit agencies, which work towards the mission of helping to minimize the effects of a disaster.
COAD enhances the community’s ability to mitigate, prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters, thus ensuring that human needs are met to provide a safe, sanitary, and secure community.
Within the Heart of Indiana United Way region, we serve as the lead organization for the Madison County COAD.
What is the Mission of the COAD?
the mission of the COAD is to strengthen area-wide disaster coordination by promoting advocacy and planning to reduce the impact of disasters; including facilitating communication, coordination, collaboration, and cooperation.
Who is Part of the COAD?
Because COADs are locally drive, the local stakeholders are crucial. The better understanding everyone has of one another prior to a disaster, the more effective a local response and recovery will be after a disaster.
Getting involved is easy. Members simply agree to be part of the network and share their current contact information. Some members are more active than others in preparing for their disaster role, but all members are encouraged to actively participate as that adds to the greater good of the community. They attend meetings to plan for better coordination in an emergency. Any community business or organization may send a representative to the COAD.