Volunteers hope for the best by preparing Harlem community for the worst

“Are you ready?” was the question that struck Ramona Ponce in 2005, shortly after hurricane Katrina. She attended a safety presentation and was asked by a staff member from New York City Emergency Management if her community would be prepared to handle a disaster like Katrina. Ponce knew the community was not ready and that if disaster hit the next day, it would be chaos. “A lot of us here in Harlem saw that and we were very troubled because we saw the kind of effect that it had in New Orleans, especially the neighborhoods of color and neighborhoods that had significant challenges,” she said. That year Ponce joined CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and fourteen years later she is still a volunteer and works to prepare citizens for disasters. 

Ponce was an organizer at the 7th Annual Harlem Emergency Preparedness Day that took place on Campus in the NAC building. The event was sponsored by CERT. CPR instructors, firefighters, and police officers taught classes or provided information to the attendees. The event is meant to train civilians for all different kinds of disasters. From fires to hurricanes to active shooter preparedness. The organizers provided citizens with tools, information, and classes to prepare them for the unexpected. The highlight of the day was the “GO-BAG” competition with a cash prize.

A Go-Bag is a backpack that everyone should prepare in case of an emergency. It has the essentials like a flashlight, poncho, bandaids, canned food, and medicines. Disasters happen unexpectedly and most people don’t think it’ll happen to them. Harlem Emergency Preparedness Day reinforces that you can never know when disaster will hit and you always want to be prepared and expect the unexpected.

CERT does over 900 presentations a year across the five boroughs. It is run entirely by volunteers and works with everyone from students to senior citizens. Get the Notify NYC app to get information about emergency events in New York City.