New project to prepare Boston Jews for disaster
By Jacob Sugerman
The Jewish Advocate
Jewish organizations to launch a community response to future crises
Nearly one year after America watched as Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region, local community organizations in Boston have devised a plan to be ready in the face of an emergency or disaster.
The Jewish Emergency Management Systems, or JEMS, under the direction of a joint coordination between Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Community Relations Council, is in the process of developing a coordinated emergency response plan for the Greater Boston Jewish community. The plan follows a trend in a number of Jewish communities since September 11, 2001, and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
In the works since earlier this year, JEMS plans to "create a community-wide network to respond to different types of emergencies," including, in the recovery process, to guarantee "that local institutions are well-prepared" for any security risk or emergency, according to a project overview provided to the Advocate. JEMS also proposes to "build relationships with the larger emergency management and security community" to receive resources and provide aid in an hour of need.
JEMS will officially launch at a day-long community seminar in early November, with workshops on disaster recovery run by representatives from organizations such as Homeland Security and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
Currently in its primary stages, the project, divided into three phases lasting several months each, is designed to grow over time, according to Patty Jacobson, project manager of JEMS and vice president of marketing services at CJP.
She declined to disclose the amount of funds that are set aside for the project.
"We're thinking about this as a phased approach, since you don't create an emergency management system for a community overnight," she said, adding that models from other Jewish communities were consulted in the creation of the JEMS model.
"When you think about what happens when something goes wrong, it becomes a question of [mobilizing] existing resources as quickly as possible to communicate or mitigate the problem," she said.
According to Jacobson, the first test of JEMS came in March with the discovery of anti-Semitic graffiti at the Striar Jewish Community Center in Stoughton. Though JEMS was only in the works for three months at that time – and in the midst of phase one of the project – the unexpected event served as a test for the executive committee whose members were in communication with one another within a few hours. The community collaboration immediately following the incident at Striar has since served as the model for future plans of action, depending on the extent of the emergency.
"The concept is that when there's an emergency, the most important thing to do is begin with communication … and pull together people from the community," Jacobson said. "Our goal has been to create a simple effective approach that adapts to whatever type of emergency happens."
To date, JEMS is comprised of a number of bodies, including an executive committee with senior representation from CJP, the ADL and JCRC, and a group that meets every two weeks to further plan and discuss preparations for the new community emergency system.
There are representatives from more than two dozen major Jewish organizations in Greater Boston that are part of the JEMS board, including groups such as the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts, Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly and the Bureau of Jewish Education, that play leadership roles and are active participants in the working group.
An advisory council of experts in the field of emergency preparation from outside the Jewish community was scheduled to meet Thursday, as of press time. Their goal is to further relationships outside the realm of Boston Jewry.
"We live in times of great anxiety. Preparation and awareness are critical to giving people a sense of control and safety," said Andrew Tarsy, New England regional director of the ADL who is on the executive committee. "There is no substitute for having conversations in the calm environment that we're creating with the JEMS project. If we have problems we'll be in a better position to prevent it."
Nancy Kaufman, executive director of JCRC and another member of the executive committee added: "I think this will create a highly cooperative network that will be ready to respond in any kind of emergency, and I think that's important. A coordinated, carefully orchestrated means to respond is a very positive thing for the Jewish community."
