Community Resiliency in Abilene assessed
CCC and other local orgs partner with national center to assess Abilene's resiliency
The Terrorism and Disaster Center (TDC) at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center presented preliminary findings of the Community Assessment of Resiliency Tool (CART©) used to begin the CART process in Abilene, Texas. The presentation was made to partners on Tuesday, September 30 in Abilene.
This is the first time the TDC has used the tool for a city-wide assessment. Local Abilene organizations, led by Connecting Caring Communities, partnered with TDC to find baseline measures and begin identifying assets and needs for continued improvement of our community.
CART© was developed by the TDC and is used to measure community resilience. Community resiliency can be built around any issue, not only disasters, and is important for any community's future. The four factors of community resiliency measured in CART© are (1) connection and caring, (2) resources, (3) transformative potential and (4) disaster preparedness.
The most significant finding is the very high agreement across the community about Abilene being a place of high connection and caring. Resilient communities promote member well-being, instill hope and empower individuals and groups. That is why this factor is an important finding for our city.
Over the past several years, Abilene has been building the infrastructure of its neighborhoods. CART© findings suggest that more work should be done in this area to help develop neighborhood leadership and resources. Utilizing the rich asset of connection and caring is a great place to start in moving toward this area of improvement.
The CART© process will continue in Abilene with further assessment, focus groups and partnering together to build resiliency, community and safe neighborhoods. Using the information learned from this first time assessment, the tool will be enhanced and updated for another city-wide assessment in January 2009.
CART partners have included the TDC, Connecting Caring Communities, the City of Abilene, Community Foundation of Abilene, United Way of Abilene, ACU, HSU, Nonprofit Management Center, Dyess Air Force Base, and Hendrick Medical Center.
The Abilene Reporter-News reports: "Surveying Abilene's ability to rebound from disaster" (9.30.08)