People sometimes get confused about the Bainbridge Prepares (BP) partnership, thinking that the City funds our nonprofit, or that BP is the City, or that City Emergency Management Coordinator Anne LeSage does many of the things that, in fact, our own BP leadership does. Let’s take a moment to clarify this fantastic partnership that helps keep our community resilient.

BP is a 501c3 nonprofit founded by Scott James in 2011 when we started working in partnership with the Bainbridge Island Fire Department (BIFD), with each organization taking responsibility for specific roles. In 2016, our partnership expanded to include the City of Bainbridge Island (COBI), which includes the police department and the emergency management department now run by Emergency Management Coordinator Anne LeSage. Bainbridge Prepares is the name of one of the three partners; it is also the name of the partnership.

How We’re Funded

Our partners BIFD and COBI are funded largely by grants and taxes.

BP, as a 501c3, is funded through grants and donations. Almost all of our work is done by volunteers—we currently have more than 750. We only have two paid staff positions: our Executive Director and Program Director. Our supplies come largely from donations.

This year is the first year since our inception that we’ve launched a fundraising campaign, the Island Resilience Campaign.

What We Do

Like all good partnerships, ours with COBI and BIFD helps us cover all the bases and get more done than each partner could alone. Each entity takes lead on different aspects.

BP:

• Preparedness and response teams: BP manages twenty volunteer teams that help prepare the community for disaster and then respond when disaster strikes. Some of these teams also respond to calls from COBI and BIFD.

  • Access & Functional Needs

  • Business Continuity

  • Child Safety & Reunification

  • Community Emergency Response (CERT)

  • Community Outreach

  • Disaster Hubs

  • Domestic Animal Care

  • Emergency Auxiliary Radio Service

  • Flotilla

  • Food Resilience

  • Interpretation—Limited English Proficiency (LEP)

  • Logistics

  • Map Your Neighborhood

  • Medical Reserve Corps (MRC)

  • Psychological First Aid

  • Ready Congregations

  • Tech Ops

  • Water Resources

  • Wellness

  • Winter Storm Transportation (BIGWEELS)

• Partnerships: BP pursues and manages partnerships with other organizations, including the Bainbridge Island Community Pharmacy, the Bainbridge Island Senior Center, Island Volunteer Caregivers, and off-island emergency organizations, to coordinate disaster response efforts.

• Disaster hubs: BP staffs and supplies disaster hubs around the island so that every household will be within walking distance of one in an emergency.

• Education: BP educates the public about personal and neighborhood emergency preparedness.

• Events: BP hosts events like Day of Preparedness to educate the public.

COBI:

• Emergency communications: COBI communicates with the public via Nixle, for example. BP volunteers support these efforts.

• Continuity of governance: COBI makes sure, after a disaster, that the city government can continue.

• Infrastructure, transportation, and logistics: This includes, for example, figuring out how to get roads opened again after a disaster.

• Mitigation: The City works to lessen the effects of disasters through, for example, a tsunami awareness and signage program.

• Strategic partnerships: The City maintains key relationships with state and federal emergency management organizations.

• Volunteer management and credentialing: Although the volunteers are BP volunteers, COBI makes sure they get background checks and ID cards.

• Damage assessment. City staff assess building damage or flood damage, for example.

• Emergency Operations Center: The EOC will coordinate response after an emergency.

• Flotilla: The BP Flotilla team will be under the command of the EOC in an emergency.

• Public safety and security: This is the function of the Bainbridge Island Police Department.

• Severe Weather Shelter: In extreme weather, COBI determines whether to open the SWS, which is then staffed by BP volunteers.

BIFD:

• Community risk reduction: BIFD offers trainings like CPR, Stop the Bleed, and Fire Extinguisher Use, and it manages community outreach campaigns on fire safety, like the Firewise Program.

• Department Operations Center

• Emergency medical services: BP teams may be called on by BIFD to assist.

• Firefighting

• Multi-casualty incident management: BP teams may be called on by BIFD to assist.

• Search and rescue: BP teams may be called on by BIFD to assist.

Do you want to support our work? We’d appreciate your help! Tomorrow, November 28, which is Giving Tuesday, is a great opportunity to help fund the work we do to keep our community safe and resilient. Thank you for your support!