Who We Are
Our Story
In 2012, after hearing a pastor speak about emergency preparedness, Debra Williams was inspired to send out her personal camping supplies list as a resource to her email list. Seeing a need in the community, she began speaking at churches throughout the Inland Empire about disaster preparedness. Soon after, Williams founded Building Resilient Communities. In the years since BRC has grown into one of the leading resources for faith-based organizations looking to prepare for natural and human-made disasters. We have provided training and resources for more than 600 faith-based organizations as well as support during times of disaster.
Our Mission
Building Resilient Communities provides training and resources to ensure equity in disaster preparedness, response and recovery for underserved communities with an emphasis on the Black/African American communities.
Our Vision
BRC envisions a world where communities are filled with hope, overcome adverse conditions, are prepared for disasters, and recover from disruptive experiences.
Help Us Provide Life-Saving Resources
to Communities in the Inland Empire
Our Core Values
“Resilience is the capacity of any entity—an individual, a community, an organization, or a natural system—to prepare for disruption, to recover from shocks and stresses, and to adapt and grow from a disruptive experience. As you build resilience, therefore, you become more able to prevent or mitigate stresses and shocks you can identify and better able to respond to those you can’t predict or avoid. You also develop greater capacity to bounce back from a crisis, learn from it, and achieve revitalization.” “In the twenty-first century, building resilience is one of our most urgent social and economic issues because we live in a world that is defined by disruptions.”
Judith Rodin, Being Strong in a World Where Things Go Wrong: the Resilience Dividend
Our Impact
BRC is proud to be a part of a network of organizations ensuring that communities are ready in the event of a crisis. We currently provide disaster preparedness tools, resources and updates on emergency situations to hundreds of faith, community and business leaders. When fires start, floods occur, the earth shakes, pandemics strike or communities experience violence, we provide thousands of people with the information they need to stay safe.
In addition to training, we provide communities with the supplies they need to weather tough times. BRC has delivered thousands of face masks, face shields, hand sanitizers, and gloves to communities in need of personal protection equipment as they face COVID-19. We also partner with community organizations annually to provide students with emergency flashlights, backpacks, and school supplies. While disaster preparedness is our priority, we strive to meet the needs of the communities we serve in whatever ways we can.
preparing communities
trained and prepared
to the community
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