World Cares Center

World Cares Center (WCC) was founded during the 9/11 relief effort by Spontaneous Unaffiliated Community Volunteers (SUCVs) in New York City, who
experienced both the positive energy and contributions citizen made to their own communities recovery and also the challenges of integrating community volunteers and leaders into response systems that would thereby reduce confusion and the secondary harm that comes from disaster volunteering.

Seeing the need to bring together various agencies and community-based organizations in a safe and collaborative environment World Cares Center was born and the first of its programs, the September Space Community Resiliency Center was established to promote social, emotional and physical healing for the entire responder community.

Through the process of meeting the strong need for a Community Resiliency Centers in times of tragedy, WCC began to identify and address the root cause of emotional and physical disaster volunteer/worker trauma.

The Disaster Preparation & Trauma Mitigation program was developed to bridge the gap between SUCVs and official disaster responders. Realizing that,
because SUCVs were not affiliated with official response agencies, they lacked access to information and services regarding emotional, social and physical preparedness and recovery, leaving them underutilized and mismanaged during the disaster response WCC built a model to provide this support.

WCC’s strategy is to improve the level of knowledge within communities to enable volunteers and leaders to respond safety mitigating harm, understand and develop common disaster management strategies and learn new and important skills.

WCC has grown from a volunteer-run and zero-budget community center founded in the aftermath of tragedy to a global movement promoting proactive and collaborative disaster preparedness, response and resilient recovery between community members and the emergency mangers who will lead them.

The September Space Community Resilience Center (SSCRC) located in midtown Manhattan served as the crucible where WCC’s ideas were tested, and was the centerpiece of our services to individuals, groups and communities affected by 9/11. From November 2001 to December 2007, WCC’s September Space Community Resiliency Centers served over 45,000 individuals.

WCC has trained disaster volunteers and managers in 27 states and 4 countries while simultaneously working on the ground with community leaders and spontaneous volunteers. WCC deployed to Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 Earthquake, delivering critically needed supplies, medical staff and training to survivors of this horrific event.

Locally, WCC has been a leader within New York City’s Volunteers Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) community, playing an active part in the city’s response to Hurricanes Irene and Sandy. WCC was immediately deployed in the affected areas, setting up Volunteer Coordination and Reception Centers in multiple boroughs. By 2015, WCC prepared 1,400 homes for rebuild and trained upwards of 22,000 local disaster volunteers post-Superstorm Sandy.

World Cares Center’s mission is to build capacity from within high-risk, vulnerable communities and to empower the citizens who step away from the comfort of their everyday lives to help others during times of crisis. By nature of living where a disaster strikes, the constituents of an impacted area are always the first, first-responders onsite. WCC believes that resiliency develops within communities by preparing citizens to respond to disasters and mitigate their inherent risks, thereby reducing human and economic asset loss upon impact.

Through the Disaster Volunteerism Academy, WCC offers curriculums online and in classroom-like settings that are tailored towards specific demographics, free of charge. Beginning with an individual and family readiness training, which serves as a foundation for preparedness and risk mitigation, WCC’s courses allow all individuals to become well-versed in disaster response and volunteerism. Local leaders are trained to serve as disaster volunteer managers and develop community response plans, and citizens are empowered to emerge as disaster volunteers.

World Cares Center also offers an information sharing system that is fundamental in furthering community resiliency before and in the wake of a disaster. The Ready Responders Network, also known as the RRN, is a critical component of our organization. Serving as a virtual emergency operations center, the RRN allows for an exchange of problem-solving solutions, the sharing of resources and the ability to request for additional support.

Our third foundational program transforms knowledge into action through a Ready Responders Boots on the Ground Exercise, engaging community volunteers to practice their response and recovery skills through a simulated disaster. When disaster occurs, World Cares Center is at the Ready and deploys to support hyper-local community coordination.