Community Resilience Organizations

There’s no way to prevent disasters like Sandy and Irene. But a new pilot program – Community Resilience Organizations (CROs) – aims to make sure that towns are ready for whatever lies ahead. Community Resilience Organizations engage the community broadly in completing essential hazard mitigation and climate adaptation tasks and also in celebrating together, building the social cohesion that will help when future challenges arise. Pilot teams will launch in five Vermont communities in 2015: Hartford, Jeffersonville, Londonderry, Putney, and Waterbury. Each Selectboard authorized the creation of a local team and is appointing members representing emergency management, town government, energy and conservation work, and social services. CROs will add additional pilot towns each year, with the intent that the program eventually becomes a statewide means to build resilience.