Community resilience and preparedness: City government engagement with consulates and NGOs to reach a wider audience

The purpose of the study is to gain a better understanding of New York City's Haitian and Chilean communities' response to recent earthquakes in their countries, including how these communities organized themselves to provide relief for the victims. This study seeks to identify which strategies were successful and which were not, as well as determine facilitators and barriers to each community's response. Seven semi-structured interviews were held at the NGOs and consul general offices. The interviews included four main topics: role of the NGO/Consulate, success/barrier of response, best experience during the process, and possibilities and opportunities for local government involvement. Drawing on his experience as Consul General in London during the 2005 train bombings, the Chilean consul recalled being unable to obtain information about the victims because hospitals did not allow it to be released. He expressed concern that if this scenario happened in New York City, he would be similarly concerned about the dissemination of information about victims to their families, at home and abroad. NGOs and Consulates reported that there was a strong degree of cooperation among organizations and individuals offering assistance. When local government, NGOs, etc. work together to coordinate services and information is made available to communities, it lessens the hardships; miscommunication, delays, trauma and other distresses associated with disasters and hasten community recovery.