That question is exactly why the Coles County Illinois COAD (CCI-COAD) continues gaining momentum across the county.
Over the last year, local organizations, agencies, nonprofits, healthcare partners, educators, volunteers, and community leaders have quietly been building a coordinated countywide network designed to help communities work together before, during, and after disaster strikes.
The reality is simple:
When major storms, flooding, extended power outages, mass emergencies, or community crises happen, no single organization can handle everything alone.
That is where the CCI-COAD comes in.
One of the biggest goals of the CCI-COAD is helping organizations save valuable time, money, manpower, and resources by improving communication and coordination before emergencies happen.
Instead of multiple organizations duplicating efforts, scrambling for information, or working in isolation during a disaster, the CCI-COAD is helping build relationships and systems now so organizations can respond faster, coordinate smarter, and reduce unnecessary confusion and wasted resources later. This will save time and money leading to a faster recovery for residents of Coles County.
The recent General Membership Meeting brought together organizations to begin identifying resources, communication gaps, volunteer capabilities, and coordination challenges before a real disaster happens.
And the effort is continuing.
The next CCI-COAD topical meeting will focus specifically on Communications — one of the most critical pieces of any disaster response.
The Communication Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 30 from 1:00-2:00 PM at the Sarah Bush Lincoln Lumpkin Education Center, along with a Zoom virtual option. To register to attend, please go to: https://cci-coad.org/meetings
The meeting is open to organizations, businesses, nonprofits, churches, volunteer groups, healthcare organizations, schools, public agencies, media representatives, radio communications groups, technology specialists, and anyone involved in communication or information-sharing during emergencies.
The goal is not just another meeting.
The goal is to identify:
- How organizations communicate during emergencies
- Where communication gaps currently exist
- What backup systems are available if phones, internet, or power fail
- How organizations can share information faster during crises
- And how organizations can work together more effectively while reducing duplication, delays, and wasted effort
CCI-COAD remains in the early stages of development, but momentum continues to grow as more local partners step forward to become involved.
If your organization, business, church, nonprofit, agency, or volunteer group wants to be part of building a stronger and more connected Coles County, now is the time to get involved.
Organizations and individuals are encouraged to complete the CCI-COAD interest and resource survey:
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