ARC: Community Resilience Catalyst

In the face of humanitarian crises, citizen groups are among the most important disaster responders, and often best positioned to deploy the right response to the right places. However, there is a clear gap in the current disaster management system in engaging citizen groups to respond to the growing challenges of disasters. We created ARC - Act, Ready, Connect - to bring key actors together through an integrated community mapping platform to improve disaster resilience: 1) Empower citizen groups to mobilize community volunteers to meet the surging demands for disaster management and long-term resilience; 2) Co-create governance structures and protocols to form partnerships for effective collaboration; and 3) Co-design technology systems to crowdsource, manage, and communicate community needs and resources. Together, ARC helps communities improve disaster response capacity and strengthen social connectedness, while disaster management agencies can maximize their impacts by delivering targeted services to communities most in need.

While the current COVID-19 health crisis has touched virtually every segment of the population, the most vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected. In the face of a humanitarian crisis, citizen groups, such as faith-based organizations, youth groups, and social justice movements, are among the most important disaster responders. Citizen groups are best positioned to deploy the right response to the right places, because of their knowledge of local needs and resources, as well as being a trustworthy source among community members. Across the globe, disaster management and aid agencies are also stepping up to scale, shift, and direct resources and supplies to address community needs. However, there is a clear gap in the current disaster management system in engaging and empowering citizen groups to respond to the growing challenges of disasters especially for the most vulnerable populations:

1. With limited experience and operational constraints, citizen groups find it difficult to pivot and meet the surging demand from a humanitarian crisis. 

2. With inadequate information about the community’s vulnerabilities and resources, disaster response work becomes hectic and ineffective. 

3. With different organizational structures and information management procedures, coordination across a variety of disaster management stakeholders is more challenging than ever. 

1. Mobilize Local Community Volunteers. Local volunteers are the most powerful force in responding to humanitarian crises and to build long-term disaster resilience. Together with volunteers, citizen groups will be able to expand their capacity to meet the surging demand during and after crises while improving social connectedness that serve as one of the most important factors in community resilience. 

2. Build and Maintain New Partnerships.  To allow agencies to effectively coordinate with citizen groups, new governance structures, protocols, and communication channels need to be established and tested before disasters hit. These partnerships will allow trust-building to help streamline the distribution of resources, services, and information. The partnerships serve as the foundation to co-create information and knowledge management protocols for effective and inclusive acquisition, management, and sharing of information.  

3. Use Technology as a Catalyst. Current information on vulnerable populations and places are often missing, unusable, or illegible. To help improve disaster information and knowledge management, it is crucial to capture human-level data, including medical needs, transportation, and other demographic information, which require on-the-ground surveys that take place before disasters hit. ARC provides the technology solution to help crowdsource, manage, and communicate community needs with a focus on vulnerable individuals.

The most vulnerable populations often have access and functional needs that may require special assistance before, during, and after a disaster, including maintaining independence, communication, transportation, and medical care. The following groups have found to be often disproportionately impacted by disasters: 

• Frail elderly who depend on others for daily living

• People with medical conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s 

• People with disabilities, such as physical, sensory, and developmental 

• low-income

• People who don’t have means of transportation

• Others: pregnant women, immigrants, LGBTQ, non-native speakers, and those susceptible to other types of harm such as gender-based violence 

For the most vulnerable populations in these disaster prone, low-income communities, we envision ARC to: 1) improve ease of access to essential services and supplies; 2) reduce health and mortality risks; and 3) reduce mental health challenges due to isolation and disruption to normal life. For citizen groups, ARC will: 1) enhance management capacity; 2) broaden and deepen community engagement; and 3) improved partnership and access to funding and resources. Lastly, for disaster management and aid agencies, ARC will: 1) improve efficacy of disaster response efforts; and 2) minimize negligence and target service provision to where the greatest needs are.

ARC aspires to create a more inclusive and effective disaster information and knowledge management solution that prepares communities and agencies to better care for the most vulnerable in case of humanitarian crises. ARC deploys a community-centered approach to empower citizen groups to overcome the functional, structural, and social barriers that prevent the inclusion of local information and knowledge into the official disaster and healthcare management systems. We focus our efforts in areas compounded by both natural and public health disasters, which disproportionately affect similar demographics, including the elderly, poor, people with health conditions, and those who live in underserved communities. 

ARC builds on a long-term vision for resilience and collaboration. To achieve this goal, ARC bridges the gaps in the current thinking, planning, and practices of disaster management by co-creating platforms and partnerships that enhance social connectedness within communities and across stakeholders, which has proven to be the most important factor in building resiliency. In particular, our approaches are innovative because: 

1. We empower citizen groups to build an army of volunteers before the chaos. To improve the efficacy of citizen action post disasters, in collaboration with citizen groups, we integrate best practices in social and behavioral sciences to recruit, prepare, and support volunteers to create meaningful experiences and ensure value-add to disaster management efforts. 

2. We strengthen social connectedness within communities and across key stakeholders. By engaging community volunteers, the most vulnerable populations such as isolated seniors who often have limited access and experience with technology, local community volunteers bridge the digital gap and provide much-needed companionship in disaster recovery. Through sustaining partnerships, citizen groups and disaster agencies can maximize the efficacy of their efforts through improved collaboration. 

3. We elevate citizen and community voices. Local information and knowledge are often underrepresented and/or misinterpreted in official channels of disaster management. Through volunteer-powered community mapping processes supported by collaborative governance structures and protocols with disaster management and aid agencies, ARC empowers marginalized citizens and communities to elevate their voices and have their own stories heard. 

1. Behavioral Technology: We integrate best practices in social and behavioral sciences to recruit, prepare, and support volunteers to create meaningful experiences while ensuring value-add to disaster management efforts.

2. Big Data & Crowdsourced Services/Social Networks: In collaboration with citizen groups and disaster management and aid agencies, we crowdsource through social networks information on community vulnerabilities and resources, including 1) health and medical needs; 2) supply needs; 3) mobility and transportation; 4) mental health; and 5) financial challenges. We look to acquire, manage, analyse, and share critical information across four of the most impacted states (Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Puerto Rico) in the first five years. We will also manage information on volunteers as well as participating organizations. 

3. GIS and Spatial Technology: Geospatial information is critical for all phases of disaster management. We integrate crowdsourced community information with geospatial data, including satellite images and community maps. We customize data management in accordance with participating organization’s needs, co-created governance structures and data processes, as well as legal requirements for data security and privacy. 

4. Software and Mobile Applications: To allow for effective data sharing, communication, and coordination, mobile and desktop applications along with other assets preferred by participating organizations will be co-designed and developed to ensure their accessibility and usability to all stakeholders. 

5. Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning: To improve decision-making around volunteer coordination, resource allocation, and other disaster management procedures, we will deploy artificial intelligence/machine learning to assist the processes and analysis of large quantities of data.

ARC aspires to boost disaster resilience for communities, especially the most vulnerable populations. We look to connect the dots in the current disaster management system and help empower individuals and citizen groups to become a more integral part of building a resilient future together.  

1. Support citizen groups as the backbones of community resilience. No government agencies will have enough resources and capacity to confront the growing challenges of disasters alone. Citizen groups are the backbones of community resilience and the greatest advocates for community residents. We partner and support citizen groups in their efforts to build resiliency for their fellow community members.

2. Strengthen social bonds that are among the most important survival mechanisms in disaster settings. Stories from around the world have shown that social connectedness is one of the most important factors in whether and how fast a community can recover from disasters. Often, family, neighbors, and friends are most likely the first responders, especially in remote areas. More organized communities are also likely to access essential resources and information. We mobilize self-sustaining volunteer programs to strengthen these connections among members of the communities. 

3. Integrate local knowledge to make disaster management more human-centered and effective. The inadequacy of information has been among the main factors that plague the disaster response and recovery efforts. In many parts of the world, we don’t have a good understanding of where the most vulnerable populations are and what the gaps are in the recovery efforts. We establish a database that integrates important local knowledge as well as other data sources to help direct help to where the greatest needs are.  

4. Facilitate collaboration across stakeholders to bridge the gap and amplify impact. Due to the organizational, functional, and cultural differences, key stakeholders in disaster management face many challenges in the process of collaboration and communication. Through facilitation of partnership building, we help bridge the current functional, structural, and social gaps among these groups by co-creating new governance structures, protocols, and channels for communication. 

According to the US census, our potential total target population size (using the proxy of people over 65 and people with disabilities living under the poverty line) across four of the most impacted states (Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Puerto Rico) could add up to 5 million: 1.7 million in Texas; 0.5 million in Louisiana; 1.7 million in Florida; and 1 million in Puerto Rico. We are currently in the prototyping phase, actively engaging community and disaster agency partners. We look to reach 2,000 people in Puerto Rico in the first year and 5% of the total target population (250,000 people) in five years. We focus our first year in Puerto Rico and expand to the other most impacted states in phases. 

First-Year Goals (Puerto Rico)

• Month 1 - 2: Wireframes and mockups of user interfaces ready for testing and feedback

• Month 3 - 4: Database and analytics prototypes ready for testing and feedback

• Month 5 - 6: Co-design and user testing sessions with at least three citizen groups and three disaster management and aid agencies completed and feedback collected

• Month 7 - 8: User testing feedback processed and included in prototypes 

• Month 9 - 10: Deploy pilot in three communities and with three agency partners 

• Month 11 - 12: Expand program to 10 more communities and 3 more disaster management and aid agencies 

Five-Year Goals

• Expand to benefit at least 5% of target population (250,000 people) across vulnerable communities in Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas, and Louisiana

• Grow our partnerships with citizen groups and disaster management and aid agencies across the four most impact states

• Grow the number of community volunteers and increase community engagement 

• Mature and stabilize mobile and desktop technology systems commensurate with partnership and user growth 

• New governance structures and protocols well accepted and used by major disaster management and aid agencies as well as citizen groups to integrate community information and knowledge 

As today’s changing demographic and technology trends make the effects of disasters more complex to manage, engaging and empowering individuals and communities to become a more integral part of enhancing disaster resilience has become undeniably vital. After humanitarian crises such as COVID-19, citizen groups emerge to offer their time, resources, knowledge, and skills to fill the gap in supporting the most vulnerable in their communities, including the elderly, poor, and people with pre-existing health conditions. However, individuals and groups working outside of the official disaster management system have been largely undervalued through the current formal institutional structures and arrangements that employ bureaucratic, command-and-control approaches. Some key barriers we anticipate include: 1) building trust as a new entity within local communities and disaster agencies; and 2) adoption and training of new technologies and processes.  

The ARC model mitigates these challenges through our people and community-centered approach. ARC focuses on building relationships with anchor community organizations that have already developed trust with local populations. Additionally, to alleviate technology adoption challenges, through a human-centered, system-minded process, ARC co-designs technology solutions and governance structures and protocols alongside our community and agency partners. Through this community-driven approach, we ensure our partners are willing, able, and excited to leverage our technology to improve their community disaster resilience building processes from the start. 

TEAM

Jasmine Qin (MIT), full-time

Mitsue Guerrero (Harvard University), part-time

Francisco Nieves (University of Puerto Rico), part-time 

Yarisniamed Padilla (Small Business Administration), part-time

ADVISORS

Business, entrepreneurship, organizational studies: Jayson Jay, MIT Sloan, Sustainability Initiative 

Disaster management and design: Miho Mazereeuw, MIT Architecture

Human-Computer Interaction and Community Mapping: Robert Soden, Columbia University 

Social behavioral and altruism: Erez Yoeli, MIT Sloan

Social capital and disasters: Daniel Aldrich, Northeastern University, Security and Resilience

Aid organization and policy: David Carrasquillo, Hispanic Federation + Puerto Rico Planning Society

Jasmine Qin (MIT) has over a decade of experience in environmental management, community development, data analytics and visualization, web and digital platform development, and design research. She spearheads design and R&D, project management, and partnership development.

Mitsue Guerrero (Harvard University) is a design strategist that deploys creative transdisciplinary approaches to address climate change & sustainable development. She leads product design as well as branding and marketing. 

Francisco Nieves (University of Puerto Rico) is a consultant, teacher, facilitator, coordinator, and director of a community center, with experience in social-action research. He leads volunteer recruiting and management as well as coordination with community partners. 

Yarisniamed Padilla (Small Business Administration) has been a community advocate in various law-making processes, with experience in disaster management and community organizing. She runs communications, legal issues, and disaster agency relationships. 

We are currently recruiting 1) a technologist to lead the front-end and back-end mobile and desktop software development; 2) interns to support research on data management and business development.

As we continue to build our team and advisory board, we prioritize providing opportunities to talents from Puerto Rico, people with extensive community organizing experiences, as well as diversity in race, gender, culture, and more. 

Partnerships are core to ARC. We currently working on building partnerships with three groups of partners:

1. Citizen groups in Puerto Rico. We have been actively engaging citizen groups and community leaders across the Island conducting in-depth interviews, focus groups, and participatory observations to understand their current practices, needs, and capacities in building community resilience. In particular, we are actively working with three groups in planning pilot projects: Centro de Apoyo Mutuo (CAM) in Las Carolinas, Caguas; Corporación de Servicios de Salud Primaria y Desarrollo Socioeconómico El Otoao (COSSAO) in Utuado; and Asociación de Comunidades Unidas Tomando Acción Solidaria (ACUTAS) in Toa Baja. 

2. Disaster management and aid agencies. Over the past year, we engaged a wide range of disaster management and aid agencies, including FEMA, Hispanic Federation, and Mercy Corps, to identify their needs and priorities particularly around information and knowledge management. We are currently exploring opportunities in building partnerships to pilot our solution. 

3. Academic and research institutions. We are partnering with a range of academic and research institutions in conducting rigorous research to continue informing product and service design as well as monitoring and evaluation. Some of these institutions include University of Puerto Rico, Colby College, MIT, Northeastern University. Through these partnerships, we also provide opportunities for experiential learning for students through internships and class projects. 

1. Data and community partnership management services for aid organizations. We provide disaster management and aid agencies actionable insights on communities vulnerabilities and resources to guide their disaster management efforts. Depending on the needs of the client, we provide tiered services in data deliverables in various formats, levels of complexity, and duration. Given our close partnerships with citizen groups, we also provide organizational and cultural consultation to entities in their project design and implementation, as trust and relationship are the key elements in working with communities while many external or professional organizations lack the resource or time to navigate. 

2. Grants and gifts. We tap into both the public and private grants and philanthropic opportunities to support particularly the initial launch of the project. 

3. Corporate social responsibility. We look to partner with businesses to create incentive structures to support citizen groups and volunteer work with access to their merchandise and services.

4. Community fund. We look to experiment  administering a community fund program, where we encourage everyone in the community to contribute as much or little as they wish to create a sense of ownership of the local project, of which the use of the fund will be transparent to the community. The citizen groups will be overseeing the planning and use of the community fund to support ARC related activities as well as other community development projects.