Building Resiliency: Bottom Up from the Top Down Mass Care Panel

In today’s disasters, resources are more valuable and scarce than ever. For the whole community approach to be truly integrated, resiliency must be the top priority cultivated from the bottom up and fully support from the top down.  Between continually higher constraints across the board, additional hazards due to COVID, agencies/organizations balancing internal demands and a national non-stop high operational tempo with external needs, communities must become more resilient or risk a delayed support response that doesn’t meet their needs. How far have we come to build resiliency in communities and what can we do to make communities stronger?

• State of the State Operations Update (ESF-6)
• Sheltering through Covid and beyond (ARC)
• SCEMD & Mass Care (SCEMD)
• Feeding During & Recovering From Disasters (SBDR)
• Medical Needs & Supporting Those in Need (DHEC)
• Agribusiness & Emergency Pet Sheltering – Competing Needs (CULPH)
• Open Panel for Discussion & Questions (all participants)

Robert “Rob” Burress, Director of Disaster Services for South Carolina’s Department of Social Services & Mass Care (Emergency Support Function-6) for South Carolina

Eighteen-year veteran of the United States Air Force and United States Army with a background focusing in law enforcement operations and contingency planning. Beginning in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina, I assisted in the logistic operations at Little Rock Air Force Base with planning and distribution of international aid from other 30 countries both friendly and less friendly coming in to be used in New Orleans.

After completing a tour in Afghanistan training police and local leaders on contingency planning, then coming back and training National Guardsman, I transitioned to the United States Reserves to pursue emergency management fulltime on the civilian side.

Since 2017, I have worked for the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS) as the Director of Disaster Services. The job is dual hatted as both emergency planner for the agency’s personnel and operations as well as under order and activation by the Governor, acting as the Mass Care lead for the state. As the Mass Care lead, SCDSS is responsible for supporting county and state plans by coordinating and assisting in sheltering, feeding and the distribution of goods and services to the citizens displaced because of disasters in South Carolina.

Beth Fletcher , American Red Cross

Beth is the Senior Disaster Program Manager for the American Red Cross for the South Carolina Region. She has been with the American Red Cross for over 14 years.

Beth lives in the Myrtle Beach area. Her and her family moved here from Richmond, Virginia. Originally, Beth is from Martinsville, Virginia.

Beth has a background in nursing, social services, and management, both for-profit and non-profit arenas. Prior to coming to Red Cross, she was an Executive Director in health care, a Nurse,  and the State Director for a grass roots organization that provided services for parents to be trained as advocates for their children with disabilities.

She has deployed to over 35 disasters, from Sandy to Harvey to LA Floods and Texas Floods, SC Floods and many other hurricanes and all-hazard events.

Beth’s primary focus in her position is relationship facilitation with our state level government and non-government partners and community partners. She also supports all the regions disaster preparedness, response and recovery programs and planning, and supports the local chapters disaster program staff and volunteers.

In her free time Beth enjoys, the beach, boating, paddle boarding and reading. She also enjoys spending time with her family and pet Shih Tzu, Percy.

Megan Wood, Mass Care and COOP / COG Program Manager for SCEMD.

She also oversees the Division’s unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) program. She has been with the agency since March 2017, and previously held the positions of Dam Safety and Flood Response Program Manager and Mitigation Planner.  During SEOC activations, she is a member of the Joint Disaster Intelligence and Assessment Cell, which provides disaster intelligence and risk analysis products to stakeholders. She has a master’s degree from the University of South Carolina and a bachelor’s degree from UMBC in Baltimore, Maryland. Megan served an AmeriCorps term in the National Preparedness and Response Corps at the American Red Cross in Philadelphia. She also has an interest in GIS.

Randy Creamer, SC Baptist DR Director

A native of SC living in Anderson the past 10 years.  SC Baptist DR Director the past 9 years.  Served with the Adult Mobilization Team of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention for 10 years.  Pastored SC Baptist churches for 23 years.  South Carolinian through and through!

Jay Daniels, State MNS Coordinator, DHEC

Jay Daniels has been working with DHEC for 21 years and with the Medical Needs Sheltering Program within the Bureau of Public Health Preparedness for the last 6 years and serves as the DHEC/ ESF-6 liaison during disasters.

Jim Casserly, SCDSS Deputy Director of Disaster Services

Retired Chief Warrant Officer from the South Carolina Army National Guard with 22 years of service.  I had two combat tours, one while in the Army in Desert Shield/Desert Storm while serving at Fort Bragg, and one with the South Carolina National Guard in Operation Iraqi Freedom. I am the Deputy Director of Disaster Services for the South Carolina Department of Social Services in emergency management and have been working South Carolina disasters for the past five years.

Dr. Kathryn MacDonald, DVM

Dr. Kathryn MacDonald manages and facilitates the multiple emergency preparedness and response roles that Clemson University Livestock Poultry Health (CULPH) has within South Carolina.  As part of the state’s emergency response operations, she leads South Carolina’s Agriculture and Animal Emergency Support Function, ESF-17.  She also provides support for ESF-6 Mass Care providing technical information related to emergency pet sheltering.  Prior to her start with Clemson, she held positions with the US Department of Agriculture, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and Michigan Department of Agriculture.  She also worked in clinical veterinary practice for many years as an emergency, critical care, and trauma veterinarian.