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Other Citizen Corps programs

Citizen Corps believes there is a role for everyone to help build Washington’s disaster resilience. Its mission is to harness everyone’s power to make communities safer, stronger and better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues and disasters of all kinds. It offers many opportunities for education, training and volunteer service.

CERT is one of many Citizen Corps volunteer prorams. Howerver, CERT is the only Citizen Corps program  Serve Washington directly supports currently.

Citizen Corps offers the following additional programs. Please visit the links in each description to find out how you can get involved with any of them in your area.

Fire Corps

Fire Corps is a national grassroots effort to help fire/EMS departments enhance their services by engaging with community members to assist with non-emergency tasks. Whether they’re leading fire prevention and safety education, installing smoke alarms, writing grants, managing a department’s social media or fulfilling other tasks, volunteers can make a difference. 

Medical Reserve Corps

Currently practicing and public health professionals trained in medicine as well as other people with healthcare backgrounds volunteer their time and expertise to help prepare for and respond to emergencies. The MRC network comprises more than 200,000 volunteers among roughly 800 community-based units in the US and its territories.

Neighborhood Watch

Neighborhood Watch trains and encourages people to watch out for their neighbors and families by preventing and reporting safety and security issues in their neighborhoods. It also shows people how they can play a potentially crucial role in detecting and preventing terrorist acts.

Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS)

Volunteers in Police Service, VIPS, is a locally-driven Citizen Corps program allowing community members to offer their time and talents to their local law enforcement agencies. It served as a gateway to information for and bout law enforcement volunteer programs and can meet a volunteer’s desire to serve as well as a local law enforcement agency’s need for support.

MyPI Washington

My Preparedness Initiative (MyPI)  is a leadership and preparedness program directed at youth. It gives teens opportunities take ownership of their preparedness and help their families and surrounding communities.

During its flexible, 10-week program, teens complete a US Department of Homeland Security/FEMA-certified CERT training. They learn about disaster preparedness, fire safety, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, CERT organization, disaster psychology and terrorism and CERT.

There are also add-on programs with opportunities to get certified in CPR and AED use and awareness programs focusing on social media use for emergency preparedness, disaster simulations and more.