Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council

For this project, the U.S. Department of State outlined the following specific objectives:

• Analyze U.S. emergency response, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance efforts at the federal, state and local levels;
• Demonstrate nongovernmental sector and volunteer cooperation with the federal government to contribute to emergency response and disaster relief, emphasizing building local capacity for disaster management and response through both food and non-food humanitarian assistance;
• Examine training techniques and methods to respond to all types of emergencies, including internally displaced persons and refugees from man-made and natural disasters;
• Highlight security entities and NGOSs focused on nutrition, food policy and economic, political and social development as they relate to humanitarian action in complex emergencies; and
• Explore U.S. participation in international natural disaster relief, regional crises, health emergencies and refugee situations.

Pensacola professionals had a great deal to share with this group because of their experience in 2004 with Hurricane Ivan and their skill in handling those displaced in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina.  Opening their doors to the group were Greg Strader and Gary McGraw of the Be Ready Alliance for Coordinating Emergencies, Elton Gilmore of the Escambia County Division of Emergency Management, and Andrea Farage, Rob Engel, and Brandy Gottlieb of the United Way.  Jeff DeWeese gave the group an overview of the community, pre- and post-Hurricane Ivan, and City Councilwoman Maren DeWeese continued the introduction by discussing the role of local government during and after a crisis.  Kelly Cooke contributed to the program by elaborating on the role of the Escambia County Public Information and Communications Office during the group’s site visit to the emergency operations center, and Cathy Sowell of Manna Food Pantries took up the topic of handling elevated food needs during times of crisis.  Barbara Vititow of Serving the Hungry at First United Methodist Church also took time from her busy schedule to share with the group her community work, providing them with a volunteer activity so that they could have the experience of working alongside Americans committed to alleviating hunger at the local level.

To round out their stay with us, Brian and Vicki Barlow opened their home for a group dinner, and Gary and Patricia McGraw welcomed them to lunch at their house the day prior to the group’s Christmas Eve departure. 

Although their time here was brief, we feel honored to have participated in this national project and hope that the connections created in Pensacola will be useful to these three visitors as they work with displacement and migration issues in Iraq.