Employee Spotlight
I began with CCAOKC in 2015 as a disaster case manager and became the director in 2018. I have worked three federally declared disasters during my time at CCAOKC, and have been deployed twice by CCUSA for natural disasters in Florida and Texas.
Disaster Services aims to provide four essential services across our diocese – First, we want to educate on preparedness and how to ensure you have the insurance you think you have. One of the biggest lessons we have taken away from the last decade of working in disaster recovery is that homeowners are less insured than they think they are. Next, we work with families immediately following a disaster to support and refer them during the relief phase. Following the relief phase is the recovery phase which is one of our specialties. When funding is available for full disaster case management following a large event, we work with families to identify their disaster needs, their resources, and where that gap is – our goal being to connect them to resources and get them back to safe, sanitary, and secure habitability and sustainability. Last, is our Disaster Emergency Assistance program for isolated events like house fires. This EA program generally gets client via our partners at American Red Cross, and we generally work with survivors to relocate into new housing with a portion of rent or deposit.
During Disaster Preparedness Month, we want all Oklahomans to remember not to get comfortable with watches and warnings and to always stay alert. We know weather can change quickly and impacted neighbors across our state in many ways of the years. Please visit our Disaster Services page for links to a disaster preparedness book and an insurance 101 document, both of which can be downloaded and printed. For hardcopies, please reach out to our office and we are happy to provide either Spanish or English.