After six years of service to the 9/11 community and other communities affected by disaster, World Cares Center is closing its September Space program. We will continue to serve these communities, through our Disaster Preparation and Trauma Mitigation program. While it is with great sadness that we will all say farewell to September Space, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the program’s achievements.

As you know, World Cares Center was founded by everyday New Yorkers who volunteered to help their neighbors in the aftermath of 9/11. In November 2001 we established the first of two September Space Community Resiliency Centers in midtown Manhattan to serve spontaneous community volunteers, volunteers from a diverse group of responding agencies, official responders, caregivers, and other individuals affected by 9/11. Building dynamic partnerships with government agencies and community-based organizations, World Cares Center provided long-term recovery services, long after relief agencies had withdrawn their support. Over the years the September Space program has offered a host of resilience-building and educational services, including career counseling, mental health and case management screenings and referrals, support and therapy groups, creative arts, holistic health services, discussion forums with service providers, and community-building workshops. In 2005, WCC opened a second September Space Community Resiliency Center in Lower Manhattan to address the unique needs of the community directly affected by 9/11 and living through the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan.

With the help of the ACE INA Foundation, the American Red Cross, Lehman Brothers, Andor Capital Management, and the donations of corporate and private foundations, World Cares Center was able to continue operating September Space and develop promising programs, such as its Multicultural Initiative for Families, to serve populations affected by disaster and facing cultural and linguistic barriers to services. As 9/11 support dwindled many 9/11 service providers were forced to close their doors. WCC was able to serve as an umbrella agency for many of our September Space collaborators, providing administrative support and a space to provide services at our September Space Community Resiliency Centers.

With over 35,000 served in six years, World Cares Center’s September Space program has made a tremendous impact on the long-term recovery of the 9/11 community and others affected by disaster. Taking into account the shrinking availability of 9/11 recovery funds and the New York City Mayor’s recommendation to provide the bulk of 9/11 recovery services through the three Centers of Excellence named earlier this year, the time has come to move forward: reflecting on September Space’s achievements and focusing 100% of our efforts on community disaster preparedness for a safer, more effective response and recovery. We thank our dedicated volunteers and collaborative partners for the time and resources they have given over the years.

September Space’s work has exemplified World Cares Center’s philosophy that the recovery of any disaster-affected community requires the participation of its members at the earliest time possible. Assessing the lessons learned from communities affected by 9/11 and other disasters, as well as the changing needs of its clients, in recent years World Cares Center has taken this philosophy one step further. Empowering communities to safely contribute to their own disaster relief means a quicker response and recovery, and it is never too soon to prepare for disaster. Reaching into underserved neighborhoods that are often the hardest hit by disaster, World Cares Center is making sure that those who encounter barriers to services get connected with the information and resources they need to be prepared.

World Cares Center had monographed its lessons learned from 9/11 emergency response and spontaneous volunteer management for future disaster planning as early as 2002, yet it was not until the support of the ACE Group of Companies in 2005 that World Cares Center was able to launch its Disaster Preparation & Trauma Mitigation program. Through training, education and services in our Disaster Preparation & Trauma Mitigation program, World Cares Center is preparing potential Good Samaritans to take action in their communities. World Cares Center is also collaborating with emergency managers to safely and effectively integrate spontaneous community volunteers into official disaster response systems.

Through the Grassroots Readiness and Response and Leading and Managing Disaster Volunteers training series, World Cares Center is bridging the gap between communities' and relief agencies' response to disaster. WCC collaborates with emergency management offices, community-based organizations and university partners, delivering its training and education programs to a wide range of audiences. WCC is expanding this initiative to new communities and reinforcing social networks dedicated to disaster preparedness that include the use of innovative online communications technologies, through partnerships with New Jersey Institute of Technology and New Jersey Business Force.

As a partner of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) and a member of VOAD’s New York State and City chapters, , Citizen Corps, International Association of Emergency Managers, and the United Nations NGO Mental Health Committee, World Cares Center is bringing its unique perspective on the value of community volunteers to a vast network of emergency managers and responders. World Cares Center is an active member of the NYC-VOAD Volunteerism Leadership Team that has created a strategic disaster response plan focusing on support and aftercare for New York City’s volunteer community. With hard work and the tremendous support of our partners and advisory board, World Cares Center has emerged as a subject matter expert in spontaneous volunteer management during disaster.

As you can see, these are exciting times for World Cares Center. While we give our farewells to the September Space program, we hope you will join us in celebrating our accomplishments and the bright future ahead as we continue our work in Disaster Preparation & Trauma Mitigation. Thank you all for your support, and we look forward to continuing this journey together to bring disaster preparedness to all our communities.

Sincerely,

Lisa Orloff, WCC Founder and Executive Director