What is CADRE?

CADRE, Community Agencies Disaster Relief Effort, is a coalition of community-based organizations from Palo Alto to Gilroy in Santa Clara County In the event of a disaster, these organizations act in concert to develop a prepared and coordinated response to emergency needs in our communities.

CADRE complements the county's major relief systems with an emphasis on special needs populations (e.g., visually, physically, or developmentally impaired, and non-English speaking). CADRE is written into the Santa Clara County Emergency Plan as well as other jurisdictions’ emergency plans. In the event of a disaster, CADRE activates its workstation at the Santa Clara County/Operational Area Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

How is CADRE Organized?

Based on their respective areas of expertise, CADRE's member agencies are organized into 12 functions:

• Clothing 
• Furniture 
• Communication 
• Counseling 
• Food
• Housing Information & Referral 
• Legal 
• Shelter 
• Storage
• Translation / Interpretation 
• Transportation 
• Volunteers

All member agencies and the CADRE staff meet together every other month as general membership plan their respective roles as disaster respondents. In conjunction, CADRE maintains a centralized Disaster Response Plan which is the primary guideline defining these roles and the coordination of their delivery in a major disaster.

CADRE Focuses on Preparedness
CADRE's primary role is to ensure that each member agency is prepared for a disaster by having a disaster response plan in place. This plan is each agency's response to community needs and includes coordination with other CADRE agencies. To that end, CADRE staff provides workshops that address:

• disaster preparedness for individuals, agencies, and special needs populations.
• creating and maintaining an agency disaster response plan.
• CADRE's Disaster Response Plan - the coordinated plan for all member agencies.
• special interest topics related to disaster preparedness and response. 

CADRE’s Response and Relief

In the event of a major disaster, along with the primary first responders (e.g., police and fire departments), CADRE activates its workstation at the Santa Clara County/ Operational Area Emergency Operations Center. There, CADRE serves as the link between requests for emergency help and the community-based organizations available to provide help. CADRE channels requests to the various Lead Agencies who, in turn, assign them to the appropriate Participating Agencies. It is in this way that CADRE member agencies can efficiently and effectively deliver their resources and assistance in an organized and coordinated manner

Additionally, CADRE is a resource for any specific member agency needing assistance to be operational while providing help to others.

CADRE was established with a vision of making Santa Clara County a safer place, and thanks to the very committed and responsible agencies that participate in CADRE, this vision is becoming a reality.

"The Loma Prieta Earthquake of October 17, 1989, will not soon be forgotten; its path of destruction swept the Northern California Bay Area. During relief efforts, the disaster response system was examined. Analysis identified a lack of coordination in the use of community resources, often resulting in duplication of services. CADRE, Community Agencies Disaster Relief Effort, was born of this analysis and was appointed the task of bridging the gaps in disaster response planning." 

Contact Information:
408-998-5298 Ext: 310
Email: JHedges@aol.com