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Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Wellsville: Hope Center Designated as Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador



Some of the Hope Center Planning Group display the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador shield after the Allegany County ministry's designation as an area partner in building public awareness for readiness and response against adverse weather. This is Severe Weather Awareness Week in New York State. From left are Denise Regan of Wellsville, Kate Rulison and Anita Baird Jones of Belmont and Robert Stern of Wellsville.
WELLSVILLE – Severe Weather Awareness Week is a focus this week of an Allegany County ministry after its designation as a Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) AmbassadorTM by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the umbrella agency for the National Weather Service.
The new Hope Center in Wellsville will participate through public education in improving the nation’s readiness against extreme weather potentials that can be experienced by residents and businesses throughout the region.
It also has developed an awareness and preparedness tool through its Facebook page to aid county residents in learning about approaching adverse weather situations.
The national WRN Ambassador initiative is designed to help unify efforts across government, research, media, the insurance industry, nonprofit organizations and the private sector in order to make the nation more ready, responsive, and resilient to the impacts of extreme weather and water events.
To be recognized officially as a WRN Ambassador, a designee must be involved in promoting Weather-Ready Nation messages and themes, engage with NOAA's National Weather Service personnel on potential collaboration opportunities, and share stories of preparedness and resiliency.
Casey Jones, Hope Center Planning Group chair, said that WRN's purpose aligns with the local ministry's efforts to highlight various areas of community needs and help develop resources to address them.
The Center currently offers drop-in, information and referral, and reading assistance for area residents, is developing a Christian lending library and free book giveaway initiative, and hosts presentations, seminars and workshops for the public and churches on various topics.
It is an outreach ministry of the Mission Genesee Valley coalition of churches, Christian organizations and individuals seeking community transformation and revival in Allegany County.  The Hope Center is designed to be “A Hub of Hope of Allegany County Churches,” building community awareness and approaches for solving issues facing county residents and equipping churches and others to help address these needs.
During April it has been focusing on Kids Dangers, with topics in March having focused on reading issues including dyslexia, and May being mental health awareness and support.
The Hope Center is supporting this week's awareness and preparedness efforts for summer tornadoes, hail, lightening, wind, and flooding. Information on how to cope with these types of hazards is available at www.weather.gov/bgm/SWAWNY, with a fun primer for children on weather safety at www.weather.gov/owlie.
The weather alerting initiative, available on the Hope Center Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HopeCenterAlleganyCounty, provides automatic National Weather Service alerts about warnings, watches and advisories related to adverse weather in Allegany County. It also is supplemented by live updates which may include information on associated regional weather.
Jones notes the service is designed to be secondary to the local CodeRED emergency alert system, available at www.alleganyco.com/code-red, and the state's NY-Alert, available at https://alert.ny.gov. This is due to Facebook determining what information actually is relayed to its users, along with a distribution delay of up to 15 minutes.
Information on Weather-Ready Nation is available at www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation, on the Ambassador initiative at www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/ambassadors.html, and on becoming a SKYWARN spotter who assists in providing local weather information to the National Weather Service at www.skywarn.org.
Schedules and updates for upcoming Hope Center education presentations for both the public and churches are available at www.facebook.com/HopeCenterAlleganyCounty. Individuals also can obtain schedules directly by email by sending a message to bps461@msn.com with “Subscribe – Hope Center” in the Subject line and community of residence in the message. The Hope Center currently is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays, by appointment, and for daytime and evening presentations, workshops and seminars. Services are free and available to all persons, regardless of faith background.