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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.
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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.
