Sadie Martinez

My typical day involves following what disasters are out there, but I look at it through the lens of what resources people need before the bad day or disaster happens, and then identifying how we could fill that resource gap. We look at it in a framework of communication resources, maintaining health resources, independence resources, support services, safety, and transportation resources. These are resources we all need on a regular basis every day in our lives, and when a disaster strikes, those are the resources that get disrupted and can cost life and property. If we could help community members and communities know and identify what the actual resource is, versus identifying or not identifying as a label such as our aging community members (as we age, we sometimes don't identify that we're aging), we can help people speak up and say this resource is disrupted to keep remaining functioning through the disaster. I'm also looking at trainings, annual conferences, presentations, and bringing together stakeholders and partners so we can learn what we don't know because they're normally champions and subject matter experts in their field. Being able to have us all come together to work together to help reach community before, during, and after disasters is what drives my work.