A terrorist attack. A lone gunman. A massive snowstorm. A major fire. Devastation half a continent, or half a world, away. Crises take many forms and often come with little warning, but Chicago’s Jewish community now has a coordinated and resource-rich response.

J-CERT, the Jewish Community Emergency Resiliency Team, is a first-of-its-kind response system designed to deal with major emergencies, whether they strike the Jewish community directly or as part of the larger Chicago area. Officially launched this month, the system was developed over the past three years by the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, in collaboration with many of the agencies it works with and supports.

The primary goal,” said JUF/Federation Senior Vice President Emeritus Joel Carp, “is to provide the structure and resources our community and its many institutions need to rapidly, effectively deal with any major incident. What that looks like will depend upon the nature of the event, but the plan, the people and the resources now are in place to respond immediately.

While most agencies have an emergency-preparedness plan, J-CERT provides a centralized command structure that can quickly mobilize extensive resources from throughout the community. In major emergencies impacting Chicago-area Jewish institutions or the Jewish community, J-CERT will work with local, state and/or federal officials and emergency personnel to get the situation under control and protect safety and security. Beyond that, J-CERT will coordinate an array of clinical and social services for those affected by the crisis, and will serve as the central communications link for Jewish institutions and the Jewish community.

Safety and security are, of course, the immediate concerns,” Carp said. “But we are prepared, right from the start, to also deal with the physical, emotional and financial impact that terrifying events have on those involved, and on the entire community.

That’s why ‘resiliency’ is part of our name.

One of J-CERT’s key distinctions is that it is built, in part, around a network of mental-health and social-service professionals specially trained to respond to trauma. Many have gone through programs developed by the top crisis-response agencies in the United States and Israel. Teams of these professionals will go into action at the first report of an incident. And some already have. As J-CERT was being developed, its response teams were called several times to help deal with the emotional impact of incidents involving deaths of children. And six members were dispatched to help with recovery efforts following Hurricane Rita in Florida.

We are in a unique position to make all of this happen,” said JUF/Federation President Steven B. Nasatir. “In addition to our central role in Chicago’s Jewish community, the Federation is the largest social-service provider in Illinois. That allows J-CERT to access and coordinate a vast array of specialized services and resources.

Jewish institutions throughout the community joined with our affiliated agencies–Jewish Child & Family Services, Jewish Community Centers of Chicago, Council for Jewish Elderly, Jewish Vocational Services and others–to create a system that can respond immediately with mental-health counseling, crisis intervention, emergency shelter, replacement housing, financial support, education, job training and placement, and more.”

Creation of Chicago’s J-CERT system has involved literally hundreds of community leaders and specialists, dozens of organizations, and frequent consultation with nationally recognized experts in emergency response. It will respond to any major incident affecting the Jewish community, regardless of whether the people or institutions involved have ties with the JUF/Jewish Federation.

The Federation is ‘The Central Address of Chicago’s Jewish Community,’” Nasatir said. “J-CERT is one more way we bring Jewish people and institutions together to care for those in need in times of crisis.

Source: JUF