My name is Rachel Schoeler. I work as a Public Education Officer with the PreparedBC team at the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness. I recently moved to a new neighbourhood in North Vancouver. After I felt the earthquake on February 21, 2025, it got me thinking about my neighbourhood connections, or more realistically, my lack of neighbourhood connections.
Fast-forward four months and I hosted an emergency preparedness meetup for my townhouse complex. This post shares what I learned in the hopes you will plan a neighbourhood meetup too!
Keep it simple (and have snacks!)
Emergency preparedness can feel overwhelming, so I kept our first meetup casual. I created a poster using a free online platform, inviting neighbours to “join for a casual conversation about emergency preparedness and a chance to meet your neighbours.” And of course, I made sure to note that snacks would be provided. After all, who can say no to free food?
The strata added the meetup information to the community webpage, and I hung up a few posters on the garbage sheds around the complex. That’s all it took to organize this community event!
Spring was a nice time to host as we could set-up chairs in the yard to help draw even more folks in. We had over 20 people join us and it was the first meeting for most of them.
Having everyone together reminded me that lots of folks are looking for community connection, it’s just about putting the opportunities out there.
Show off your emergency kit
I started the meetup by talking about the three steps to emergency preparedness – know your hazards, make your plan, gather your supplies.
We discussed potential hazards in the area, heard experiences from folks who’ve lived in the neighbourhood for 30+ years, and shared the PreparedBC Home Emergency Plan as a great free resource to help write a home emergency plan.
The highlight was our emergency kit and grab-and-go bag. My partner and I brought our kit out to show our neighbours what we included and how we organized it. It really helped with engagement!
Other neighbours chimed in about their kits and how they got started too. Having the opportunity to see the emergency kits in real life and hear experiences directly from neighbours made the idea of gathering supplies feel more tangible. It was more impactful than hearing about it in the news or seeing a post on social media.
We all had a laugh about how many extra supplies we have packed for our sweet cat, Pinto.
End the meeting with clear actions and next steps
As the meeting was ending, someone asked “what can we do now?” Great question!
We agreed to keep the momentum by simply getting to know one another. Wave at each other in street, take the time to say, “hi” and check-in when we can.
We also identified a few action items to complete right away:
- Identify folks who live alone or may need some extra help in an emergency
- Designate an emergency meeting place
- Download Alertable (this is the tool that North Shore Emergency Management uses for local alerts, so it’s the right choice for our neighbourhood. Talk to your local emergency management program to find out how they will communicate during an emergency).
First steps will look different for every neighbourhood. These are some ideas that worked for us.
I learned a lot about myself and my neighbours in just a one-hour backyard meetup. 10 out of 10 would recommend hosting an emergency preparedness hangout with your neighbours!
Get started
Looking for resources to help you get started?
- In It Together: Neighbourhood Preparedness Guide
- Guide for Apartments, Condos and Townhomes
- British Columbia hazard map
- Home Emergency Plan
- Emergency kit and grab-and-go bag
- Get inspired by other folks doing amazing work in their community with the “Community Spotlight” series on the EMCR blog
Contact your local emergency management program to see what preparedness resources they have available