Jointly developed from a partnership between the American Red Cross and HOPE worldwide, Protecting our Neighbors is a fire prevention and preparedness program implemented nationwide with the help of numerous community partners to address the Corporation for National & Community Service (CNCS) Issue Area of Disaster Preparedness. The program is devoted to the idea that one of the best and most efficient ways of getting fire safety messaging into the hands of vulnerable communities is to go into those communities and put it into residents’ hands. Between January 2012 and today, the program was able to conduct three nationwide events: during Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2012 and 2013 and during the National Day of Service and Remembrance, September 11th, 2012. These efforts were made possible by the generous support of CNCS provided through the MLK Day of Service and September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance grants awarded to HOPE worldwide.

The program has three goals – to advance the preparedness of local communities, to utilize the Day of Service as a meaningful opportunity to recruit and engage diverse volunteers, and to reduce the level of fire incidents/injuries. Also, Protecting our Neighbors has expanded to include efforts that provide direct relief and response related to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados or wild fires which in recent years have intensified in frequency and severity.

Since its inception, the Protecting our Neighbors program has developed into an extremely effective avenue for distributing fire safety and prevention materials and messaging to the country’s most vulnerable communities. What started with a just few dozen volunteers canvassing neighborhoods in only ten cities has, in just 6 years, grown to include the efforts of 36,000 volunteers reaching 673,000 households with nearly 150,000 conversations about fire safety. Since January 2012, more than 16,000 volunteers have participated in the Protecting our Neighbors events of MLK Day of Service 2012, September 11th, 2012 National Day of Service and MLK Day of Service 2013. Combined they were able to reach 349,000 households and hold 58,000 conversations about fire safety and prevention.

But, perhaps most importantly, what started as a partnership between the Red Cross and HOPE worldwide has grown to include nearly 700 partners nationwide, a group that includes the expertise and commitment of many local fire departments. It is through the participation of these partners that we have seen some of the greatest gains in the program. Whether it be identifying vulnerable neighborhoods, giving presentations at volunteer trainings or even providing and installing smoke alarms in homes lacking them, the participation of partners, such as local fire departments, is indispensable to the program’s success.

Bob Herrmann, a 22-year volunteer with the HOPE worldwide chapter in Boston who lost his own home in a fire remarked, “I have many great memories of volunteering, and I always have gotten more than I put in, no matter how hard I have worked… To help others is the greatest blessing we can give to ourselves.”