Sunnyvale's SNAP Program - Sunnyvale Neighborhoods Actively Prepare

1995 POPULATION: 125,959
1995 HOUSING UNITS: 52,856
Single Family Units: 25,093 (47.5%)
Multi-Family Units: 27,763 (52.5%)
KEY CONTACT: Raelene Wong
Emergency Preparedness Coordinator
Phone: (408) 730-7117

Sunnyvale’s SNAP program (for Sunnyvale Neighborhoods Actively Prepare) was the first comprehensive program to work with people in neighborhoods to ensure that they were better able to cope with the aftermath of earthquakes. This innovative program serves as the model for other preparedness programs statewide.

SNAP is a cooperative effort between the city government and its citizens. This innovative volunteer emergency preparedness program was developed on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. Now seven years old, the program has exceeded its initial goals and helped foster greater cohesiveness in some neighborhoods.

SNAP provides community self-reliance through a system of training and communications. Five different workshops and a full set of informational materials make up the training program: Basic Committee Training, Topic Training, Captain Training, First Aid/CPR Training, and Advanced Urban Search and Rescue Training.

Intra-neighborhood communication is based on a captain and six disaster task committees in each neighborhood group. Neighborhoods are self-defined, with an approximate size of 35-50 homes. Committees are structured to reflect key concerns in the event of a disaster: Communications, Damage Assessment, First Aid, Safety and Security, Search and Rescue, and Sheltering and Special Needs. The captain coordinates these committees, which are based on action, using citizens as resources in time of need. A city-wide steering committee for SNAP is composed of captains who work directly with city staff.

Thus, while training provides education and information, the committees are an active expression of joint government-citizen response. Citizens become part of the decision-making process as well as participate in community improvement.

This program is funded by local tax dollars, and 22% of the City’s households participate in it. A total of 265 groups, 400 captains, and 4,500 committee members make up the program thus far. FEMA is using SNAP as a model for residential emergency preparedness.

ABAG, the Association of Bay Area Governments, is the regional planning and services agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

This page was last updated 8/20/03 by jbp.