This Is How We Care

89: How We Build Disaster-Resilient Communities with Kailea Loften and Summer Starr

Episode Summary

How do we as caregivers “prepare” for the polycrisis we find ourselves in today? In this conversation, Emily Race-Newmark sits down with Kailea Loften (co-author, Compassion in Crisis: Building Disaster Resilient Communities) and Summer Starr (educator, advocate, and contributor to the book) to explore what it looks like to meet the polycrisis — while moving beyond individualistic "prepper" culture and reorienting instead toward community, contentment, and sovereignty as the foundation for true preparedness. In this conversation, we explore: * What we mean by "the polycrisis," and why naming it matters * What the current framing of “disaster preparedness” is missing and leaving out * What it looks like to prepare for community resilience in a time of multiple disasters * The mindset and orientation shifts that are needed to meet this moment we are in * What it looks like to center children, mothers, and caregivers in disaster preparation * The distinctions between “community members” and “comrades”, and why we need both * Simple, accessible first steps anyone can take today to be more disaster-prepared If you find yourself uneasy or uncertain by the times we are currently in, this conversation will leave you with some new perspectives and resources to ground into, to feel less anxious and more prepared: especially as a caregiver responsible for raising the future generations.

Episode Notes

How do we as caregivers “prepare” for the polycrisis we find ourselves in today? In this conversation, Emily Race-Newmark sits down with Kailea Loften (co-author, Compassion in Crisis: Building Disaster Resilient Communities) and Summer Starr (educator, advocate, and contributor to the book) to explore what it looks like to meet the polycrisis — while moving beyond individualistic "prepper" culture and reorienting instead toward community, contentment, and sovereignty as the foundation for true preparedness.

In this conversation, we explore:

If you find yourself uneasy or uncertain by the times we are currently in, this conversation will leave you with some new perspectives and resources to ground into, to feel less anxious and more prepared: especially as a caregiver responsible for raising the future generations.