Search Virginia.gov:

• VDEM Home
• About VDEM
• Threats & Emergencies
• Prepare & Prevent
• Recovery Center
• Newsroom & Archives
• Training Calendar
• VA Business Toolkit
• Citizen Corps
• Emergency Management Community Home
• Programs & Services
• Grant Information
• Library
• Regions & Localities

CERT • Virginia Citizen Corps Councils • Firecorps • Medical Reserve Corps • Neighborhood Watch • Volunteers in Police Service • News • Public Safety Volunteers • Resources for Volunteers

Virginia Citizen Corps, part of the national Citizen Corps program, gets Virginia citizens directly involved in homeland security and emergency preparedness. The program allows you to help your community by volunteering some of your time, energy and skills to emergency preparedness and response activities.

Find out more: Download the Citizen Corps Fact Sheet [739kb PDF]

 

 

Recent News

• 02.01.10: The SWVA Point: News for SWVA Medical Reserve Corps. Read more [669 kb pdf]
• 01.20.10: Charlottesville-UVA-Albermarle County CERT offered an H1N1 Vaccine Clinic on Jan. 9, 2010. Read more. [796 kb pdf]
• 01.11.10 Arlington CERT sent a letter to the editor of the Sun Gazette: Residents Have Responsibility to Be Prepared for Emergencies
• 12.22.09 The POINT News for Virgina MRC Units & EP&R [1mb PDF]
• 09.14.09 The POINT News for Virginia MRC Units & EP&R [520 kb PDF]
• 09.08.09 Read the September 2009 issue of the News You Can Use Chesterfield County's CERT [146 kb PDF]
• More news

---

Upcoming Events

Virginia Citizen Corps Programs and Partners Calendar

Date	CC Affiliates	Activity/Training	Location	Time	Contact Info
January 27, 2010	Fairfax County CERT	CERT Training - Class 3: Disaster Medical Operations 1	Kings Park Elementary School 5400 Harrow Way Springfield, VA 22151	4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.	Jeffrey Katz Volunteer Liaison Fairfax County Fire and Rescue (703) 246-3926 http://www.fairfaxcountycert.org
January 28, 2010	Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council	Citizen Corps Council Meeting	4890 Alliance Drive Fairfax, VA Conference Rooms 2104 & 2105	6:45 p.m.	Marcelo Ferreira Emergency Response Program Coordinator Volunteer Fairfax http://www.volunteerfairfax.org
Feb. 2, 2010	Chesterfield CERT Program PDF	Community Emergency Response Team Course	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
February 3, 2010	Fairfax County CERT	CERT Training - Class 4: Disaster Medical Operations 2	Kings Glen Elementary School 5701 Danbury Forest Dr. Springfield, VA 22151	4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.	Jeffrey Katz Volunteer Liaison Fairfax County Fire and Rescue (703) 246-3926 http://www.fairfaxcountycert.org
February 10, 2010	Fairfax County CERT	CERT Training - Class 5: Light Search and Rescue Operations	Kings Glen Elementary School 5701 Danbury Forest Dr. Springfield, VA 22151	4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.	Jeffrey Katz Volunteer Liaison Fairfax County Fire and Rescue http://www.fairfaxcountycert.org
February 10, 2010	Chesterfield County CERT	Neighbors Helping Neighbors	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, VA	7p.m.-8:30p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.com
February 10, 2010	Continuing Education Classes	CF & EMS Overview	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
February 17, 2010	Fairfax County CERT	CERT Training - Class 6: Disaster Psychology, Terrorism, Course Review	Kings Park Elementary School 5400 Harrow Way Springfield, VA 22151	4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.	Jeffrey Katz Volunteer Liaison Fairfax County Fire and Rescue (703) 246-3926 http://www.fairfaxcountycert.org
February 20, 2010	Fairfax County CERT	CERT Training - Class 7: Fire Suppression	Kings Glen Elementary School 5701 Danbury Forest Dr. Springfield, VA 22151	4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.	Jeffrey Katz Volunteer Liaison Fairfax County Fire and Rescue (703) 246-3926 http://www.fairfaxcountycert.org
March 9, 2010	Continuing Education Classes	CERT Psychology	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
March 25, 2010	Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council	Citizen Corps Council Meeting	4890 Alliance Drive Fairfax, VA Conference Rooms 2104 & 2105	6:45 p.m.	Marcelo Ferreira Emergency Response Program Coordinator Volunteer Fairfax http://www.volunteerfairfax.org
April 13, 2010	Continuing Education Classes	Disaster Preparedness	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
May 4, 2010	Basic CERT Classes	Chesterfield CERT Classes	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	6:30 - 10p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
May 12, 2010	Continuing Education Classes	Medical Ops Review (Basic refresher course)	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
May 12-14, 2010 May 17-19, 2010		Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue (TLAER)	Virginia Cooperative Extension, MARE Center, 5527 Sullivan's Mill Road, Middleburg, VA 20117		Dr. Shea Porr cporr@vt.edu 540-687-3521 Ext. 27 for further details and reservations www.virginiasart.org
May 27, 2010	Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council	Citizen Corps Council Meeting	4890 Alliance Drive Fairfax, VA Conference Rooms 2104 & 2105	6:45 p.m.	Marcelo Ferreira Emergency Response Program Coordinator Volunteer Fairfax http://www.volunteerfairfax.org
June 8, 2010	Continuing Education Classes	Fire Codes and Fire Prevention	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
July 29, 2010	Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council	Citizen Corps Council Meeting	4890 Alliance Drive Fairfax, VA Conference Rooms 2104 & 2105	6:45 p.m.	Marcelo Ferreira Emergency Response Program Coordinator Volunteer Fairfax http://www.volunteerfairfax.org
Aug. 10 , 2010	Continuing Education Classes	CERT and Forensics	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
Sept. 7, 2010	Chesterfield County CERT	Basic CERT Classes	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	6:30p.m. to 10p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
Sept. 15 , 2010	Continuing Education Classes	Emeregency Communications (Basic refresher course)	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
Sept. 30, 2010	Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council	Citizen Corps Council Meeting	4890 Alliance Drive Fairfax, VA Conference Rooms 2104 & 2105	6:45 p.m.	Marcelo Ferreira Emergency Response Program Coordinator Volunteer Fairfax http://www.volunteerfairfax.org
Oct. 12 , 2010	Continuing Education Classes	Air Medical Opertions	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
Nov. 2, 2010	Chesterfield County CERT	Basic CERT Classes	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	6:30p.m. to 10p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net
Nov 10 , 2010	Continuing Education Classes	Basic Search & Rescue (Basic refresher course)	Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield, 23832	7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m.	CERT Program Coordinator Jon Donnelly (804)320-2165 CERTChesterfield@verizon.net

---

Virginia Citizen Corps “SuperStar Awards” 2009

Virginia Citizen Corps is accepting entries for the 2009 Superstar Awards, an opportunity to recognize exceptional volunteers and programs. Eight winners will be selected in the following categories: Outreach Activity, Teen CERT, Local Citizen Corps Council, Business, Campus or Community Training, Volunteer Superstar, Volunteer Instructor or Instruction Team, Volunteer Recognition Event or Program, and Virginia Citizen Corps Program. Entries are due Jan. 15, 2010. Contact Citizen Corps Program Manager Linda Rubin at (804) 897-6500, ext. 6594 or linda.rubin@vdem.virginia.gov for more information or download application form here. [2MB Doc]

Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Awards

Download the nomination packet [opens in a new browser]

---

 

Virginia Citizen Corps Programs

Citizen Corps' programs create well-trained, readily available pools of local people who know their community well, and who can help during the first critical hours of a major disaster.

The Virginia Citizen Corps Programs include:

• Community Emergency Response Team – The CERT training program prepares citizens and communities to take a more active role in emergency preparedness.
• Neighborhood Watch Program – Neighborhood Watch is a successful 30-year-old national community crime prevention effort, sponsored by the National Sheriff's Association, that brings together local officials, law enforcement and citizens for the protection of communities.
• Public Safety Volunteers in Virginia – Through the Public Safety Volunteers program, you can give your time and talent to provide support for local fire, emergency medical services, search and rescue and law enforcement agencies – freeing public safety professionals for front-line duty.
• Medical Reserve Corps – Virginia's Medical Reserve Corps provides communities with medical volunteers who can assist local health professionals during a large-scale local emergency.
• Fire Corps – Fire Corps is the newest Citizen Corps program. Fire Corps promotes the use of citizens to enhance the capacity of resource-constrained fire and rescue departments at all levels: volunteer, combination, and career.
• Volunteers in Police Service – VIPs works to enhance the capacity of state and local law enforcement to utilize volunteers.

Virginia Citizen Corps History

In 2001 Governor Mark Warner created Virginia Corps to capture the renewed spirit of volunteer service and community preparedness that has emerged since Sept. 11, 2001. It serves as a central clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities across Virginia.

Virginia Corps also localizes Citizen Corps -- the national homeland security and preparedness initiative. Virginia’s Citizen Corps helps residents make their communities safer from emergencies and disasters by getting them involved in these preparedness efforts.

Fifty local Citizen Corps Councils now coordinate outreach and programs, reaching approximately 75 percent of Virginia’s population.

CERTs – Community Emergency Response Teams – are taking off. There are now 50 teams around the state, with more than 2,000 trained Virginia volunteers. Two state agencies and six universities have implemented CERT training, and Nextel and PBS are conducting training for their employees. CERTs provided widespread and significant support during and after Hurricane Isabel; during spring flooding in Tazewell County; after a tornado swept through Danville; and during a TB public health incident in Chesapeake.

Neighborhood Watch and Volunteers in Police Service programs now include 4,794 groups across Virginia, averaging 66 households each. These groups have started forming partnerships with local CERT programs to increase enrollment.

The Virginia Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) program has grown tremendously since its start in 2003 with 12 MRC units. Today, there are 30 MRC units and over 10,000 community members actively volunteering to "Protecting the Health of Virginia". Local volunteers have supported communicable disease outbreak investigations, emergency shelters, free medical screenings, rabies vaccination and flu shot clinics, first aid stations at community events, emergency preparedness outreach and much more.