{"id":9828,"date":"2022-01-03T16:50:39","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T16:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/?p=9828"},"modified":"2022-01-03T16:55:09","modified_gmt":"2022-01-03T16:55:09","slug":"santa-fe-realtors-promote-diverse-housing-options-in-housing-strapped-region-2-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/homepage\/success-story\/baldwin-rural-0122","title":{"rendered":"With a Rural Outreach Grant from the REALTOR\u00ae Party, Baldwin REALTORS\u00ae Help Vulnerable Alabama Region Prepare for Flood Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When it comes to potential for natural disaster, and flooding, in particular, Baldwin County, Alabama is a perfect storm: in addition to its lengthy coastline along the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay, it has numerous rivers, wetlands, and marshes; receives an average of 66 inches of rainfall per year; and is located smack-dab in a hurricane zone.\u00a0 It is also an area of rapid growth, attracting new residents who are not necessarily familiar with flood risks, so REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> are on the front lines of promoting emergency readiness and preservation of property value.\u00a0 This past August, a Rural Outreach Grant<\/a> from the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party supported Baldwin REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup>\u2019 \u2018Flood Week,\u2019 raising awareness among members, local officials, and the public, alike.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Foutch, Government Affairs Director of the nearly 3,000-member association, explains the ambitious nature of week-long event: \u201cOur goal was to reach as much of the community as possible with important information.\u00a0 It came off surprisingly well, considering all the moving parts we had!\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Organization was key, she notes, and the user-friendly grant application helped build a strong framework when the association was planning the complex program.\u00a0 \u201cIt forced us to address up-front what our goals and outcomes should be, and, of course, the budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the week, Baldwin REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> engaged its membership and the public with fun facts on social media and giveaways of portable fans and generators.\u00a0 The in-person training and working lunches took place in a large ballroom within the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup>\u2019 facility, with socially distanced tables and some presenters appearing virtually, on a large screen.<\/p>\n

A virtual townhall-webinar with NFIP and FEMA gave members the opportunity to hear directly from national experts on flood issues.\u00a0 Nearly fifty REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> members took a three-hour flood training course offered for CE credit. \u00a0A session on reading FEMA flood maps attracted members of local municipal and county planning departments, who were able to apply the training toward American Institute of Certified Planners credit.\u00a0 One working lunch featured an expert presentation on the benefits of increased design and building standards.\u00a0 Another was a panel presentation on lessons learned from Hurricane Sally, which struck the county in 2020. \u00a0\u201cThis was a great discussion of disaster preparedness, with tips for insurance claims and resilience presented by our local \u2018celebrity\u2019 meteorologist, an insurance expert who co-sponsored Flood Week, and Baldwin County\u2019s Emergency Management Director,\u201d notes Foutch.\u00a0 A short video presentation shared personal stories of loss and recovery from Hurricane Sally, highlighting how Baldwin REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> used funds from the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Relief Foundation to help the community in the aftermath of the devastating storm.<\/p>\n

REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> are uniquely positioned to help property owners prepare for flooding, says Foutch. In addition to the training they received, she adds, the Flood Week program helped to strengthen Baldwin REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup>\u2019 relationships with municipal and county governments and demonstrated to the public that the association is pro-active in training its members and giving them access to experts in flood issues. \u00a0\u201cWe are so appreciative that NAR provides these great opportunities that help our members better serve their clients and communities and help us to share valuable training with local government.\u00a0 These resources really do help us all!\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about how Baldwin REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> is taking the lead in preparing flood-vulnerable communities for natural disasters, contact Government Affairs Director Jennifer Foutch at jenniferf@baldwinrealtors.com<\/a> or 251.270.2724.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018Flood Week,\u2019 a proactive training program for members and community stakeholders, positioned Baldwin REALTORS\u00ae as leaders sharing access to vital expertise in flood mitigation, insurance, resilience, and more. In addition to a public-facing campaign, the association presented a townhall with NFIP and FEMA, a CE Class, workshops, and a panel discussion on lessons learned from last year\u2019s Hurricane Sally.","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,33,296],"tags":[490,1721,77,1409],"class_list":["post-9828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-us","category-success-stories","category-success-story","tag-alabama","tag-balwin-realtors","tag-community-outreach","tag-rural-outreach"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}