WAYNE COUNTY, Ind. - The best time to make a crisis plan is long before “you are standing in the rain looking through your missing roof.”

Those were the words of Tai Muldoon, executive director of Girls Inc of Wayne County, who gave an update this week three months after a storm blew off their roof and flooded their Richmond facility.

“We had a business continuity plan,” Muldoon said, though it’s not something anyone hopes they’d ever have to use.

Sadly, on March 11, her organization found out just how important pre-planning would be in avoiding a major interruption to their mission of inspiring girls to be strong, smart and bold.

“You can’t prepare for everything, but you can prepare,” Muldoon said.

When storms took off a large portion of the facility’s roof, Muldoon credits disaster planning with making sure everyone knew what to do. “We followed the plan! We knew what to do and we did.”

Every disaster plan aims to deal with “what if” from everything from storms, injury, shootings and illness. “We had the ‘if’ happen.”

Muldoon shared her experience this week with a United Way lunch and learn event at Morrisson Reeves Library. The organization had a solid plan and immediately followed it. Though there were definite surprises and learning experiences along the way, she credits their continuity plan with helping them continue outreach in alternate locations quickly. “Within a week and a day, we were serving girls again.”

“Your team is the reason your plan works,” she said. “And I have a great team. You have to make your mission happen. You just keep going. Be ready to do whatever it takes.”

With tons of help from the community, her board, her team and volunteers, three months out Girls Inc. has mostly continued its outreach and programs. Meanwhile, she’s learned where better planning will help in the future. Part of her plan, for example, included information about insurance and coverage, but she learned of changes needed going forward.

 “Document everything,” she said – take photos as soon as possible before cleanup. “Build relationships in the community. You’ve got to have relationships before you need them.”

Muldoon shared these tips for other organizations based on what Girls Inc. learned from their experience:

• Have a plan before you need it. You can't plan for everything but you can plan for a lot.
• Update your plan OFTEN, and practice what you plan.
• Make sure your entire team and board know what the plan includes. 
• Be okay with not accepting physical donations that you don't have space or need for as handling random donations along the way can slow the recovery efforts.
• Be cautious about what you share publicly and be sure everyone on the team knows who is allowed to speak for the organization.
• Accept help, but determine “what that help looks like.” Don’t be afraid to say no to volunteers if what they want to do isn’t necessarily needed yet but share with them when help would be best. 
• Update your organization’s stakeholders often along the way.

Muldoon expressed deep appreciation for how the community stepped up for Girls Inc. “This community can be the absolute best,” she said. And about pre-disaster planning: “You don’t rise to the occasion – you fall to your preparation.”