Twenty-five shelter managers are participating in a two-day Shelters and Shelter Management Workshop in the COLLAB Room at the Harold DeGregory Complex devised to ensure their readiness in the event the emergency shelters are activated.
Over the two-day period, the facilitators will cover all training aspects on administration, operations and problem solving in an emergency shelter, along with the criteria for shelter selection, security, maintenance and food movement.
The session got underway on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 with volunteers from various agencies, including the Department of Social Services, the Bahamas Red Cross Grand Bahama Centre, Urban Renewal and Local Government.
Tammi Mitchell, of the Disaster Management Unit with the Ministry for Grand Bahama, revealed that similar shelter management workshops are carried throughout the region.
“This is just the first in a series of courses. We’re also going to be going to the west and we’re also going to be encouraging persons from East Grand Bahama — even though East End is considered an evacuation zone, we still want them to get the same experience as the entire island,” she said.
Mitchell explained that the participant numbers are usually higher, however; past experience has proven that smaller numbers during sessions allows the participants to be more engaged in the training process.
One month into the hurricane season, which runs from June 1 – November 30, Mitchell noted that the seminar serves as a refresher course for some volunteers and an all-in training exercise for the others in an effort to get the shelter managers ready in the event of an emergency.
By Lededra Marche/Bahamas Information Services
