Founded to coordinate interfaith recovery work following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, NDIN is an organization composed of subject matter experts who work with faith communities and faith-based organizations in support of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

In this tip sheet, NDIN discusses the need for religious leaders to accommodate the needs of vulnerable populations during the disaster preparedness and response effort. The tip sheet identifies several vulnerable populations and presents preparedness and response best practices to assist individuals within these populations.

This tip sheet is designed to guide religious leaders as they develop disaster plans and move themselves and their congregations through preparedness, immediate response, and short- and long-term recovery. Based on hurricane planning, preparedness, response, and recovery, this tip sheet can be used by religious leaders to prepare for and respond to any type of disaster.

This tip sheet discusses the central role that faith communities and faith-based programs have in disaster recovery. The sheet covers the unique disaster-related supports and services that religious leaders and communities of worship can offer, general tips to help determine and plan to provide support, and suggested roles for communities of faith in disaster mitigation and preparedness.

This tip sheet discusses how religious leaders can adapt their place of worship to be used as a shelter, service center, warehouse, or volunteer staging area during disaster response and recovery.

This tip sheet discusses the important role of religious leaders in helping to ensure that LGBT disaster survivors have access to culturally appropriate assistance and services.

This tip sheet provides basic disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery information for communities of faith.

Developed by NDIN and the University of Southern California Center for Religion and Civic Culture, this series offers religious literacy and competency guidelines for providers in mass care settings in the United States to assist staff and volunteers in meeting the needs of people of many different religions during disaster response or recovery operations. These guidelines can be applied in work with disaster survivors in a variety of settings.

The webpage provides 27 downloadable tip sheets on many topics relating to faith-based organizations and disasters.

In this tip sheet, NDIN provides religious leaders with information on SAMHSA’s Disaster Distress Helpline, which offers 24/7 crisis counseling throughout the year for individuals and families experiencing distress because of disasters. NDIN explains who answers the Disaster Distress Helpline, what happens when someone calls or texts the helpline, and what services are available, as well as when the helpline should be used as a referral.

This tip sheet provides information for religious leaders about common stress reactions to a disaster and suggests ways they can cope, and help others cope, with these reactions. The tip sheet also provides information on referring people for mental health services.

This tip sheet discusses common reactions of Children and Youth DBHIS to traumatic events, the importance of family in the recovery effort, recommendations for meeting the emotional needs of Children and Youth DBHIS, and information on how to use support networks.

The webpage provides a list of tip sheets developed for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) by NDIN and the University of Southern California Center for Religion and Civic Culture. The tip sheets provide information to help with engaging religious leaders and congregations of specific faiths (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Sikh).

This tip sheet discusses how religious leaders can best serve their communities after a disaster by respectfully focusing on every survivor’s needs. It defines sexual orientation and gender identity, suggests ways to prepare for disasters, and identifies unique challenges LGBT people face in disasters.