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OUR MISSION
The Mission of this organization is to help all who reside in Thurston County and adjacent areas that have been negatively affected by disasters that have impacted life, health, safety, emotional and/or spiritual peace, and living conditions.
OUR PURPOSE AND GOALS
We will strive to:
• Provide coordinated management of the long-term recovery process after a disaster.
• Assist disaster victims with preparedness and mitigation.
• Provide advocacy for people most vulnerable to having their needs overlooked in disaster recovery processes.
Thurston County LTRO
222 Columbia Street
Olympia, WA 98501
www.rebuildthurston.org
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Welcome to Thurston County LTRO!
 Addressing the Unmet Needs of Disaster Survivors in Thurston County
All disasters begin locally and end locally. Government assistance is more limited than most people realize. Returning disaster survivors to safe, secure and sanitary housing inevitably falls to voluntary organizations, and especially faith communities. Too often, after the disaster ceases to be headline news, families and individuals struggle putting their lives and households back together. This is where the Long Term Recovery Organization (LTRO) takes up its work of compassion and rebuilding.
The Three Disaster Response Phases
 A Long Term Recovery Organization (LTRO) focuses primarily on the third phase of disaster response: long-term recovery assistance when disaster survivors try to rebuild their lives and homes. This period follows the emergency phase when emphasis is on protecting life and property, and the relief phase which emphasizes provision of a safe, secure, sanitary, temporary environment to survivors. Ideally, the LTRO begins helping families with unmet needs no more than 60 days (and often earlier) following the disaster and expects to continue work for up to two years.
An LTRO works through a case manage model that focuses on survivors' housing needs that other helping agencies--such as the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)--aren't addressing or leave behind when they finish their work. In fact, federal, state, county and non-government organizations encourage and aid in establishing local LTROs to take up where others leave off. The LTRO model is local and grass-roots in every way.
Often, the LTRO must actively seek out people who require assistance:
- Those unaware of aid programs or afraid of their complexities
- Persons who mistrust care-giving agencies or refuse to ask for help because they are extremely independent and proud
- Others who realize too late that they need assistance
 An LTRO may be involved with coordinating donations sent directly to a community:
- Food
- Clothing
- Furniture
- Appliances
- Building supplies
- Money
Volunteer coordination is an essential administrative component of the program life of the LTRO. Volunteers do case work, provide direct services and clean up/repair/rebuild homes. Effective volunteer recruitment and coordination determines the quality and usefulness of the recovery organization's work. An LTRO can minimize duplication of effort and help direct the best use of human and material resources in the affected community.
Looking Ahead
An LTRO can help create awareness about the kinds of disasters which are likely to happen and to lessen the dangers of natural events through education. It can help communities take steps to plan and prepare effective response to disasters. It can provide leadership to a community seeking to create a more secure future during recovery by encouraging rebuilding programs that make homes and other structures less vulnerable to damage in another disaster.
What Your LTRO Needs Now
 Case managers- Construction estimators and supervisors
- Skilled and unskilled volunteers
- Volunteer coordinator
- Housing for volunteer groups
- Office space
- Cell phone service
- Building materials and warehouse space for them
- Power and hand tools and equipment
- Full size pickup truck
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