February 17, 2010 - Alvin, Texas – Twenty-three members of the Alvin and Manvel High School Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) chapters won honors in the Area 6 competition held February 12-13 at Deer Park High School in Deer Park, TX. Thirteen members will move on to statewide competition to be held April 15-17 in Houston. Students compete in a variety of events including Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) skills, Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) Partnership, and poster presentations.

Matthew Lawhorn of Alvin High School was elected Area 6 President.

Michelle Liaw and Justin Agno of Manvel High School placed first in CERT competition, which tests the student’s ability to deal with emergencies including Triage, and Disaster Medical Operations. “Your kids did a great job. Alvin ISD should be proud of them and the level of skills they exhibited”, said Shawn Henners, MRC Coordinator for Harris County who judged the CERT competition.

Matthew Lawhorn, Jessica Wilson, Joseph Earl, Alyssa Nelson, and Kaitlyn Jenkins took First Place in the MRC Partnership competition. These students presented their project that documented how their chapter is working with the Brazoria County Medical Reserve Corps to address the Surgeon General’s Priorities for Public Health.

The HOSA students trained for this event through a partnership with Homeland Preparedness Project and the Brazoria County Citizen Corps. “These kids worked hard to hone their skills for this competition, but more importantly the skills they are learning can save lives”, according to Bill Ray, Executive Director of Homeland Preparedness Project, a local non-profit that works with communities to prepare citizens to take care of themselves, their families, and their neighbors during emergencies and disasters.

“Everyone should learn these skills. It might mean the difference between life and death for someone in your family”, said Ray. CERT and MRC classes are offered free of charge throughout the County. Visit the calendar at homelandpreparedness.org for a complete list of upcoming training.

May 14, 2009 - Sweeny, TX - Brazoria County Citizen Corps volunteers assisted with the Hurricane Preparedness Mini-Seminar in Sweeny today. Topics discussed included regional plans for evacuation, changes to the county plan, and lessons learned from Hurricane Ike. Emergency Management Coordinator K.R. "Doc" Adams encouraged all attendees to watch for the Preparedness Brochure that will be mailed the first week of June for all the latest information. "There is a lot of valuable information in this booklet and everyone in the County should take time and read it."

February 20, 2009 - Kingwood, TX - Two teams from the Alvin High School CERT program competed in the second annual Health Occupation Students of America Area 6 CERT contest.  Josh Martinez and Trey Williams took second while Shelbi Harris and Vanessa Garcia took 3rd place in the CERT event .  Both teams advance to state competition in McAllen, TX on April 1-4.  This is Josh Martinez's second time to advance to the HOSA state event.  These four HOSA members were four of thirteen that received medals.  Other winners included Alvin High School MRC alumni Rubi Vega, Vanessa Valdez, Janeth Munoz and Magen Davis for their diabetes community awareness project and Izamar Martinez in EMT.  They too will travel to McAllen for state competition.

September 14, 2008 - Rosenberg, TX - Twenty five Ft. Bend County Medical Reserve Corps volunteers responded to a deployment call from Ft. Bend County Health and Human Services and Emergency Management during Hurricane Ike. Volunteers helped with Medical Special Needs evacuees and with Points of Distribution for food, water, and ice. During events like hurricanes, volunteers are critical to an effective response.
September 13-24 , 2008 - Angleton, TX - Brazoria County Citizen Corps volunteers have been instrumental in Hurricane Ike response and recovery activities. Volunteers have staffed the County Emergency Management phone bank, assisted at evacuation hubs, worked at food, water, and ice hubs, and worked key positions in the County Emergency Operations Center. Brazoria County volunteers donated thousands of hours and staffed critical positions during Hurricane Ike."The CERT and MRC volunteers have been outstanding! Even when their own homes were affected by this storm Citizen Corps volunteers showed up and worked very hard to help others", stated Assistant Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Rosa.

August 28,2008 - Angleton, TX - 17 Brazoria County Citizen Corps volunteers assisted at the County Emergency Operations Center in preparation for Hurricane Gustav. The volunteers were tasked with validating special needs registry information by calling all the registrants and gathering information that will help Emergency Management safely evacuate those who need help evacuating the County. Emergency Management Coordinator K.R. "Doc" Adams said, "These Citizen Corps volunteers are great! We could not have done this without them". The volunteers have been asked to help in the EOC in the coming days as Gustav closes in on the Gulf Coast.

March 29, 2008 - Citizen Corp volunteers from Ft. Bend and Brazoria County participated in mass dispensing exercises in two sites this weekend. Over 70 volunteers from the Medical Reserve Corps and CERT programs participated in county wide and regional exercises to test the counties' plans for distributing medications during a public health emergency. The volunteers staffed the Points Of Distribution in Richmond, and Angleton, TX and successfully distributed simulated medications to hundreds of volunteers who acted as medication recipients. Members of the Manvel High School Track Team were instrumental in making the Angleton exercise a success.

Medical Reserve Corps trains medical and non-medical citizen volunteers to assist during public health emergencies.

Dec. 20, 2007 - Alvin, TX - HPP, in cooperation with the Brazoria County Citizens Corps completed the first School Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training for the County's program. 17 Students completed the training and are now ready to respond to emergencies in the school. "The students were very enthusiastic about the program and worked very effectively during the graduation exercise" , said Bill Ray, Executive Director of HPP. "We are hoping to expand the program in the District in the future". CERT trains civilian responders to prepare for and respond to disasters in their community. For more information visit the Programs area of our web site.

June 1, 2006 - Lake Jackson, TX - HPP Executive Director Bill Ray, presented two breakout sessions during the annual County Hurricane Workshop. Bill presented information on "What should I do?" before during and after a hurricane. Attendance was very good this year and many of the county's citizens are now better prepared for the hurricane season.

Nov. 16 2005 - Angelton, TX - HPP Staff participated in a Flu shot clinic for County employees in Angleton today. Over 150 employees were vaccinated against the flu during the two hour clinic. HPP volunteers worked with the medical staff to provide this valuable service as part of the County employee wellness program.

Sept. 1, 2005 - Angelton,TX -HPP signs Memorandum Of Understanding with Brazoria County to develop Citizen Corp in the county. HPP will begin developing Citizen Corp programs and a Citizen Corp Council immediately. "Our goal is to involve everyone in the Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Process", said Bill Ray, Executive Director of Homeland Preparedness Project. "This partnership with the county will help make Brazoria County a safer place to live".