Citizens’ Disaster Response Center: 30 years of building resilient communities

The Citizens’ Disaster Response Center (CDRC) celebrates its 30th founding anniversary on Oct. 6. CDRC was founded from a relief campaign which provided support for the victims of the Mayon Volcano eruption and six devastating typhoons in 1984. Through its national office, 16 regional centers, more than 400 disaster preparedness committees, and together with various people’s organizations and overseas partners, CDRC continues to build communities resilient to disasters nationwide. When Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) hit the country last year, CDRC gave immediate relief assistance to the survivors through food packs and shelter kits. Under its early recovery assistance program, livelihood projects managed mainly by people’s organizations benefited 6,972 individuals from Leyte and Samar provinces. Three hundred families will initially benefit from the typhoon- and earthquake-resistant houses built through the pooling of the beneficiaries’ labor.