Educational Outreach
CVAN volunteers work within the neighborhoods to strengthen community partnerships, and cultivate a neighbor-to-neighbor network capable of responding to an emergency within the neighborhood. They hold workshops, disseminating information on emergency preparedness. The focus is not only on the individual resident but on local churches, community groups, homeowner associations and neighborhood-centered service providers, including retail stores.

At the school level children learn about emergency preparedness through the Herman the Crab project. Herman Goes to School is a story telling and interactive learning experience that teaches elementary school children about emergency readiness. Herman goes to School is the story of a hermit crab that goes through a variety of disasters such as fires, floods, and earthquakes, and a series of shells as he hunts for a shell that is disaster proof. The goal of this project is to prepare children to play key roles in family survival before, during and after a natural disaster or other catastrophic event.