Compassion in Crisis: Building Disaster-Resilient Communities

A vibrant and holistic grassroots guide to disaster preparedness that builds community resilience.

polycrisis noun /‘pa:.li,krai.sis/
a time of great disagreement, confusion, or suffering caused by many different crises occurring simultaneously and amplifying one another.

How do we live in the age of disaster? In this updated and expanded guide to collective crisis preparedness, Kailea and Kate, organizers and coeditors for the book and magazine publisher Loam, share community-shaped strategies on how to practically navigate the challenges posed by overlapping catastrophes—be they environmental, economic, political, or otherwise. Help is here for our bodies, hearts, minds, and shared homes. By amplifying resources for resilience, the authors underscore preparedness as a constant, communal practice. They offer inspiration from frontline organizers who help their communities prepare for emergencies, demonstrate how to envision probable futures after upheaval, and showcase people-powered projects that nurture collective regeneration. With engaging prompts, concise checklists, and heartfelt advice, Compassion in Crisis helps its readers build and sustain the durable mutual aid networks necessary for rapid response in the face of disaster. This is your invitation into the lifelong work of caring for our Earth and one another as we all find our way through the polycrisis.

Kailea Rose Loften is a mother of Tahltan, Kaska, and Black American ancestry. She is coeditor for the community publisher Loam and has guided climate change policy with an emphasis on Indigenous rights, previously serving as a Climate Commissioner for the City of Petaluma, California. You can contact her through kailealoften.com.

Kate Rose Weiner is a writer, editor, and publisher working at the intersections of culture and climate justice. She is coeditor of Loam and director of Loam Library, a mobile library committed to bringing the power of print to the people. Weiner's work is shaped by her studies in environmental art, social practice, and community herbalism.