Break Through the Chaos to Create Community! 

We see the recent news coverage around federal administration actions that are impacting our communities, long standing international alliances and relationships, and local community economic initiatives both within the United States and abroad. Our hearts are with Minnesota and all affected US communities. We are heartened by local and national work that continues to focus on collaboration, constructive action, and mutual support for all in America.

At Cool Davis, what we notice is that lost in the current reporting is a lack of awareness of the direct connection between increasing conflict and refugee issues, and the increasing number of large scale climate disasters that displace millions of people and erode economic well being. In the US alone, in 2025, there were 23 disasters costing over $1 billion dollars. It was the third highest cost after 2023 and 2024 and is the fifteenth consecutive year of above average number of disasters. In 2024, 27 disasters caused over $182.78 billion and resulted in 568 fatalities just in America alone (NOAA Centers for Environmental Information).     Climate refugees are not only from other countries, they are also our friends, relatives and neighbors who are fleeing flood, wildfire and extreme weather here at home.

Early in January, the White House issued a list of organizations the US is withdrawing from.   This is short-sighted at best. According to a survey by ecoAmerica, 72% of Americans are concerned about climate change and 81% agree that climate change doesn’t impact everyone equally. Americans want to see real actions with real solutions to reduce emissions and improve resilience. Failure to address the issue will endanger more communities, have ever greater impacts on economies and exacerbate migration issues – both internal and external.

But there is hope. Recently I have had the privilege of working with other leaders from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) International Research and Global Exchange Committee on a research paper  for better pre-disaster planning and post-disaster recovery, titled.  From Crisis to Community: Adaptive, People Centered Strategies for Disaster Resilience and Recovery. This paper explores disaster response, preparation, and recovery at both the international and national level through a sustainability lens based on lessons  from its 2023 paper, Embracing Indigenous Wisdom for more Resilient and Adapted Communities.

In our research into resilience and adaptation,  we learned “that the biggest takeaways are not about housing or infrastructure development, but about adopting a mindset and framework that accommodates change and adaptation as a normal part of our housing and community development work.  In particular, three elements of that mindset stand out:

  • Change starts with intention – change your thinking to change your outcome.
  • Focus on stewardship rather than on extraction – prioritize local natural resources.
  • It’s about systems – whatever we do to the web of life, we do to ourselves. “

The paper focuses on 4 areas of focus to plan for a better way forward. 

  1. Adaptation and people centered resilience strategies as opposed to program implementation standards. More inclusive education and policy planning that includes the voices of underserved populations.
  2. Insurance-specific opportunities to overcome climate impacts, such as:
  • Risk Pooling and Reinsurance to help stabilize availability.
  • Resilience Retrofits providing incentives to insurers to offer discounts for resilient construction or rehabilitation to meet local threats.
  • Standardizing climate risk maps that are publicly accessible to help educate consumers and stakeholders.
  1. Housing Market interventions to improve access, affordability, safety:
  • Allowing condominium and cooperative models in more places to minimize sprawl and help increase defensible space.
  • Streamlining approvals and finances for lower- to middle-income buyers of nontraditional ownership types.
  • Encourage smaller unit sizes and use concepts such as stacked flats to minimize subsidy needs.
  • Tie affordable housing finance programs to resilience upgrades that reduce long term insurance and operating costs.
  • Using community land trusts and limited-equity models with affordability components that can be used in risk pooling with other housing types to improve cost and lower risk.
  1. Policy Reforms such as
  • Discouraging development in high risk zones and
  • Connecting to upzoning in preferred development to expand supply and improve resilience.

We know from our research that “…disaster frameworks appear to be stronger on immediate response, but they are often weaker on recovery, reconstruction, and increasing resilience.” As I reflect on its ideas and lessons, I can’t help but try and compare these to local community climate action here in Yolo County.  How can our great intentions become effective implementation?  Where does our planning and implementation fall short? How can we do better?

The Good news is that here in Yolo County many of the ideas expressed in the paper above are already at work in local planning. Other ideas are being considered at the regional and state level. But there is still much work to be done and more voices to be heard.  Now is the time to extend this work to disaster pre-planning and post-disaster recovery programs, to strengthen and enhance our work with best practices for the future.  We have the opportunity to build these principles into the work we are pursuing together. And we have local examples of leadership, collaboration, and effective change to highlight and build on.

One way  we see this take shape is in local partnerships like that of Yolo County Housing, The City of Woodland and Yolo County.  The City and County recently secured a nearly $28 million Affordable Housing & Sustainable Communities (AHSC) grant for the “Tupelo” project, creating 73 new, net-zero energy affordable homes near transit in Woodland’s Yolano neighborhood.  This is aligned with Yolo County Housing’s separate HUD Choice Neighborhoods grant for broader community planning in the same area.  Groups like the Bike Campaign and other CBOs are bringing their wisdom and action to the project as well.

Another is a project involving Cool Davis, as part of the Yolo County Resilience Collaborative Planning group. This group now includes all Yolo County jurisdictions, UC Davis, the Yoche De He Wintun Nation,  and numerous CBOs.  It continues its work towards formation of a full fledged local collaborative in 2026. Together, our jurisdictions  have the opportunity to think deeply about priorities for action. The planning group is identifying key project areas for  new funding to create priority-based change. We look forward to growing to the next level of action in 2026!

This is our time. You have the power to weigh in on the things you hold most dear and have Cool Davis help amplify your voice. Get involved in the type and quality of decisions being made. The future quality of life for you and for your family and friends depend on it.

There are many ways to be involved. Donate! Volunteer! And voice your opinion. Because it matters.