#5: Safer Congregate Areas for Infants and Young Children During Emergencies. Nourishing Resilience

Shelters, distribution sites, and other congregate settings are ubiquitous parts of disaster response. In this session, we discuss examples of congregate areas, ways to support families at those sites, and some ways to support the sites themselves as they support the families in feeding and caring for their infants and young children. Jodine Chase of Safely Fed Canada shares a case study of a disaster, including challenges and risks of congregate areas they observed, and some ways to mitigate those risks. This is Session 5 of the Nourishing Resilience Training Program on Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies, made possible with a grant by the Marcia Brady Tucker Foundation. *** Homework and Handouts available at: https://safeinfantfeeding.org/trainin... *** Presenters: Norma Escobar, IBCLC, FILCA Jodine Chase, Safely Fed Canada ** Topics with time stamps** 00:00:00 - Introduction and homework review 00:09:33 - Self-Care Reminder, Congregate Area Examples 00:13:05 - Challenges of Congregate Areas of Displacement 00:16:43 - Family Needs in Congregate Areas and Shelters 00:20:44 - Supporting Breastfeeding in Emergency Shelters 00:30:16 - Fort McMurray/Wood Buffalo Wildfire Experience 00:52:21 - Observations from Fort McMurray/Wood Buffalo Experience 01:01:39 - Fort McMurray Flooding & overall take-aways 01:12:43 - Sponsor Appreciation & Homework 01:16:42 - Q&A Thanks to the Jon Stickley Trio, an Asheville area band, for generously donating the use of their music. "Scripting the Flip" and "Della's Walk" (c) Jon Stickley Trio, used with permission. www.JonStickley.com Created by the SAFE Team. Recorded Live: January 13, 2026