About Ready to Respond
Ready to Respond aims to strengthen, increase and diversify volunteer action after a disaster in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Serving Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties, Ready to Respond has been the San Francisco Bay Area’s leader for mobilizing and deploying spontaneous volunteers in response to disasters since 1994.

United Way of the Bay Area’s Ready to Respond was the first effort of its kind to plan for mobilizing large numbers of spontaneous volunteers for disaster response. Ready to Respond has become a national model and prepared more than 200 communities for disaster volunteer response--from California to Texas to Florida.

A partnership of the Volunteer Centers of the Bay Area, Ready to Respond provides local clearinghouses for spontaneous volunteers and agencies at the time of a disaster. Through community phone banks, walk-in centers and online access, spontaneous volunteers are matched with appropriate opportunities for disaster relief and recovery.

A well-organized volunteer effort is critical for assisting a wide range of response agencies, getting help to where it is most needed and restoring communities after a crisis. Ready to Respond works to strengthen coordinated planning throughout the Greater Bay Area through its relationships with local government, major relief agencies and community-based organizations.