Introducing The North 40 Mountain Alliance, Inc. (a.k.a. – N40MA)
The North 40 Mountain Alliance, Inc. (N40MA) is a cooperative made up of unpaid volunteers who live in the communities located along the County Rd. 74E corridor, in Larimer County, in the Red Feather Lakes, Colorado area.
The N40MA is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN# 82-3847764), is a registered Colorado Nonprofit Corporation (Registration # 20181351022), and is a registered Colorado Charitable Organization (registration # 20183000439). The N40MA has a Certificate of Good Standing with the Colorado Secretary of State, and the N40MA is additionally registered with Dun and Bradstreet (DUNS #116973494).
The N40MA, Inc. is overseen by an unpaid volunteer Board of Directors, with routine operations overseen by the Director of the North 40 Mountain Alliance, working out of Alliance headquarters.
The Function of the N40MA
We are facilitated through the “Larimer Connects” office of Larimer County Colorado Emergency Management, and we work through community “HUBs” to strengthen our communities and build community-level resilience, preparedness, and self-reliance in case of fire, other disaster or catastrophe.
Through our “inside” connections with Larimer County Emergency Management we provide accurate, up-to-date information during emergencies or disasters or even just day-to-day to local residents and promote the banding together of our mountain communities in order to increase resiliency for all of us.
In other words, North 40 Community HUBs function as a liaison between you the Public, and Disaster or Fire Incident Commands, Volunteer Fire departments, Public Information Officers, or other officials. We shoulder the burden of public information dissemination during fire, disaster or catastrophe, freeing up valuable emergency personnel and preventing public panic through accurate situational knowledge and information.
Our HUBs also connect community residents in need with such resources as emergency shelters, medical centers, search-and-rescue, or emergency operations centers, as needed or dictated by the individual incident. We listen to the needs of our community, gather resources and skills to help each other, and connect people to the agency or group that will best meet their needs.
N40MA HUBs
N40MA Emergency HUBs are simply pre-identified places for local community volunteers to coordinate their efforts to help each other and their communities during and after a disaster.
Community Emergency HUBs are opened and staffed by unpaid local volunteers in each community (instead of government officials) when there is need for the community to help itself, such as when there has been widespread infrastructural damage, damage to homes, buildings or roads due to wildfire or other disaster, or when communication networks are down for extended periods.
Through community response and resilience planning, the N40MA works with our local communities to identify community strengths and resources that could be useful during a disaster, vulnerabilities that community residents may want to check during a disaster or consider mitigating beforehand, and potential solutions to the challenges our communities might face during a disaster.
N40MA HUB locations
There are presently N40MA community emergency HUBs at three locations in the Red Feather Lakes Colorado area, which include Glacier View Meadows, Red Feather Lakes, and Crystal Lakes communities, with the possibility of several other communities joining soon.
The N40MA either has made arrangements or is actively seeking them within these communities to allow local volunteers to open up a HUB in times of need.
Community Emergency HUBs are equipped with an operations plan to guide the operation of the Hub, maps, etc., and eventually will incorporate HAM radios and other equipment so that the community HUB can communicate with the N40 Alliance Headquarters. All residents are welcome at any N40MA HUB location.
What the N40MA is NOT
- HUB personnel are not First Responders or Medical Professionals.
- HUB personnel are not Firefighters, Law Enforcement, or Government Officials.
- Everything happening at the Hub, or provided by the Hub, is through volunteer efforts, cooperation between residents, community generosity, or grants.
- N40MA HUB personnel don’t have any special legal powers in an emergency, and can’t requisition your property.
- HUBs are not Emergency Assistance Centers where official government support can be accessed.
- There are no caches of emergency supplies at Community Emergency HUBs.