FORT PIERCE, Fla. — These women are powerhouses in the community, providing information when people are in need.
"We give out information,” Pastor Pinkie Hendley of the New LIfe Changing Information Resource Center said. “We have been partnering with a number of organizations so that people can get information."
The New Life Changing Information Resource Center is considered a small hub in Fort Pierce on Avenue D and 23rd Street. The center provides information on where to turn to for food, hygiene products and other items.
"One of the areas that I think we can do here at the resource center and in other areas is the aftermath," she said.
If a hurricane is forecast to impact the area, the women jump into action. Community activist Ionis Jefferson volunteers if a shelter is opened.
"Set up the food, register people once they come in and take all of their names,” Jefferson said. “Register everyone and just monitor."
Though the women said volunteers know how to mobilize, more can be done to keep people safe.
"Just a lack of knowledge, because a lot of times people don't listen to the radio,” Jefferson said. “A lot of times people don't listen to the news. A lot of times you don't pay attention, because you are set in your old ways."
Volunteers are spreading the word in the community to start stocking up on hurricane supplies.
"Make sure you have water, you have batteries," Jefferson said. "Just in case the lights go out. And if you need emergency phone numbers, write them down and make sure your cell phones are charged."
For some it's a financial burden.
"Sometimes we need to step outside of the box, we need to lift the top up and step outside of the box and not be afraid to ask for help," she said.
Transportation before and after a storm is critical.
"Be able to have churches and other organizations that might have vans and things like that, mobilizing them to be able to assist," Hendley said. "It takes a community to make sure that we take care of each other."
"And even if we may not have the information readily available for you, you better believe we will find it," Jefferson said.
