A trusted neighbourhood support plan
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Build a small support network with people you already trust: agree check-ins, practical tasks and boundaries before a crisis. Share verified information and safe assistance without advertising stockpiles or exposing vulnerable people’s locations. Do not organise untrained rescues or assume outside supplies will arrive.
Save the essentials.
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Act on immediate danger. Seek qualified help when reachable and safe, but do not make your first protective step depend on a response. This page is general guidance, not a live alert.
Do now.
- 01
Agree who participates
Ask consent and include people who may need help with movement, medication or communication. Do not publish a public list of vulnerable households.
- 02
Assign realistic tasks
Choose check-in, charging, water transport or childcare tasks people can perform safely. Do not assign dangerous repairs, rescues or conflict-zone travel.
- 03
Choose backups
Have another contact and a written way to reconnect if phones fail. Make sure no essential task depends on one person being present.
- 04
Set boundaries
Agree what can be shared, how decisions are made and what people cannot safely offer. Do not promise supplies or transport you do not have.
- 05
Review together
Practise a short check-in and update the plan after household needs change. Keep information current and private.
PLAN AROUND WHAT YOU HAVE
If help is unavailable.
Start with a few trusted people and one useful task. If no network exists, use your household plan and independently verify any offer before relying on it.
People & practical needs.
Assign a trusted adult to each person who needs assistance. Keep medicines, essential contacts and a workable reunion plan with the group. Make decisions around the least mobile person, not the fastest; avoid splitting the family without a clear, safe way to reconnect.
Keep essentials within reach
Keep essential medicines, safe drinking water, a battery light, footwear, phone power and written contacts accessible. Carry only what you can manage; collecting supplies must not delay escape.
Next steps.
Use the network to coordinate verified information and reduce duplicated trips. Independent humanitarian assistance can complement it when available, but should not be its only foundation.
Watch for.
Mutual aid should never require handing over identity documents, leaving children with strangers or entering a dangerous building.
Sources & context.
Osprey Zero combines source-based protective guidance with practical household planning. References provide context, not a promise of assistance. Some standards are U.S.-based; local risks, laws and services differ.
Updated 2026-10-02. Editorially reviewed against linked references; not independently certified by a subject-matter expert. Verify changing conditions through sources safe for you to contact.