2025 Grantee Spotlight: Taylor County Emergency

Few places in Florida have faced as many challenges recently as Taylor County. Nestled in Florida’s Big Bend region and known as the ‘Tree Capital of the South,’ this rural community has endured three major hurricanes in just 13 months, including Hurricane Helene whose Category 4 force left the coastal towns of Keaton Beach and Steinhatchee devastated.

Amid this relentless recovery, new resources are on the way. In June, Taylor County Emergency was awarded $2,500 as one of the 2025 AARP Florida Challenge Grant winners.

“[This is] the first time in our history that we’ve been hit with that many storms in such a short period of time,” said Liana Chapman, a member of the Taylor County Emergency Management Disaster Recovery Team. “You don’t have time to recover from one before the next one.”

With AARP’s funding, Taylor County Emergency is training residents to become Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members verified to be disaster responders. The initiative will train volunteers in fire safety, first aid, search and rescue, and disaster simulations.

“These people are already in their communities. With CERT certification, they will be able to act as first responders before emergency crew can even get there.” Chapman explained.

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Taylor County Emergency Management staff in their red AARP t-shirts conducting special needs sign-ups at our Taylor County Senior Center

Liana Chapman

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Taylor County Emergency Management staff in their red AARP t-shirts conducting special needs sign-ups at our Taylor County Senior Center

Liana Chapman

The CERT program is vital in a large county with limited paid staff. Once volunteers are certified, they will help distribute food and water, set up emergency points, and assist with events like traffic control. Chapman added that they would not be able to provide large-scale assistance without volunteers.

Chapman has lived in Steinhatchee for more than 20 years, and this Community Challenge Grant win is personal. She recalled a neighbor’s mother and granddaughter were trapped from floodwater during Hurricane Helene. "Having trained volunteers in every neighborhood can prevent tragedies like that,” she said. “It makes me feel great that we now have resources to better prepare our community.”

Beyond training, Taylor County is also using the grant to strengthen outreach, visiting the Boys and Girls Club and Senior Centers to sign residents up for the special needs and distributing AARP’s Disaster Resilience Toolkit.

“We know another storm is coming, we just don’t know when,” she said. “But with this program, we will be ready.”

AARP Florida will be following up with Taylor County Emergency progress to see how their efforts are progressing! Stay tuned for more, and visit AARP.org/FLLivable for more information on the Community Challenge Grant program.