Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster

(VOAD) – An Overview and Perspective

What makes an incident an emergency/disaster?

Need EmComm support in many of these

What is a Disaster and Why Does it Matter to Me?

Community needs surpass capacity

May be natural, human-caused, technological, and/or economic

Could be a civil emergency or a public health emergency

Public Service and Emergency Communications Management for Radio Amateurs (EC-016) Course• Topic 8e: Working with Served Agencies:

NVOAD

Speaks mostly of ARRL interface with NVOAD, little with state or local organizations

ARES/ARRL Interface with theVOAD Community

VOAD History & Background

NVOAD Member Organizations

110 NVOAD members

• Catholic Charities• Churches of Scientology• Church World Service• Convoy of Hope• Habitat for Humanity• Humane Society• Islamic Relief USA• The Jewish Federation• Lutheran Disaster Response• Salvation Army• United Way 2-1-1

NVOAD Communications Committee

Missouri Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (Missouri VOAD)

Governor’s Faith-based and Community Service Partnership for Disaster Recovery (The Partnership)

Missouri Interfaith Disaster Response Organization (MIDRO)

State-Level Organizations

Started during floods of 1993

Struggled to get organizational traction for a number of years while The Partnership and MIDRO gained foothold

Now firmly established in parallel with others with its own cooperative but distinct mission

Members:Full – NGOs (Red Cross, UW 2-1-1, ARRL) and

faith-based (churches)Associate – (mostly governmental – DHSS, DSS,

SEMA, etc.)

Missouri VOAD

In existence since 1993 (Gov. Carnahan)

Full Name: Governor’s Faith-Based and Community Service Partnership for Disaster Recovery (a.k.a. “The Partnership”)

Members: Governmental and private agency representatives

Coordinates thru SEMA, including parallel work with Missouri VOAD, MIDRO, etc.

Assures the responsiveness of public and private sector resources to all citizens, including those with functional needs

Functions as a State Citizen Council, with support to the Homeland Security Advisory Council, on post-disaster human service issues

Works with Governor's office on plans to fund recovery for undeclared events

The Partnership History & Background

MIDRO History & Background

In existence since 1993

Members: Faith-based organizations (churches)

Strategically a statewide organization with connectivity to national faith-based partner funding

Tactically functions regionally working temporarily with local churches

The primary mode of assistance is to provide funding for needs which would otherwise go unmet – e.g. case management, LTRGs

Cursory look – many of the same agencies in two or all three organizations

Some overlap in missions

Who does what is more a function of place in the disaster time cycle than of overlap or redundancy

Why Three Organizations??

Selected Emergency Support Functions (ESFs):ESF 2 – CommunicationsESF 6 – Mass Care, Emergency Assistance,

Housing, and Human ServicesESF 8 – Public Health and Medical ServicesESF 11 – Agricultural and Natural Resources (incl.

safety and wellbeing of household pets)ESF 14 – Long-term Community RecoveryESF 17 – Animal Services

Emergency Human Services & VOAD/Partnership/MIDRO

Integration with Comprehensive Emergency Management

Disast

er

Where are they located?Regional/major metro area:Kansas City Regional VOADGreen County COADSt. Louis Area Regional COAD (SLARC)

Smaller geographies:Most counties have, at least on paper, a

COAD and/or an LTRC

Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COADs)

www.movoad.org