Vero Beach, FL: Indian River County's Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (IRC VOAD)-- a community response group started in July -- has elected its leadership and is in the process of forming action committees, the United Way of Indian River County announced recently.
Andrea Johnson, Long Term Recovery Coordinator for Indian River Cares and Heather Dales, Chief Operating Officer of the Abilities Resource Center have agreed to serve as chair and vice-chair respectively for the recently formed group. Lynn Wasson from Treasure and Space Coast Radio has agreed to serve as the group's secretary. The group was called together in July by the American Red Cross and the United Way in response to a need for better communication and collaboration in times of disaster amongst churches, community groups, and government agencies from across the county. The group has also elected a steering committee who will oversee the formation of working groups, draft a mission statement and bylaws. Serving on that committee is the Red Cross' director of emergency services Sharon Rayner, Eve Ballance from the United Way, Etta LoPresti, Emergency Management Planner, from Indian River County Department of Emergency Services, Lynn Wasson from Treasure and Space Coast Radio, Van DeMars from the Humane Society, Carol Trax from Community Church, as well as Paul Feldes, board member Temple Beth Shalom, Pete Kersey and Liz Mayo from Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
When disaster strikes-whether flood, hurricane, chemical spill or explosion-lives, homes, communities, and businesses are damaged or destroyed. The people affected often need serious and substantial short- and long-term help to put their lives back together. Federal, state, and local governments are the ones supplying essential resources; but it is often the local voluntary organizations that provide money, volunteers, daily necessities, and a variety of expertise and rebuilding resources not available from the national federal organizations. National, and now local, associations started forming to help coordinate these efforts. The IRC VOAD seeks to do just that, its seeks to help coordinate response, on a local level, in times of disaster.
"The idea is get to know where to turn if something should happen. Getting together ahead of the storm, so to speak, gives us a chance to plan, and to be proactive, to pull together a local, coordinated response," said United Way's CEO Michael Kint.
The National Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster Association, from which this local chapter is organizing and modeling itself, has made a commitment towards helping local chapters grow. After Hurricane Andrew (1992), the VOAD movement extended specifically to the local level as disaster response organizations in regions hit learned that cooperation at the regional, county, or metro-area level was crucial. After the Treasure Coast was hit by the storms of 2004, it was clear there was a need for a coordinated community response in addition to the assistance provided by the county and federal officials.
The next meeting of the IRC VOAD will be at the United Way Community Center, 1836 14 th Ave, Vero Beach on Wednesday, August 30 th at 9 a.m.