Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters

“The function of this organization is to encourage cooperation and coordination in planning for and responding to disasters. We do this so that our response will be more effective, duplication of services will be minimized, and more efficient service will be provided to those affected by a disaster.”

VOAD Media

VOAD Announces Presence in Santa Barbara Santa Barbara News-Press TV: A press conference was held on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at the headquarters of the American Red Cross, Santa Barbara County Chapter, to announce the presence of VOAD. VOAD on Community Alert, KZSB-AM 1290 Listen to a radio broadcast of Louise Kolbert and David Ross, Santa Barbara County Chapter American Red Cross VOAD on Community Alert. Community Alert airs on Tuesdays, 11 AM and 9 PM and again on Saturdays at 1 PM on KZSB-AM 1290. Community Alert is the property of the Wildland Residents Association, Inc., San Pass Volunteer Fire Department.

Purpose

To benefit people affected by disasters through:

• Cooperation — to create a climate for cooperation at all levels (including grass roots) and to provide information.
• Coordination — to coordinate policy among member organizations and to serve as a liaison, advocate, and community voice
• Communication — to disseminate information through newsletters, a directory, drills and critiques
• Education — to provide training and to increase awareness and preparedness in each organization
• Mitigation — to support efforts of federal, state and local agencies and governments
• Convening mechanisms — to put on meetings, seminars, training programs and local conferences
• Outreach — to encourage the formation of, and give guidance to, local voluntary organizations active in disaster relief
  
  
  
  

SBVOAD Structure
(download chart as PDF or Word doc)

Subcommittees
If you or your organization is interested in joining VOAD and participating in one of these subcommittees, please contact David Ross, VOAD Coordinator.

• Food Prep & Distribution
  The purpose of this subcommittee is to plan, coordinate, and support the production and distribution of meals during a disaster. This will allow organizations preparing meals to avoid duplication of effort during a disaster and fulfill the needs for meals during a disaster as efficiently as possible. The long-term goal is to be able to prepare and deliver up to 25,000 meals per day within the county in the event of a disaster.
• In-Kind Donations
  The purpose of this subcommittee is to receive spontaneous in-kind donations that arrive during a disaster, and in turn distribute items to clients affected by the disaster who have a Red Cross referral. The subcommittee will also help deliver a coordinated message to the media (or Joint Information Center) regarding what kinds of donations are needed and where the public can take them, so as to minimize the amount of unusable donations that arrive during disasters. Donations that do arrive will be received and processed by the chosen locations.
• Long Term Recovery
  The purpose of this subcommittee is to assist in the long term needs of those affected by disaster. This could include convening as a committee to review needs as presented by a case manager, as well as making appropriate referrals to agencies to meet those needs.

Resources

• Communications
  
• Transportation
  
• Disaster Volunteers
  
• Other (animal services, special needs, disaster medial supplies, counseling, etc.)
  
  
  

Disaster Updates
Check here for updates during local disasters to find out where the Red Cross shelters are, where to bring animals, and to see how SBVOAD members are helping the community.

Jesusita Fire (5/5/2009)
During the recent Jesusita Fire, the coordination of VOAD partner members was extraordinary, helping to support a massive relief operation that destroyed close to 100 homes. The American Red Cross of Santa Barbara County sheltered nearly 1,000 evacuees between the Dos Pueblos High School and UCSB shelters, offered free health and mental health services and distributed meals and snacks for several days into the affected areas once evacuation orders were lifted. Salvation Army, Community Action Commission, and the Southern Baptists provided the majority of meals, with the Food Bank donating the bulk of the food-stock, as well as multiple pallets of water. SBCARES, the government umbrella for all animal services in the county, boarded hundreds of small and large animals through their extensive network of pet care facilities, including the Humane Society. Service Master Anytime helped deliver Red Cross materials with their trucks, offered up their powerful air blowers to the UCSB shelter when their was a need for better air circulation, and is currently offering discounts and financing options for their fire damage cleaning services. The Family Service Agency/211 directed hundreds of phone calls to appropriate community resources, EasyLift helped evacuate residents from various nursing and elder-care facilities, and Direct Relief International handed out face-masks at various locations in Santa Barbara. The Unity Shoppe, Catholic Charities, and Alpha Thrift processed the in-kind donations from the community that were donated to fire victims, and along with the Assistance League will continue to be providing help throughout the Long Term Recovery (LTR) process for those whose homes were damaged or destroyed. United Way of Santa Barbara County established the Jesusita Fire Long Term Recovery Fund, which will be drawn upon by the Red Cross case manager for all those who sustained losses and were either uninsured or underinsured. Cases will in turn be presented before the Long Term Recovery Committee, consisting of leadership from many of the above organizations.

Tea Fire (11/13/2008):
During the Tea Fire, Santa Barbara VOAD as a coordinated group was active for the first time.  Our preplanning involved breaking into different committees to meet the various needs as they would arrive during a disaster.  The Food Committee was the most active as they were busy coordinating foodstuffs, water and snacks from the Santa Barbara Food Bank to the Red Cross warehouse and the Salvation Army.  The Salvation Army in turn prepared hundreds of meals for Red Cross to deliver, along with the water and snacks, to the shelters and across the operational area.  During the fire and in the aftermath the Red Cross caseworkers gave referrals to members of the In-Kind Committee: Unity Shoppe, Salvation Army, Assistance League, and Alpha Thrift, all of which were simultaneously sorting through in-kind donations that poured in from the community.  Trucks were made available by several member VOAD organizations to help deliver water to Montecito during the “boil-water notice” when the water filtration plant lost power.  Several weeks later, thousands of toys were donated to the fire victims, sorted by Red Cross & MERRAG to be given out to the clients, while VOAD members were contacted to come by and pick up the remainder of toys for their own organizational needs.  The Long Term Recovery Committee, consisting of leaders from many of the above organizations, developed guidelines for how to distribute the funds raised by the United Way through the Tea Fire Recovery Fund and are still meeting to distribute money.

Contact