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Steps to Helping Your Community Before, During and After a Disaster

Volunteers are essential in being prepared for, responding to and recovering from disasters. The key is to get trained and affiliated before the storm. To prepare our community to effectively utilize and derive maximum benefit from the contributions of volunteers, and to motivate the public to become affiliated with a relief organization before a disaster occurs, the United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties' Volunteer Center and First Call for Help/2-1-1 have established the United in Disasters'  Disaster Volunteer Management Program.

The resources of a Volunteer Center and 2-1-1 are most appreciated in a time of disaster, because of their ability to quickly mobilize and deploy large numbers of volunteers to meet a broad array of community needs.  The skill and ability to match citizens desiring to help with specific needs in the community are not generally available in the disaster response system. Advance collaborative planning assures that the Volunteer Center and 2-1-1 provide a coordinated response when disaster strikes.  For instance, spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers can be sent by the Volunteer Center to work alongside trained volunteers to expand the capacity of major disaster relief agencies.  Spontaneous volunteers can also fill staffing gaps and enhance the ability of community-based organizations to respond to their constituents. 

United in Disasters will strengthen local governments, volunteer agencies, and private sector organizations as new volunteers affiliate with local relief agencies. The community will derive the benefits of planning and organization as the effectiveness of all volunteers increases. A strong partnership will develop between response agencies and the Volunteer Center/2-1-1 as all volunteers find meaningful and stimulating opportunities to help their community before and after disasters.

How did we get here?

In 1993, Florida established the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan that identified 17 Emergency Support Functions to oversee and coordinate response to disaster. Under the Emergency Support Function concept, agencies with similar functions are grouped together to facilitate effective interagency operations. Working under Volusia County Emergency Management Services, United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties (The Volunteer Center and 2-1-1) is a support agency for Emergency Support Function (ESF) 15's coordination of volunteers in response to a disaster through the peration of volunteer recption centers.

 How YOU can help:

 Register in advance to help in times of disaster.

Enroll and become affiliated with an experienced disaster relief organization before the disaster to expedite your activation, assist in the most beneficial way and help the community through the response and recovery efforts in a timelier manner. Also, be sure to find out what training is available. Groups such as The Salvation Army, American Red Cross, United Way, churches and civic organizations provide regular training for disaster volunteers.

 Examples of How Volunteers Can Help:

• Promote family preparedness by distributing educational materials
• Prepare and distribute meals to victims and relief workers
• Assist with the placement and tracking of victims in evacuation shelters
• Provide child care for disaster survivors
• Compile and distribute disaster recovery information to survivors
• Answer phones at volunteer reception or disaster recovery centers
• Provide debris removal and clean-up assistance to the elderly or disabled

 Before traveling into a disaster area to help...

In a community struggling to respond to and recover from a disaster, an influx of unexpected or unneeded volunteers can make the process even more difficult and create disasters within the disaster and place an additional demand on critical resources.

 Learn where and when your skills will be needed the most before deploying. Call United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties by dialing 2-1-1 or 386-253-0563 and how your services and resources can best be utilized.

Information for Agencies:

GET STARTED NOW AS A DISASTER RESPONSE VOLUNTEER

TO SEARCH VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES GO TO http://www.helpindisaster.org 

OTHER USEFUL LINKS/INFORMATION:

Volusia County Citizen Corps

Volusia County Emergency Management

www.Floridadisaster.org: Get a Family Plan, Get a Business Plan, Strengthen Your Home

www.fema.gov

www.volunteerflorida.org

Florida's Coast to Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross

Salvation Army of Volusia-Flagler

Donating Wisely:

Financial contributions are preferred.

•         Cash donations help to avoid the labor and expense of sorting, packing, & transporting donations.

•         Voluntary relief agencies use cash to meet victims' specific needs more quickly.

•         Purchasing relief supplies available in the impacted community helps the local economy to recover more quickly.

Donate through an experienced organization.

•         Coordination with a relief organization is essential to ensure that the right goods in the right amounts are collected, and that transportation, warehousing and distribution will go smoothly.

•         To prevent waste, donations of goods should be made only to agencies that have specific requests.

Confirm the need before collecting.

•         Many groups have been disappointed that their efforts and the goods they collected were not appreciated. A community hit by disaster, however, does not have time, manpower or money to dispose of unneeded donations.

•         Donors should be wary of anyone who claims that "everything" is needed.

•         Do not assume that unsolicited relief supplies will be transported at no charge.

United in Disaster is proud to be brought to you by the United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties with the support of our partners: