UPCOMING MEETINGS – Contact pavoad4@gmail.com for more information.
- PA VOAD, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 10 AM ET. Join the meeting.
Western Area VOAD, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 10 AM ET, at the Salvation Army, 20 Parish Street, Pittsburgh, PA.
Tioga County LTRG, Thursday, March 12, 2026, 10:30 AM. Join the meeting.
2nd Friday of the Month State-wide Coordination Call. Friday, March 13, 2026, at 9:00 AM ET. Join Zoom Meeting. Meeting ID: 880 2358 4373. Passcode: 148762.
Lancaster County VOAD, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm, at the Lancaster County Public Safety Training Center. The meeting will include a table-top exercise entitled, “Responding to Hurricane Agnes.” Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP by April 14th, to Glenn Beard, gbeard@luthercare.org, if you can attend.
Please send the notices of your regional and local meetings to Karl Jones at pavoad4@gmail.com.
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CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS
🔷🔷 Registration is now open for the 2026 Disaster Emotional and Spiritual Care Academy, which features six weeks of live, free webinars intended to offer pragmatic and informative sessions to help faith and community leaders address needs emerging from disasters and other crises. These sessions are appropriate for all levels of experience and expertise and will be held from 11 AM – 12:30 PM ET. Here is the schedule:
- March 24, 2026 – “Calm in Crisis”
- March 31, 2026 – “Talk Saves Lives” (suicide prevention)
- April 7, 2026 – “Responding with Care: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Disaster Response for Diverse Communities”
- April 14, 2026 – “Risk and Protective Factors”
- April 21, 2026 – “Tools for Building Resilience”
- April 28, 2026 – “Emotional and Spiritual Care in Human-Caused Disasters”
Webinars will not be recorded.
This series is brought to you by collaborative organizations including: Church World Service, Crisis Care Ministries, International Orthodox Christian Charities, Lutheran Disaster Response, Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church, Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Prevention Division, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance – PC (USA), United Church of Christ, Week of Compassion, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), with additional support from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.
Click here to register. One registration for all sessions: When you submit this registration, you are registering to receive webinar links and reminder emails for all webinars in this series. Attend as many as you would like. For details and more information about webinars, go to the Webinar Hub at crisiscareministries.net.
🔷🔷 The Mountain West VOAD Conference will be held in Salt Lake from April 13 – 16, 2026 at the Church of Scientology, 709 E South Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah. The information is posted at MWVOAD.org.
🔷🔷 Lehigh Valley Emergency Services Conference, April 16 & 17, 2026 – Desales University, Center Valley, PA. An annual event dedicated to fostering knowledge, collaboration, and preparedness within the field of emergency services. This conference stands as a premier gathering for professionals, experts, and stakeholders involved in various aspects of emergency response and disaster preparedness. Learn more. Register.
🔷🔷 The Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Office of Health Equity will hold their 2026 Health Equity Summit on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Montgomery County Community College and Thursday, April 16, 2026, at Normandy Farm and Hotel Conference Center in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. The Summit will be 100% in person and there will NOT be a hybrid/virtual option. This dynamic 1.5-day event will cultivate the development of bold and advanced solutions that raise awareness about health equity and address differences in health outcomes across communities in Pennsylvania. This summit is free. Registration deadline is March 20th, 2026. Register HERE. Learn more.
🔷🔷 Registration is open for the 27th Annual New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Association Conference, which will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, NJ, April 20-24, 2026. There will be trainings, breakouts, and an exhibit hall. Learn more. Go to njepa.org/hotels to book your room.
🔷🔷 2026 National VOAD Conference, May 4-7, 2026, at The Peppermill Resort, Reno, NV. Click here for Exhibitor & Sponsorship Opportunities. Hotel room bookings are now available. Get all the details. View the Schedule.
🔷🔷 Registration is now OPEN for New Jersey VOAD’s 2026 Conference, Honoring Our Journey, Igniting Our Future: Uniting for Impact, being held on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at The Palace at Somerset Park (333 Davidson Avenue, Somerset, NJ 08873). Visit theconference website andregister today! Keynote speaker will be Jennifer Sirangelo, President and CEO of Points of Light. Want be a conference exhibitor or sponsor? Find out more here! Questions? Contact Linda Hardy at lhardy@njvoad.org.
🔷🔷 The 2026 Connect Social Care Summit, a free virtual event, May 13-14, 2026, will bring together more than 1,300 leaders across healthcare, social care, government, and nonprofits. The sessions will offer examples of how peers are designing, scaling, and strengthening social care in real-world settings. Find out more and register.
| 🔷🔷The 2026 Points of Light Conference will take place June 22–25, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The Conference will feature learning labs, practical strategies, and innovation. The National Service-Learning Conference will unite with the POL Conference, fueling new intergenerational collaboration across education, service and civic life. Early bird pricing ends March 31, 2026. Register. |
🔷🔷 The 2026 Urban Health Summer Institute will take place June 22-26, 2026. Registration is now open! Some courses are in-person on the Philadelphia campus, while others are online with live instructors. There are single day courses about grant writing for community organization, week-long courses on race and racism, and much more. Learn more and register. Use code “EARLYBIRD26” for 25% off all courses until May 1st.
🔷🔷 The 2026 National ADA Symposium will be held July 19 – 22, 2026, in Phoenix, AZ. This year’s conference, facilitated by the Great Plains and Pacific ADA Centers and sponsored by the ADA National Network, offers an agenda packed with informative sessions and workshops, and kicks off with an afternoon of “Find Your Fun” opportunities to engage in inclusive recreation and entertainment.
🔷🔷 The PA Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO) will hold its 2026 Collaborative Conference on Thursday, September 24, and Friday, September 25, 2026, at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center in State College, PA. Learn more
🔷🔷 The Keystone Emergency Management Association (KEMA) invites you to share your expertise and contribute by submitting a presentation proposal for the 9th Annual Pennsylvania Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security Conference, #KEMACon2026. The Conference will be held on September 27th to 29th in Altoona, Pennsylvania, at the Blair County Convention Center. With the theme “Strengthening Connections, Assessing the Threats of Tomorrow,” the conference will highlight the critical need to build relationships and proactively identify emerging threats to improve emergency management across the state. Join over 300 emergency management professionals at #KEMACon2026 and share your knowledge by submitting a proposal today. Download the Call for Speakers Information Guide. Call for Speakers: Frequently Asked Questions
🔷🔷 EDITS is a unique, affordable, biennial, two-day regional training opportunity developed by Eastern Montgomery County, PA emergency managers. This focused training symposium features nationally recognized keynote speakers and timely disaster-related topics for approximately 500 regional emergency management professionals, including police, fire, EMS, health and school officials, and other first responders. Registration is now open for the 2026 EDITS Conference, which will be held on October 14th and 15th at Normandy Farm Hotel & Conference Center in Blue Bell. Register online at https://upperdublinpa.portal.opengov.com/categories/1088 to reserve your seat.