🔷🔷It was great to see so many people at the PA DHS Expo and PA VOAD Spring meeting. During the event we learned about:
- Roles in Recovery, presented by Larry Wesy, PEMA
- The Response to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina
- The types of equipment that is available in recovery
- Our organizations and what we do
We also held our Spring VOAD meeting and participated in four workshops. The goal is to continue these discussions at the KEMA Conference in September. The areas addressed were:
· capacity building efforts in for long term recovery
· emotional/spiritual care
· muck out/clean out
· volunteer/donations management.
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🔷🔷 Congressional Research Services has published a helpful resource – Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery – A Primer. Click here to download it.
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🔷🔷To stay up-to-date will all things PAVOAD, check out our Facebook page and our updated web page here. PAVOAD has created a searchable data base of our member organizations and the primary representatives. If you are an agency representative, you should have access to it using your email and password to the “members only” section of www.pavoad.org. All others should send an email to pavoad3@gmail.com, requesting access.
🔷🔷Keith Adams, Executive Director of NJ VOAD, has written a statement calling for a new recovery model. You can read it here. And – Joel Landis, EMA Director of Somerset County, has written an article, published by The Domestic Preparedness Journal, on the flood response and DRAP. You can read it here.
🔷🔷Cliff Oliver, member of the planning committee for the Mid-Atlantic VOAD Conference, suggests these articles that address topics that were discussed at the 2026 Conference:
- A recent white paper from the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) that urges emergency managers to deepen collaboration with private sector partners, including nonprofit organizations, warning that current approaches are not keeping pace with the scale and complexity of disasters. In case you aren’t aware, NEMA member consists of the politically appointed state and territorial emergency management directors from all 50 states, eight U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia, so their opinions are important to the emergency management community. The report, Building Trust, Enhancing Resilience Recommendations for Public-Private Alignment (Building-Trust-Enhancing-Resilience-White-Paper-Final-March-2026.pdf), outlines persistent gaps in coordination between government agencies and private organizations, despite years of progress. It highlights that while partnerships have expanded, many jurisdictions still struggle with inconsistent engagement, limited staffing, and lingering mistrust that can slow response and recovery efforts. A central finding is that private sector partners—including infrastructure operators, local businesses, and nonprofit organizations—play a critical role in stabilizing supply chains, restoring services, and supporting affected communities. However, the report notes that these capabilities are often underutilized due to regulatory concerns, unclear roles, and lack of pre-established relationships. The paper also points to structural challenges facing public agencies, including reliance on grant funding, workforce shortages, and procurement constraints, which can limit their ability to respond quickly. In contrast, private sector entities are often able to scale resources rapidly, making them essential partners during disasters. To address these gaps, NEMA recommends several steps for emergency managers, including building relationships before disasters occur, establishing formal agreements with private partners, expanding the role of private sector liaisons, and creating structured forums for ongoing collaboration. The report also calls for clearer guidance on legal and ethical engagement to reduce hesitation and improve coordination. Overall, the white paper emphasizes that stronger public-private alignment is necessary to improve resilience nationwide, particularly as disasters become more frequent and complex.
- The second is a recently published three-part series of articles in Homeland Security Today. This three-part emergency management series explores the importance of strengths-based approaches, strong social networks, community ownership of emergency preparedness, and better recovery through activation of local strengths.
- From Deficits to Strengths: Rethinking Emergency Management: Part I
- Building on Community Strengths to Improve Emergency Preparedness: Part II
- The Benefits of Community-Led Disaster Recovery: Part III
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🔷🔷The May edition of READY Pa is available. In this edition learn more about:
- Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, and Pennsylvania
- What’s in a Name. Discover the names of the storms for 2026
- Near a dam? Here is what you need to know.