PA VOAD Resources and Member News

🔷🔷The PA VOAD Spring meeting is being held in conjunction with PADHS’ mid-year training expo in Harrisburg on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, from 9 AM to 3:30 PM, at the CoPA HUB Building – Harrisburg:Willow Oak Conference Room 114A/114B, 2525 N 7^th St., Harrisburg, PA.  The PAVOAD meeting will be held in the afternoon and will include:

• Meet the VOADs, where organizations will have an opportunity to provide a brief overview of their mission and how they support disaster response and recovery.
• PAVOAD Mid-Year Meeting, with break out workshops to discuss capacity building efforts in areas that may include long term recovery, emotional/spiritual care, muck out/clean out, and volunteer/donations management.

Morning activities will feature a panel discussion on Helene response and opportunity to tour PADHS and VOAD deployable assets on display.  VOAD partners are invited to set up and display equipment at this event.  Register.  You can also sign up to display your equipment.

🔷🔷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.

🔷🔷Congratulations to the Antietam Valley Long Term Recovery Group, who will receive the Berks County Common Ground USA Spirit of Civility Award at a special event on March 26, 2026, at the Berks History Center in Reading.  The award committee has said that the spirit of cooperation, generosity, and determination shown throughout the recovery effort reflects exactly the kind of community leadership this award recognizes.

🔷🔷Schuylkill County recently experienced a water main break in Shenandoah.  Many COAD organizations responded, including Catholic Charities.  Here is an article published in the AD Times detailing the response from the point of view of Catholic Charities. Schuylkill EMA says that this response shows the compassion that the COAD organizations bring to the residents of the county!

🔷🔷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:

1. 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.
2. 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