Word has been received this week that MNA Disaster Response (MNA DR) has been received into National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD).

NVOAD is a national organization that facilitates collaboration between agencies with a national scope and provides a means for these organizations to work together in disaster response.

National VOAD currently has 50 national members including Samaritan’s Purse, All Hands (formally Hands On), American Baptist Men, American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Feed the Children, National Baptist Convention USA, Operation Blessing, Southern Baptist Convention / North American Mission Board, The Salvation Army, United Methodist Committee On Relief, Lutheran Disaster Response, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and others.

National VOAD is not itself a service delivery organization. Instead, it upholds the privilege of its members to independently provide relief and recovery services, while expecting them to do so cooperatively. National VOAD is committed to the idea that the best time to train, prepare, and become acquainted with each other is prior to an actual disaster response. MNA DR went through a lengthy application process which included demonstrating our capacity to work well alongside other organizations in past responses.

Now as a national partner MNA DR will participate on committees, conferences, have access to training events and materials, and inclusion in pertinent planning discussions on a national level with government agencies such as FEMA and DHS when appropriate. MNA DR will have the opportunity to impact the development of policies, standards and program related procedures connected with disaster response and recovery. Attendance at conferences provides partners with full access to the National VOAD general membership, including state VOAD representatives. MNA DR has membership in many state level VOAD chapters, which has worked well in recent disaster responses and was a requirement to become a member of NVOAD.

National VOAD enters into formal partnerships with companies, foundations, agencies, institutions and other entities that benefit from NVOAD activities and programs, for the purpose of enhancing the VOAD mission of encouraging collaboration among the various sectors of our society in response to disasters.

Arklie Hooten, MNA Disaster Response Director said, “We have been working to join NVOAD for over 2 years as part of our capacity building efforts. By leveraging our relationship with other organizations assisting in disaster we will provide more resources to our PCA communities in desperate need”.

Source: http://www.pca-mna.org/disaster/documents/VOADAnnouncement.pdf

[Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced in this article is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]