Minutes: June 21, 2011

VOAD Meeting Minutes – June 21, 2011 (first day of summer!)

Salvation Army Headquarters, Bee Road

Secretary, Pamela Terekhova

 

Present:

Chip Grefski, President, SCCPSSPD

Sharyn Baggett, Vice President, ARC

Pamela Terekhova, Secretary, ARC

 

Mark Baggett, Chatham Savannah Authority for the Homeless

Millie Douglas, ARC

Shane Faux, USCG

Kelly Foster, CEMA

Wanda Hunter, Salvation Army

Linda James, Salvation Army

Bucky Johnson, YMCA of Coastal Georgia

Lynette Jones, Salvation Army

Trudy Jones, United Way 2-11

Greg Reilly, USCG

Robert Rollin, YMCA of Coastal Georgia

Cedric Scott, Savannah Fire and Emergency Services

John Wright, ARC

Chip Grefski, President, greeted everyone and called the meeting to order.  John Wright made a motion to accept the minutes without correction; Trudy Jones seconded; motion passed unanimously.

 Chip asked everyone to introduce themselves.

 John reminded all present that it was hurricane season and the ARC was very busy.  Chip congratulated Kelly Foster, CEMA, for an excellent hurricane conference.  He advised that critical workforce shelters were being finalized – W. Chatham Complex/Middle and Elementary Schools will be used for assets storage.

 

Greg Reilly, introduced Shane Faux who will be the future VOAD representative for the USCG.  The USCG will be publishing an area contingency plan for oil spills on their website.  The only time an alternate method may arise is when a private company responds since they can hire a coordinator to handle volunteers.  Otherwise, USCG prefers to use VOAD contact list.    Last year ConocoPhillips held a CG exercise and Mark Baggett was the liaison.  CG planned operations using VOAD logistics.

 Cedric Scott informed the attendees that Savannah Fire opened Station 11 (replacement) for Mohawk Station at Mohawk and Apache.  They have a new Haz Mat (Hazardous Materials) vehicle with advance computer and photography capabilities which was purchased by grant funds from the port security and is housed at Station 6 (Liberty).  They are working closely with the Coast Guard.

Greg advised the group that the program Cedric is referring to is a FEMA grant program headed by Jonathan Smith – contact readiness/port recovery – he will send link to Pam.  Modest proposals are under $10,000.  The USCG makes recommendations as to whom they believe should get the grants.  VOAD could come up with project and ask for grant.  For example, VOAD could have a panel on community disaster education –(need to be a wise use of grant money).

Linda James reported that the Salvation Army had a National Hurricane Awareness Tour – 500 students attended (but none in Chatham Co.) and it was a success.  Mark was VOAD representative and said it was a valuable exercise.  SA had additional staff attend an EOC workshop– they are emphasizing cross training.

 Sharyn reported that ARC sent volunteers to Alabama and North Georgia to work the tornados.  ARC and other non-profits were overwhelmed there with a tidal wave of unsolicited donations and volunteers who just showed up to help. Critical resources were being redirected from the important work of response and relief to managing what became a crush of unneeded donated items.

 A good project for VOAD would be to educate the public on how to donate or volunteer when disasters strike.  Sharyn gave Pam the brochure: “When Disaster Strikes…How to Donate or Volunteer Successfully – from FEMA – to scan and send to members.  She also provided a list of National VOAD members which listed the roles each agency provided in the different phases of the Emergency Management Cycle – which organizations handle mitigation/preparation (before disaster)/response and recovery.

 VOAD needs an organization that funnels the volunteers.

 Trudy said that she and Shirley Sessions have a Call Center 24-hr a day that rolls over to Atlanta – they are the managers of volunteers.  She indicated that they have job descriptions on their website-Hands on Savannah for volunteers.  They don’t know what their role is in VOAD and would like to work with Sharyn to find out.

 Special volunteers are needed when people come back after disasters (re-entry).

Linda stated that CEMA is one point of entry

Mark Baggett said that a warehouse exists in Savannah that has 1,000 cases of bottled water on hand – he and Linda have the keys.  Also, GA Regional Hospital  has medications and paper trail (work with Gateway).  Everyone should have 5 days of medication on hand.   Atlanta has a data base of the homeless.

 Greg announced that the USCG will have an oil spill exercise on July 21^st – please check their website.

 Chip thanked the Salvation Army for the lunch and reminded everyone that the next meeting is August 2^nd.

 

 

August 2010

VOAD Minutes, 24 August 2010 – Salvation Army Headquarters

(prepared by Pamela Terekhova, American Red Cross)

Present:   Sharyn Baggett (Secretary of VOAD), Red Cross, Mindy Saunders, Homeless Authority (standing in for Mark Baggett), Enoch Dumas, CAT, Chip Grefski, (President of VOAD),Chatham County Board of Education, Lynette Jones, The Salvation Army, Carolyn and Hew Lipscomb, Adventist Community Services of South Georgia, Ann Nelson, Goodwill, Andrew Wall, Goodwill, Pam Terekhova, Red Cross, Clayton Scott, CEMA, Tabeter Robinson, Goodwill, Kim Fritz, United Way, Allison Ward, Lutheran Disaster Relief

President Chip Grefski (Chatam County Board of Education) opened the meeting and a wonderful lunch was served by the Salvation Army.

Clayton Scott (CEMA) passed out an excellent brochure/handout entitled  Emergency Planning and Response, Risk Manager, Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity from the Journal of Emergency Management.

Minutes from the July VOAD Meeting were distributed by Secretary Sharyn Baggett, reviewed, corrected and  approved.

Old Business No agenda was distributed and President Chip Grefski opened the floor to old business.  Chip reminded the committee that the CCBE (???) is planning a county wide (Savannah and Garden City) hazardous materials release exercise and invited all organizations to participate.  Unfortunately SCAD students will not be involved.  Schools in this area will be affected but not directly involved.  This event takes place on October 27 from  10a – 1p (volunteers working from 9am – 2pm).  Adult volunteers are especially needed.  Kim Fritz will post a request for volunteers on the United Way website.  The exercise will be filmed and evaluated with a review and feedback to all interested a few days after the exercise.  A planning meeting will take place on September 9 from 10am in Room 103 at the Board of Education and everyone is invited to attend. The Salvation Army has agreed to provide the food for the exercise.  Red Cross will work with the Board of Education School Counselors to provide mental health assistance for the exercise.

New Business  –President Chip Grefski (Chatam County Board of Education)  reported that school will be starting in a few days and the Passport to Excellence program is in full affect with many schools changing such as Georgetown to K-9 and Isle of Hope K-7.      A new elementary (K-8) has opened in Pooler – Godley Station off Benton Road.  The Campus Police are up to full strength.                                                                                                                                                       Sharyn Baggett (Red Cross) introduced Pamela Terekhova, as Red Cross Community Partners Liaison for VOAD.  She reported that the Red Cross is suffering from a decrease in funding which has led to budget and staff cuts.  Also, sheltering and feeding demands for an additional 30,000 – 35,000 people in the new areas that their chapter now is responsible for.    Red Cross has invited Coalition of Volunteer Administrators (COVA) to VOAD to help the other member organizations in the distribution of  the many new volunteers needed to help with the workload.  The Red Cross is helping to put together another VOAD in Brunswick, September 1, 2010 at 11:00 am at the Glynn County Health Department.

Pamela Terekhova  (Red Cross) suggested that the Red Cross would post information on VOAD and meetings on their website in the future.  Kim Fritz (United Way) then announced that the United Way already has VOAD set up on their website but it hasn’t been updated in over a year.  Pamela and Kim will work together to develop the VOAD website and bring it up to date and Red Cross will only post a link directing people back to United Way VOAD website.

Mindy Sauders (Homeless Authority) is reporting for Mark Baggett.  They have received bottled water which is ready for sale.  They received a grant from HUD for rental assistance to homeless – Homeless Prev. Rapid Re-housing.         

Ann  Nelson (Goodwill) reported that their CEO is leaving for Orlando and they will know who their new CEO will be in the near future. 

Tabeter Robinson (Goodwill), was introduced as being the Program Manager for Open the Doors for Vets.  In 2-3 weeks they will kick off Operation Open Doors for VETS – assist in locating housing and mental health needs.    

Andrew Wall  (Project Manager, Goodwill) advised the group that Goodwill has exceeded their goal for the United Way campaign.

Enoch Dumas – (Chatham Co. Transit/CAT) explained that they supply buses to relocate people to safety during disasters.  During a national disaster they take authority from CEMA and take people to the Savannah Civics Center – they are limited in their service to Garden City. 

David Hawk – Medical Reserve Corp) stated that their group has 20 critical care nurses and paramedics that can be utilized for disasters.  It has been quiet so far this year.  They are helping CEMA with a wilderness training class.        

Kim Fritz (United Way) announced that she is working on the Hands on Savannah project.  From Sept. 18 – October 2 they will be distributing information to the public on events and activities of difference organizations and looking for volunteers to help with these events.  She invited all of the VOAD organizations to send her specific programs/events needing volunteers.  COVA will hold a workshop at the new library near the Savannah Mall on October 20 from 10:30am – 3:00pm.  Flyers will be distributed shortly giving more information.  All are invited.

Allison Ward  (Lutheran Disaster Relief) –They live in Thunderbolt and it is a first visit to VOAD meeting.  Allison reported that they have people on the ground in Savannah to help with disaster relief. Their function is to connect, prepare and help congregations plan for disasters.                                                                                                                   

Clayton Scott (CEMA) – announced that they have hired two new highly qualified specialists (Jennifer Rodriguez, Emergency Manager, and Kelly Foster, Public Information Officer) to their team.  He advised that their team members are each assigned four Emergency Support Functions (set by the government) and that they rotate these assignments for cross training purposes.  This approach is very beneficial.  Kelly Foster will be the CEMA VOAD representative.  Clayton reported that they have two teams of 12 certified people with advanced training for search and rescue operations.  Police are not trained to do this type of search and rescue and it is not a priority of the Fire Department, so this service is very valuable to the community.   Clayton also recommended to all members that their organizations should develop a COP – Continuity of Operations Plan – if they haven’t already done so.  Please contact him to receive a copy of templates to help your organization put together this type of plan.

Carolyn and Hew Lipscomb, Adventist Community Services of South Georgia, commented that people should understand that the Adventist Community Services of South Georgia is separate from the church.  They have a Memorandum of Understanding with the Red Cross and other organizations to provide warehouse services to store donated goods.  They also operate the warehouse and are governed by GEMA in national disasters.                              Clayton asked which organization provides cleaning supplies for post disaster?  Where is the point of distribution?  Sharyn said that Red Cross provides cleaning supply kits. Clayton suggested to Chip and Sharyn that they develop a mission statement and revise the bylaws to include this statement.  A depth chart/matrix should be developed and available for all VOAD member organizations showing the functions and quantifiable depending upon each organization ‘s resources (staff, budget, materials).    

Chip and Sharon stated that VOAD Vice President Bucky Johnson (YMCA) is presently working on revising the Bylaws.  Chip agreed that a Playbook should be put together and Sharyn suggested that the IS 288 Form be used to gather the needed information from each organization.  The CEO needs to sign off on this form.  Kim Fritz suggested that the form be formatted in such a way as to make it easy to fill out on line.  Pam volunteered to send out the form to all member representatives as soon as it has been created with a cover e-mail explaining the process by Chip and Sharyn.  

Pamela Terekhova (Red Cross) also volunteered to send the VOAD meeting attendance sheet listing VOAD member organizations to all representatives asking them to update their organization’s information and also to send recommendations for prospective VOAD members to her.                           

Lynette Jones (The Salvation Army), working to provide housing for 600 veterans by September 14^th. After that they will begin to prepare for the Christmas season.  They are working with United Way to help families with bills over $3,000 to begin again – Fresh Start Program.  Kim stated that the deadline for acceptance of applications has past and they are currently reviewing to determine who will receive the funds.

Sharyn thanked Lynette for the use of their excellent facilities for VOAD meetings.  Meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:30pm.