The Federal government’s role in a disaster focuses primarily on immediate response and providing impacted jurisdictions access to funds to help them handle the immense burdens a disaster brings. Government does not do long-term recovery for individuals and households. That role falls to community organizations and volunteers, often affiliated with National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs).
In the wake of the 2019 tornadoes a group of our community stakeholders set up a Long-Term Recovery Group to assist survivors. More than 2,100 families, both renters and homeowners, sought assistance. Forty-six percent of the homeowners we served were un- or under-insured. While FEMA and government resources supported our work, the average FEMA award to impacted families was $2,913 and not nearly sufficient to allow people to rebuild their lives. Volunteers and financial support through donations to The Dayton Foundation’s Greater Dayton Disaster Relief Fund made our region’s recovery possible.
When the tornadoes struck, volunteers from across the nation swarmed in to help with immediate response and stayed to help us rebuild. These volunteers contributed over 118,000 hours of their time to response and recovery efforts (a value of $3.3 million). VOADs from around the county set up host sites in local churches and lived in our community while they helped us rebuild. In addition, hundreds of individual donors and organizations contributed over $2.2 million to buy materials and to support a wide range of recovery needs. Without this assistance and generosity our community would still be devastated. This is how disaster recovery works – we are all interdependent and you can play a part in helping others recover.
Hurricane Ian’s wrath in Florida, Hurricane Fiona’s in Puerto Rico, and the floods and tornadoes in Kentucky are top of mind for many of us. If you’d like to assist those that have been impacted, I offer the following guidance:
Volunteering – If you’d like to volunteer for immediate disaster response work or longer-term repair/rebuild work you should engage with one of the National VOAD members or other organized and resourced group (nvoad.org). Many of these are faith-based, but you do not necessarily have to be a member of that faith community to join them. Military and first responders may find a great fit volunteering with Team Rubicon (www.teamrubiconusa.org/volunteer). Florida and Kentucky also both have local leads coordinating efforts (volunteer.volunteerflorida.org and kentuckyvoad.org).
Donating – Money is one of the most powerful tools in disaster recovery. The Dayton Foundation has provided guidance on reputable charities for recent disasters that can help you determine where your generosity will do the most good (daytonfoundation.org). VolunteerFlorida.org also has donation guidance. Please refrain from sending material donations that have not been specifically requested by an organization that is actively engaged in the region’s recovery work as unsolicited donations can overwhelm communities and be a hindrance to recovery.
Thank you to all that supported our community’s recovery and to those of you who will strive to help those more recently impacted. You make the world a better place.
Laura Mercer is the former Executive Director of Miami Valley Long Term Recovery Operations.
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