News & Events

MA VOAD MEETING

Description: I continue to represent HOPE in MA VOAD. This meeting was a conference call. The next meeting in September will be in person. The MA Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) reported on their project to update their Resource Recovery Center planning documentation. A survey will be sent out to MAVOAD members to indicate what services they can provide in disaster recovery. As of this writing (6/21/19) delayed because the HOPE website event form was disabled until today, I have completed and returned this survey). MAVOAD is in the process of being reorganized and has new leadership. They tended to think of “emotional and spiritual care” in terms of faith-based organizations. So I have been gently helping broaden that perspective. Fortunately the MA Emergency Management gets it and has finally formalized a Mission Ready Package (MRP) for HOPE—a process which I started with them over five years ago. At the direction of Karen Hathaway, I have completed those documents and serve as the contact for that program, which will provide very adequate travel, airfare, meal and lodging reimbursement in the event of deployment by MEMA.