TGCRVOAD MARCH MEETINGS

MONTHLY MEETING March 3, 2008 at United Way of Greater Houston

Attendees:

Jennifer Posten---Interfaith

Roland Chambless—Salvation Army

Carol Flores---Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response

Carolyn Shell—Red Cross

Linda Walker—Adventist Community Services

Kathie Mann---Texas Methodists/UMCOR

Jason Chang---Tzu Chi Foundation USA

David Jobe---United Way 2-1-1

Misty Miller---United Way 2-1-1

Reagan Jacks---Victim Relief Ministries

Curtis Alexander---FEMA VAL

Mac Udoh---Asset Building Network

Glory Udoh---Asset Building Network

Monique Bennett---RST Americorps

Stan Edde---Houston Food Bank

Don Smithers---Fort Bend County Public Transit

Laura Stough---Texas A&M University

Gina Vincent---FDIC

Chris Norton---United Methodist Church

Ken Wang---Tzu Chi Foundation, USA

Tiffany Guillory---FEMA

Kimberly Allen---RST Inc Americorps

Business:

Jennifer announced several upcoming activities:

• T--Shirt orders are now being taken. Check your email or the website for ordering information. Please note that orders are to be MAILED to the address on the order form.
• FEMA is updating their library. Please consider sharing any new information from your agency for this project
• There will be a three day exercise at the end of April that all are invited to participate in through virtual communication
• Homeland Security is offering a workshop in March for faith based organizations
• The Texas state VOAD conference has moved to June

For more details on each of these events and other notices, please check the website

Program:

Many, many thanks to Linda Walker and Sandra Ray for our wonderful program this month. The information was invaluable.

            FEMA—Our FEMA VALs from Beaumont provided a FEMA 101 with lots of useful information, especially for those who may not be familiar with FEMA protocols following disaster. Thanks to Curtis Alexander and Tiffany Guillory for a great presentation.

            United Way 211— The VOAD got to hear about the 211 system in both Houston and Texas—how it works, what it can do and what it cannot do. We also learned the role of 211 in registering people for evacuation needs. The presentation was followed by a wonderful tour of the 211 call center. Thanks to Misty Miller and David Jobe for their presentation.

            Texas A&M University, Center on Disability and Development-- This was a presentation about how to keep in mind the needs of the disabled when planning for disaster. We also heard about current research on the effects of disaster on the disabled community and the work of Project REDD (Research and Education in Disability and Disaster).  We received lots of resources, including an acronym guide! Thanks to Dr. Laura Stough of Texas A&M University.

Again, this was an information packed meeting. The VOAD was presented with lots of resources and helpful information from some of our partners. We look forward to learning more at future meetings.

Next month:

Quarterly business meeting will be held Monday, April 7, 10:00 AM.  It will be hosted by The Salvation Army and they will provide lunch during our meeting.  Rolan Chambless is coordinating this and will let us know where the meeting will be held (watch for information on our website). Because Salvation Army will be serving lunch, please RSVP so that we can provide them with an accurate count for meals.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING  March 6, 2008 at Interfaith Ministries

Attendees:

Jennifer Posten

Roland Chambless

Carol Flores

Carolyn Shell

Linda Walker

Business:         

• Chris Fults has obtained our EIN for the IRS.  She has also identified Washington Mutual as the best place for our VOAD account.  The committee authorized her to pursue establishing that account.  The committee has also authorized Rolan Chambless, Carolyn Shell and Chris Fults to be signatories of said account once it is established.

• Fort Bend County has requested that we host a meeting at their Office of Emergency Management to boost interest in Fort Bend. The committee decided to offer to do that for our May meeting.

• Our April meeting will be both a Quarterly business meeting along with an education program provided by Salvation Army. We will meet at one of Salvation Army’s locations and lunch will be provided.
• There was general conversation about meetings over the summer. It was decided to continue to have a program each month throughout the year. Several ideas were presented for possible programs. Linda and Sandra will continue to plan those programs. They were commended for the great job they have done so far in providing meaningful programs for the VOAD monthly meetings.