Staff Writer
HOULTON — October marked the first time Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) held meetings in northern and southern Maine. Empowering Life, a Houlton resource and counseling center, hosted the northern Maine meeting October 9. Some 26 visitors from government, law enforcement, churches and voluntary, non-profit agencies attended to learn more about VOAD’s work in addition to getting a progress report on flood relief in northern Maine. “Yes FEMA comes in, yes the state government, the local EMA comes in, but, what happens many times when all that assistance is drawn out already, when all that assistance is gone, when the insurance company money is gone, who do you look to? And typically, it’s the volunteer organizations,” said Bob Van Deventer, co-chair of VOAD’s southern region in Maine. Explaining how VOAD assisted flood victims, Van Deventer went on: “When we go in and clean out a home, there’s no charge for that.”
When disaster strikes
From mobilizing chain saw crews to distributing water and tearing out drywall that had started to get moldy, Van Deventer says the low-profile volunteer organization relies on inter-personal and inter-agency contacts to assist victims devastated by disaster.
Bret Peterman, a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Caribou said volunteers from the South and the Southwest needed a place to stay when they came to Maine to assist with cleaning mud out of houses. His pastor opened up the church so the volunteers would have a place to stay. Peterman attended the VOAD meeting to keep the relationship going.
Dale Flewelling of Empowering Life said: “It’s impressive, the amount of volunteerism that people provide in Aroostook County .… My concern for us at Empowering Life and possibly others is are we prepared for a disaster?”
Dixie Shaw, program director for Catholic Charities Maine, a food bank that distributes to 22 food pantries in Aroostook County, was among those who attended the October meeting and had helped with St. John Valley flood relief in the spring. The floods were her first experience with VOAD and she said the October meeting was helpful in reinforcing the VOAD relationship as well as exchanging information with colleagues in service agencies.
She added that the only way her organization can help is getting food to people and last spring her trucks were better suited to navigate the roads than huge tractor trailers. “You know when there’s a disaster, people have got to be fed. There’s people who have been displaced, there’s volunteers coming into a community, they’ve got to have food and they’ve got to have water.”
VOAD local and national
Brent Trueworthy, Maine VOAD co-chair, said the group is both local and national, depending on the need. He said his disaster relief work includes going into areas affected by Hurricane Andrew, 9-11, Hurricane Katrina and, for the last three years, flooding in Aroostook County. He said the meeting was intended to support better cooperative and coordinating efforts among groups.
Michelle Cyr of United Way gave an update on flood relief and case management services from late July after FEMA left the area. She said residents in one building for the elderly had to be relocated because the building cannot be saved. Residents in another needed space heaters because the furnace was not working. Due to the devastation of the flooding, casework work will continue.
