Community Resiliency

• Help to create a more resilient community by creating disaster mitigation plans using the 4 C’s of VOAD: Cooperation, Communication Collaboration, Coordination;

• Help share approved information from OEM, County, City, Public Health, 2-1-1 before, during, and after disasters;

• Help connect partners to other organizations to find collaborative solutions to local problems by matching existing resources to known needs;

• Help partners coordinate response activities after a disaster under the guidance of local Emergency Management leadership;

• Help individual agencies to improve their own resilience to disasters by providing regular free trainings, long & short-term disaster document workshops, and exercise scenarios to practice disaster response within zero-risk circumstances.

• Organize and Mobilize a Multi-Agency Resource Center (one-stop shop for disaster survivor resources) at the direction of Emergency Management;

• Support the Volunteer Subcommittee in establishing a Volunteer Reception Center (Gryphon Place 211 is the designated Volunteer Center manager) should one be requested by local Emergency Management;

• Distribute verified service information (sheltering, feeding, etc) in accordance with the incident’s Public Information Officer;

• Assist with coordinating a physical space to collect, audit & distribute material resources and volunteer assistance;

• Assist with coordinating volunteers & tracking inter-agency case management through Crisis Cleanup.

• Direct Service Provision [i.e. Feeding, Sheltering, Case Management, Supply Distribution]: As a collaborative, inter-agency committee, the Consortiums do not provide any direct services as we do not have logistical capacity to do so. However, we assist our partnered agencies with getting networked to other service providers in the area to help meet their needs.

• Financial Management [i.e. Funding Grant Distribution, Acting as a Fiduciary]: The County Response Consortiums do not manage or distribute grant funding, nor are they able to collect or allocate financial donations. Should circumstances arise where fiscal donations are necessary to respond to a critical incident, the Consortiums will help organize tracking and record keeping methods with community organizations such as the Kalamazoo Community Foundation or United Way of South Central Michigan's Disaster Relief Fund.

VOADs are collaborations of government, private, non-profit, faith based, grassroots, and other community organizations that work to reduce direct strain on Emergency Management and First Responders before, during and after disasters. Member agencies regularly meet together to coordinate cooperative responses to local crises, and to share information & resources throughout each stage of the disaster cycle. Although the County Response Consortiums housed with Gryphon Place 211 are locally focused, they are networked with VOADs at both the state and national levels to improve responses to larger incidents impacting multiple jurisdictions. For a more in-depth overview of VOADs, visit the National VOAD center website.