Hi Everyone!
At our most recent Hawaii state VOAD meeting, one of our local members mentioned this document and suggested that everyone find it online and give it a read. It's called "Heralding Unheard Voices" and it was produced following the response to Hurricane Katrina. Here's part of the document summary as found on the Homeland Security site:
This project by the Homeland Security Institute (HSI) set out to analyze the role that faith-based organizations (FBOs) and secular nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) played in the aftermath of devastating Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. FBOs and NGOs took on a variety of important tasks with great effectiveness, and HSI believes that by studying their successes in providing shelter, food, and numerous services, the nation can become better prepared and able to respond to similar incidents.In their investigation, they found that FBOs and NGOs had a major beneficial impact during the dramatic hurricane season of 2005 because of their specialized approach to service, the partnering of the organizations to meet complementary needs, and the striving of their shelters to preserve family unity. The report expands on all these best practices, analyzes why they were effective, and from this analysis, concludes by making recommendations for all levels of government during disasters.
It's an interesting read and can be found here:
http://www.homelandsecurity.org/HsiReports/Herald_Unheard_Voices.pdf
