Through the coordination of West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (WV VOAD), a group of about a dozen volunteers will spend a week helping repair homes for flood survivors in Kanawha and Clay counties.
Ten to 12 volunteers with Brethren Disaster Ministries, a WV VOAD member agency, will arrive Sunday from Pennsylvania.
They will spend next week making repairs to five homes that were damaged during the June 2016 flood. The flood, declared a federal disaster, left 23 people dead and more than 3,000 homes around the state damaged or destroyed. WV VOAD and its member agencies have rebuilt homes in all 11 counties where flood damage occurred, and repairs are ongoing.
The volunteers will be working on homes in Clay, Procious, Hartland and Bomont in Clay County and in the Clendenin area of Kanawha County. They will be doing everything from painting and cabinetry work to installing drywall, bathroom fixtures and flooring.
Flood survivors whose homes are being repaired have been assisted by case managers with the Disaster Case Management Program administered by WV VOAD. Case managers have worked with families in many counties since flood recovery began to identify and prioritize the most pressing needs. WV VOAD and its many member agencies have collaborated to secure funding, materials and labor to build new homes or to reconstruct those that could be repaired.
Brethren Disaster Ministries has a network of volunteers who repair or rebuild homes for disaster survivors around the country. Trained project leaders help instruct and coordinate volunteers before and during site work.
The organization has worked closely with WV VOAD and with long-term recovery committees in several West Virginia counties to help survivors recover and rebuild after recent floods. Brethren Disaster Ministries also has an active role in the WV VOAD Bridge Project, which works to rebuild private bridges that were damaged or destroyed during flooding.
“We appreciate the dedication and hard work that Brethren Disaster Ministries has shown West Virginia,” WV VOAD Executive Director Jenny Gannaway said. “They have been a vital part of the rebuilding efforts around the state. The efforts of this group of volunteers will result in helping more families in Clay and Kanawha counties get back on their feet and back in safe, secure and sanitary housing.”
WV VOAD is a humanitarian association of independent organizations that may be active in all phases of disaster. Its mission is to identify unmet needs and facilitate efficient streamlined service delivery to those imperiled or impacted by disaster while eliminating duplication of effort through cooperation, coordination, communication, collaboration in the four phases of disaster: preparation, response, recovery and mitigation. West Virginia is a member of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.
