March 16, 2026 at 1 PM ET to March 18, 2026 12:00 PM ET
| The Mid-Atlantic Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (DC, DE, MD, PA, and WV) invite you to join us for our annual conference. Our theme is: The Urgency of the 4C’s: The Importance of State and VOAD Relationships. The conference, designed to be interactive, will focus on the 4C’s (Collaboration, Cooperation, Communication, Coordination) as an important road map in the face of shifting Federal policies, as States and VOAD’s work together to identify the most critical service gaps and barriers to recovery, and how to address them. Jessica Vermilyea, Disaster Service Consultant at Haphak Consulting, LLC., will be the “tone setter and meaning maker” for the conference. She brings more than 17 years of experience as Executive Director of Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response. She served six years as Chair of Louisiana VOAD, leading collaborative disaster recovery in a post-Katrina landscape at the epicenter of national attention and need. Her humanitarian-focused expertise spans the full disaster cycle, including mitigation, preparedness, early response coordination, emotional and spiritual care, disaster case management, donations and volunteer management, survivor advocacy, and the development of effective, locally led long-term recovery programs. She has extensive experience working across nonprofit, faith-based, governmental, and private-sector environments, consistently championing community-driven solutions that strengthen local capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. Jessica is also the co-author of Practitioner Perspectives on Disaster Assistance Reform, a report from the Consortium for Emergent Disaster Resilience (CEDR) at Tulane University’s Disaster Resiliency Leadership Academy. The publication examines the challenges communities may face when responsibility for individual and household disaster assistance shifts from federal agencies—such as FEMA—to state or local systems. Our conference brochure includes information about the conference, the conference schedule, and Cacapon Resort State Park Lodge (location, amenities, and room rates). NOTE: Individuals need to make their own lodging reservations by calling (304) 258-1022. (Code: VOAD) If you are interested in being a conference sponsor, please click here. You must register for this event and make your room reservations by March 2nd in order to attend !!  Conference Location: Cacapon Resort State Park Lodge, 818 Cacapon Lodge Drive, Berkeley Springs, WV 25411 |
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The 2025 Conference Theme was Beyond Band-Aids: Dismantling Systemic Inequities that Fuel Disaster Vulnerability. The Keynote Speakers were Cassandra R. Davis, Ph.D., and Simona Goldin, Ph.D., professors in the Department of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Their research focuses on the environmental disruptions to communities, specifically the impact of natural disasters on low-income communities of color.
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View the 2024 Event Photographs here!
Pictured above are members of PAVOAD in discussion.