Maryland VOAD Newsletter

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

March | 2026

In This Issue

Maryland VOAD Quarterly Meeting - March 9t @ 10am
2026 Mid-Atlantic VOAD Conference Keynote & Entertainment
Maryland VOAD Partners Help Communities Prepare
Anne Arundel - Annapolis Spring CERT Basic Training
FREE OFFER: Demo CORE Software by Relief Compass
Groundswell - No Cost Resilient Maryland Feasibility Opportunity
FEMA National Training Center - March/April Schedule
Space Needed to Park Maryland VOAD Trailers
Upcoming Events
Facebook page

Maryland VOAD Quarterly Meeting

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Please join us Monday, March 9th at 10am for the Quarterly meeting.

Come out and join the conversation in person. We strongly encourage everyone to participate in person for this meeting. This allows for networking and building relationships that are crucial for our work together.

LOCATION:

Chesapeake Conference Center of Seventh-day Adventist

6600 Martin Rd. - Columbia, MD 21044

Attend in person to tour the new facility.

MEETING DOCUMENTS - Below is the link to the folder containing meeting documents. This folder contains:

The agenda
Minutes from the December Quarterly Meeting
The Treasurer’s report.

02 December 8 2025

ZOOM LINK - For those who have to attend virtually you can use the link below to join the meeting. We hope you won't need it.

To Join the Quarterly Meeting by Zoom

https://zoom.us/j/8672051054?pwd=K1ZsQ05PeDhxajNZaFlJRUdSS3FLZz09

Meeting ID: 867 205 1054

Passcode: 727250

One tap mobile

+13017158592,,8672051054#,,,,*727250# US (Washington DC)

Dial by your location

• +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

• +1 309 205 3325 US

• +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

2026 Mid-Atlantic VOAD Conference Keynote & Entertainment

Keynote Speaker: Jessica Vermilyeais, a seasoned program and project management leader and principal consultant of HaphakConsulting, LLC. She brings more than 20 years of experience in the disaster response and recovery community.

Jessica served more than a decade in leadership with Louisiana VOAD, guiding collaborative, cross-sector disaster recovery in a post-Katrina landscape. 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.

Jessica is also a contributing author to Practitioner Perspectives on Disaster Assistance Reform, a recent report from the Consortium for Emergent Disaster Resilience (CEDR) at Tulane University’s Disaster Resiliency Leadership Academy.

And we won’t mess up St. Patrick’s Day for you. We have a great Irish band for entertainment Tuesday evening

One Street Over is a 5-person Celtic roots band from Winchester, Virginia. Known for their dynamic blend of traditional and original tunes and ballads, their music weaves the rich sounds of vocals, Irish flute, fiddle, cello, bouzouki, mandolin, guitar, mandocello, and bodhrán.A troupe of young people will be with us to present some Traditional Irish step dance.

Maryland VOAD Partners Help Communities Prepare

Maryland VOAD member, Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church welcomes Govans-Boundary UMC in Baltimore City as the newest POD in the Conference disaster ministry.

These pre-staging areas hold cleaning buckets, hygiene kits, protective gear, tools, ramps and other supplies that can be deployed in times of need. Thanks to the American Red Cross they now have special needs cots and privacy screens. 18 pallets of resources were donated to the Annual Conference as the Red Cross closes the Gaithersburg warehouse.

Rev. Andre Briscoe, pictured left with POD Coordinator Linetta White, shared,

"We give thanks for our connection through the Annual Conference, and partnership with the Resiliency Hub Network of Baltimore City. Together we are better equipped to serve some of the most vulnerable residents in our community. This collaboration is a meaningful expression of connectional ministry and love in action."

These supplies were also shared with others in the Resiliency Hub Network to support ADA compliance and to better serve individuals with physical limitations.

Anne Arundel - Annapolis 2026 CERT Basic Training

CORE Software by Relief Compass

Relief Compass is offering Maryland VOAD Members and Partners an opportunity to experience CORE—their disaster donations management software, in a pilot program during 2026.

We are very grateful to Jérôme Lebleu and Relief Compass for making this very generous offer to Maryland VOAD participating organizations. Send an email to info@reliefcompass.com to express your organization’s interest.

Groundswell - No-Cost Resilient Maryland Feasibility Opportunity

Groundswell is offering a no cost feasibility assessment to help organizations explore whether their facility could function as a Community Resilience Center.

There is special interest in partnering with churches, community centers, clinics, schools, and food hubs located in: Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester counties.

To get involved:

Complete the interest form: forms.office.com/r/EuWpaPGUDZ
Learn more about the program: groundswell.org/resilient-maryland
Or reach out directly: ResilientCommunities@groundswell.org

Use this Program Flyer to help spread the word.

FEMA National Training Center Schedule - March/April 2026

FEMA NDEMU has vacancies in upcoming courses.

Review the schedule below and apply at:

https://training.fema.gov/generaladmissionsapplication/staticforms/startapplication.aspx

For questions and assistance please reach out to the MDEM training team at training.mdem@maryland.gov

Title	Dates	Email Contact
Procurement Under Grants - Course E0708	3/05 - 03/02/2026	fema-ms-branch@fema.dhs.gov
Exercise Design and Development - Course E0139	3/16 - 3/17/2026	Fema-emi-iemb@fema.dhs.gov
CERT Program Manager - Course E0427	4/2 - 4/3/2026	fema-ms-branch@fema.dhs.gov
Public Assistance Management for SLTT Personnel - Course E0376	4/13 - 4/16/2026	fema-emi-RandR@fema.dhs.gov
Mass Care/Emergency Assistance Planning and Operations - Course E0418	4/13 - 4/15/2026	fema-emi-RandR@fema.dhs.gov
Cooperating Technical Partners Seminar - Course E8241	4/13 - 4/16/2026	fema-emi-mit@fema.dhs.gov
Advanced Public Information Officer - Course E0388	4/20 - 4/24/2026	FEMA-NDEMU_PIO_Program@fema.dhs.gov
Understanding the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) - Course E0431	4/21 - 4/23/2026	fema-emi-RandR@fema.dhs.gov
Emergency Management Symposia with topic TBD - Course E3509	4/28 - 4/30/2026	NETCAdmissions@fema.dhs.gov.

Space Still Needed to Park Maryland VOAD Trailers

Can your organization help us by giving us space to park 1 to 3 trailers?

The American Red Cross has graciously given Maryland VOAD space to park our three trailers at their warehouse and logistics lot in Gaithersburg. However, they have lost FEMA funding that supported this facility. They are closing the warehouse necessitating us finding a different place to park the trailers.

Ideally, they would be parked in a fenced in area for security purposes—but this isn’t an absolute necessity. We need to find a new home by March.

If you can provide space please be in contact with either Bruce Morgenstern (bjmorgenstern@comcast.net) or Phil Huber (chairperson@marylandvoad.org).

DATES	Conference or Training Event	Location and Registration
March 9, 2026	Maryland VOAD Quarterly meeting	Chesapeake Conference Center of Seventh-day Adventist 6600 Martin Rd. Columbia, Md, 21044
March 16-18, 2026	2026 Regional VOAD Conference	Cacapon Resort Berkeley Springs, WV Registration is open!
March 21-22 & March 28-29	Anne Arundel-Annapolis Spring CERT Basic Training	Fire Training Academy 415 Maxwell Frye Road Millersville, MD 21108 Registration is open!
May 4-7, 2026	2026 National VOAD Conference Schedule At A Glance Hotel & Travel	The Peppermill Reno, NV
June 8, 2026	Maryland VOAD Annual meeting	Frederick County Emergency Management 5370 Public Safety Place Frederick, MD 21704
September 14, 2026	Maryland VOAD Quarterly meeting	Host Needed
December 14, 2026	Maryland VOAD Quarterly meeting	Host Needed

Visit, Like and Share - MDVOAD Facebook Page

Be sure to visit the MD VOAD Facebook page. While there, support our VOAD members by liking and sharing their content. This helps everyone reach broader audiences with our important message.

Newsletter Content

Do you have an update, event, or announcement to share with the rest of Maryland VOAD? Send your information and pictures to CommunicationsCoordinator@MarylandVOAD.org to be shared on our Social Media or by the 25th of each month to be included in the next newsletter issue.

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