Parker Lane UMC opens doors to VOAD

By Elaine Acker
Pets America Partnership CEO
Tornadoes and floods hit Central Texas hard in 1997 and 1998. But amid the damage and chaos came a new sense of fellowship and collaboration.
“Community churches and business leaders banded together to assist those in need,” said Fritz Parker, one of two Austin District disaster-response coordinators.
That shared experience soon grew into Central Texas’ first VOAD—or Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.
Nationally, the VOAD movement began with a Washington meeting in 1970. Seven organizations laid the foundation for what would later become a network of organizations dedicated to a coordinated response to disasters. VOAD members—nationally and regionally—meet each disaster challenge through the four core values of cooperation, communication, collaboration and coordination.


When VOAD is most successful, it eliminates duplication of services, while identifying and addressing unmet needs.
With help from Parker and Myrna Kepford, the other district disaster-response coordinator, Parker Lane UMC, Austin, opened its doors to the Central Texas VOAD, hosting an important new era in disaster response.
For the past eight years, the church has been the hub of VOAD activity, and membership has grown from five or six organizations to more than 40 nonprofit agencies, churches, and city and county emergency response departments.
Toni Silver is the current president of the Central Texas VOAD and volunteers as the American Red Cross liaison to voluntary agencies.
“VOAD is about people coming together to take care of their community,” Silver said. “And we owe a debt of gratitude to Parker Lane UMC. They’ve opened their doors to us and have never asked for anything in return. That’s a huge gift to Central Texans.”
For more information visit www.petsamerica.org.