Volunteer Mobilization Centers
A Volunteer Mobilization Center is a center where spontaneous, unaffiliated volunteers offering help would be interviewed, registered and assigned to emergency/disaster related volunteer duties requested by agencies in Frederick County.
Why is a Volunteer Mobilization Center needed?
In a disaster, large numbers of untrained volunteers who have no connection to disaster relief agencies come forward to help. These volunteers can become a problem unless there is a designated place where their time and talents are efficiently and effectively linked with disaster relief and recovery efforts.
After the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, in 2001, thousands of spontaneous, unaffiliated volunteers appeared in Manhattan alone. In some cases their presence hampered first responders and hindered recovery efforts. Many volunteers became frustrated due to little or no direction. This added confusion caused, in some cases, further delay in rescue efforts. Volunteer Mobilization Centers will:
- Help save valuable time.
- Ensure that urgent community needs will be addressed in a timely manner.
- Lay the foundation to rebuild our community.
Why is Volunteer Frederick organizing Volunteer Mobilization Centers?
Mobilizing volunteers for disaster response is clearly a fit with the mission of Volunteer Frederick. In fact, every volunteer center that recruits and refers volunteers has the core competencies necessary to mobilize and deploy spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers in a disaster. Through an agreement with the Frederick County Office of Emergency Management, Volunteer Frederick and its Retired and Senior Volunteer Program are responsible for the establishment of a Volunteer Mobilization Center in Frederick County in the event of a disaster.
Who staffs a Volunteer Mobilization Center?
Trained community volunteers and community volunteer managers will staff VMCs. Teams of volunteers will be formed based upon geographic location.
When is a Volunteer Mobilization Center activated and how?
In the event of a natural disaster or emergency, the Frederick County Department of Emergency Management will activate a Volunteer Mobilization Center at the most appropriate sites depending on the location of the emergency.
Where will the Volunteer Mobilization Center be located?
Those sites have been pre-identified and confirmed. Depending on the event and the needs, we would open one location away from the emergency scene. We are working with a number of faith-based organizations that have expressed a willingness to offer their sites as potential volunteer mobilization centers. The currently identified sites are:
- Monocacy Valley Church
- Unitarian Universalist Church
- Myersville Baptist Church
- Catoctin View Seventh Day Adventist Church
- Brook Hill United Methodist Church
How will agency requests be received?
Organizations can pre-register their needs. Ideally, the Volunteer Frederick will have collected information in advance of the emergency from agencies likely to need volunteers. However, this information will need to be updated with details on time, place, supervision, etc. Also many agencies will not have anticipated disaster related needs, but may have them nevertheless. All pertinent information about agency needs will be collected and if possible, entered into a computerized database so it can be printed out in various forms. Agency requests, as needs develop or change, will be updated following the emergency. Agencies will receive VMC contact information.
In order to best fill the needs of everyone in the case of an emergency, you must register with Volunteer Frederick in advance. Please use the available Agency Needs Form and return to Volunteer Frederick so that your Agency requirements in the case of emergency may be better responded to.
If you have any questions, want more information or would like to schedule an Agency visit to help identify and register your emergency needs, please contact:
Stephanie Schepp (stephanies@volunteerfrederick.org) 301-663-5214 ext 4#Who does it help
First responders can fulfill their duties unhampered by (without) the added responsibility of managing untrained spontaneous volunteers. Spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers sent by the Volunteer Mobilization Center can work side by side with trained volunteers to expand the capacity of disaster relief and other community agencies. The ability of community-based organizations to respond to their constituents can be enhanced with the utilization of spontaneous volunteers. Community agencies can direct and place volunteers where most needed so that community response and recovery efforts will be more effective.
