The March edition of the Maryland VOAD Newsletter is now available. Find it here and sign up to receive additional newsletters each month to your inbox.
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.
Missed the last Newsletter? Find it here!
Check out the upcoming events below:
| DATES | Conference or Training Event | Location and Registration |
| Dates vary by location | Central MD American Red Cross Training | Schedule and Registration |
| May 4-7, 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 |
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.
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. Eighteen (18) pallets of resources were donated to the Annual Conference as the Red Cross closes the Gaithersburg warehouse.
Rev. Andre Briscoe (pictured below) 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.
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
On behalf of our Board of Directors–Christina, Jenn, Thea, Bruce and myself, I want to thank all of our Members, Partners and Affiliates for the commitment you have made to work together over the past year. For the survivor families and individuals whose lives we have touch, I have seen first-hand, what an incredible difference we have made in their lives, and the hope that our cooperation, communication, collaboration and coordination has brought to them.
We have continued our support of the Eastern Shore Long-Term Recovery Committee’s work to elevate and repair 100 homes on the Lower Eastern Shore. We have supported the communities in the George’s Creek Valley of Allegany County when devastating floods ravaged many homes in May. We have helped these communities establish the Western Maryland Long Term Recovery Group and begin their work of helping survivors reach recovery. (At our Quarterly Meeting on Monday we will have time to review the work we have done together in the George’s Creek Valley.) We are on the cusp of putting the Maryland VOAD tool trailer into service, as we are securing the best supplier to spend our $25,000 raised for purchase of new tools. This list doesn’t include the myriad of responses many of you have made individually, that reflects positively on all of us.
We (Maryland VOAD) is made up of 60 organizations. It might seem to the outsider that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get that many organizations to work together. But, that simply is not my experience as one who is involved in this coordination. One of my great joys is what I experience as an extremely high level of commitment to work together for the good of the residents of Maryland. I believe this is our greatest achievement of this past year (and previous years)!
As this year comes to a close and we enter the most special of holiday seasons, I wish all of you and your families the best of celebrations and holiday gatherings. I look forward to our work together in 2026–knowing, unfortunately, there will undoubtably be much to do.
Holiday blessings to all!
Phil
The Church of the Brethren is announcing an open position for Program Assistant for Brethren Disaster Ministries – Children’s Disaster Services located at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, MD.
Applications will be received beginning immediately and will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Qualified candidates may send a cover letter and resume to COBApply@brethren.org.
Follow the link for more information: https://www.brethren.org/about/employment/
FURNACE REPAIR
Furnace assessment and repair is desperately needed as winter weather settles in and many families are without heat.
If you, or someone you know, can service electric or gas furnaces – we need your help.
Send an email with your contact information to:
CONSTRUCTION CREWS
Please begin recruiting volunteers to join construction crews to compete a variety of projects in support of survivors in Western Maryland.
For more information contact – ellen.udovich@gmail.com
Can you host the tool trailer in 2026? Your support helps to the raise funds needed to outfit the Tool Trailer and to increase awareness about Maryland VOAD.
Email Chairperson@marylandvoad.org if you are interested in hosting the trailer in a lot near you.
Maryland VOAD welcomes new members–spread the word. Join the movement today!
To request an application, send an email to membership@marylandvoad.org.
Check out the full list of our Current Members, Partners, and Affiliates.
October 30, 2025, Governor Moore signed an Executive Order 01.01.2025.21 declaring a state of emergency as an actionable step to deliver resources following the loss of SNAP and other economic benefits to Marylanders. Maryland Business Emergency Operation Center (MBEOC), and its partners, offer the following: