NORWICH – Representatives from volunteer agencies and churches throughout the county met at SUNY Morrisville’s Norwich Campus Thursday to establish a long term recovery plan for Chenango County after the late June flooding. The summit was headed by Elizabeth Monaco of the Chenango United Way and George Betz from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The group, consisting of representatives from Chenango Memorial Hospital, Catholic Charities, The Red Cross, The Girl Scouts of America, Mental Health, and countless other agencies, listened as Betz laid out a plan for collaboration. Betz said after a disaster, the best way to help the community is to work together. He encouraged the group to put together a volunteer organization active in disaster, or VOAD.

“A disaster starts in the community, and it ends in the community,” Betz said. FEMA aids in the recovery, but there are still unmet needs, and that is where the VOAD comes into play.

The purpose of the VOAD is to pool the resources of the different organizations in the community. By creating a long term recovery committee, groups of organizations are able to come together with a common goal. Betz compared the VOAD to a poker table.