To mobilize volunteers in the event of an emergency or disaster

Emergency Volunteer Coordinator:

Valeri Mihanovich (916) 447-7063 ext. 326

Email: vmihanovich@handsonsacto.org

Hands On Sacramento is a partner with the Sacramento Regional Office of Homeland Security and Sacramento Region Citizens Corps Council to coordinate volunteers during local disaster situations and ensure those wishing to assist are properly identified and utilized based on their skills.

Hands On Sacramento fills the following two roles in disaster response and recovery:

The Emergency Volunteer Center (EVC):  As our nation learned during Hurricane Katrina, a large-scale disaster can rapidly overwhelm the capacity of local response organizations. The silver lining is the volunteers, citizens—hundreds, possibly even thousands of them, depending on the scale of the disaster. These caring individuals can be deployed to help with disaster response and recovery and could have a major impact on how quickly and effectively the community recovers.

Many of these volunteers are not associated with any organized volunteer group. They just want to help. Many of them have needed skills, training or experience. So, where do they go? Who do they contact? How can they be dispatched to where they are needed?

When disaster strikes, Hands On Sacramento staff and volunteers from their Emergency Volunteer Corps, will be tasked with managing these volunteers at the Emergency Volunteer Center. The purpose of the EVC is to mobilize community volunteers by matching them with volunteer opportunities at government agencies and other organizations active in disasters. The EVC provides a place where volunteers—individuals and groups--can be effectively deployed and efficiently processed. The EVC registers volunteers and takes requests for volunteers. Volunteers are matched to these requests and referred to where they are needed.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Emergency Volunteer Corps, please sign up here. You will receive information about upcoming trainings and disaster drills where you can be a part.

Sacramento Region Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD): Hands On Sacramento is the coordinator for our local VOAD, a coalition of faith- and community-based organizations that assist with the needs of disaster victims when responding to disaster. Sacramento Region VOAD provides a more effective service and less duplication during times of disaster by getting together before disasters strike. This cooperative effort has proven to be the most effective way for a wide variety of volunteers and organizations to work together during a crisis.

If you are interested in Sacramento Region VOAD, please contact Valeri Mihanovich at vmihanovich@handsonsacto.org.