Volusia Interfaiths/Agencies Networking in Disaster, or VIND, is a Long Term Recovery Organization.
Volusia: We only work in Volusia County, Florida. All donations of money, materials and volunteerism stay right here in our own community.
Interfaiths: Many of our resources come from faith-based groups locally and nationally. We are based on faith, but those we assist are not discriminated against whatever their faith may or may not be.
Agencies: VIND works with governmental and not-for-profit agencies, such as Emergency Management, United Way, American Red Cross, FEMA, Center for Business Excellence, to name just a few. Many are represented on VIND’s board of directors.
Networking: VIND networks daily with all types of individuals, organizations, and businesses on behalf of our clients to maximize the services that are offered and to avoid duplicating services. We also network with other Long Term Recovery Organizations around the state and country.
In Disaster: VIND’s mission is to assist residents who have been impacted by a community disaster and have unmet needs. Currently, funding is only available for those impacted by declared disasters, but it is VIND’s dream to include personal disasters, such as house fires.
Long Term Recovery: Long Term Recovery does NOT MEAN it takes a long time for us to help, it means that often disaster related problems take a long time to surface! And Long Term Recovery Organizations stay to assist survivors long after emergency responders, American Red Cross, FEMA, and insurance companies have come and gone.
That is a little about what VIND is and what VIND does, but why does VIND do it? In 1998, incredible wildfires swept the State of Florida. In Volusia County alone 137,000 acres of forest were destroyed, threatening 29,000 homes and injuring 10 firefighters. It became evident to community leaders that there were many ways in which the survivors of the disaster would remain victims without some assistance. VIND was born out of these discussions and received its 501(c)3 non-profit status in 2002.
Much focus in Florida is on hurricanes and wind storm damage. In 2004, Volusia County suffered through three hurricanes in a row and in 2009 VIND is still assisting families whose homes were damaged by those storms. However, Volusia County has been struck by two declared disasters from tornadoes in 2006 and 2007 and a flooding disaster from a tropical storm named Fay in 2008. VIND also assists with the emotional and spiritual needs of survivors, recovery workers, and volunteers.
DISASTER VICTIM --> SURVIVOR --> THRIVER
VIND participates in educating the community about disaster preparation, recovery methods, and mitigating (which means preventing) damage.
Whether a disaster is caused by wind, fire, flood, ice or earth tremors; there is no citizen of the world who is not a potential disaster victim. Find out if there is a Long Term Recovery Organization near you.
Thank you for taking the time to find out about us! What can you do to help?
DONATE, VOLUNTEER, and PRAY!!!