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United Way briefed commissioners on long-term storm recovery, saying volunteers and new grants have supported hundreds of households
Summary
United Way's Janelle Lamano told the board that coordinated volunteer mobilization, two major food drops, about 400 homes cleaned and roughly $700,000 in fundraising (including a large foundation grant) have supported Beltrami County's long-term storm recovery; she urged formal agreements and a COAD for future events.
Janelle Lamano of United Way updated the Beltrami County Board of Commissioners on May 31 about long-term storm recovery efforts following a major windstorm roughly a year earlier, describing community mobilization, fundraising and plans for sustained recovery.
Lamano said United Way's immediate response included mobilizing volunteers to support hospitals, food distribution and home cleanup: "We ended up having about a thousand volunteers in the first 3 weeks," she said, and the organization ran major food drops that served about 500 families each. She said Community Resource Connections handled more than 2,000 hotline calls and that the group completed cleanup of roughly 400 homes in the first months after the storm.
On funding and coordination, Lamano said United Way has raised about $700,000, including a large grant from the Northwest Minnesota Foundation for long-term storm recovery. She described steps the long-term recovery group has taken: hiring a disaster case manager, convening VOAD and COAD partners, prioritizing cases by vulnerability (elderly, disabled, single parents), and coordinating construction and chainsaw/debris work with volunteer groups and mission teams.
"We have 30 VOADs in the state of Minnesota," Lamano said, urging more formalized pre-disaster agreements. She said United Way would like an MOU or MOA with county agencies so volunteer and donated work can qualify for FEMA infrastructure or recovery matches in the future.
What commissioners asked and needs identified: Commissioners asked about partner organizations such as Justice North and logistics; Lamano said local and regional VOAD partners and a Lutheran Disaster Response training helped create the county-level long-term recovery committee. She said chainsaw/debris removal remains a high-volume need for the coming months and that additional volunteer labor and coordination would still be required.
Next steps: United Way plans to continue monthly long-term recovery meetings, refine priorities with the disaster case manager, pursue additional grants and pursue formal agreements with local government to streamline future responses.
