Pay it forward: volunteers make the difference Local municipalities learn “secrets” to earning FEMA matching dollars Connie Lewis Assistant External Affairs Officer Federal Emergency Management Agency Lacey, Washington
In the January 2009 flood, the small town of South Prairie in east Pierce County was inundated by mud. A local high school initiated an MLK Day service project for its students. Coordinating efforts with the mayor, nearly 75 kids showed up to be a “mud brigade,” shoveling mud out of critically needed roadways, buildings, and the town’s only fire station driveway. Volunteers are the lifeblood in any community—but more so in those communities struck by swirling floodwaters, damaging mudslides or landslides slamming over roadways, compounded by ice, heavy snow, and rain. Citizens can do double duty. Not only are they working amidst disaster, they are also “paying it forward” by offsetting some of the unanticipated and unbudgeted emergency costs today swamping affected cities and counties. The time citizens and volunteer groups spend sandbagging, clearing debris from clogged drains, taking and logging calls, staffing warming centers, and many other duties may be an “allowable reimbursement under FEMA Public Assistance programs,” according to the state’s Emergency Management Division (EMD) Public Assistance Program Manager Gary Urbas. “But volunteer efforts need to be organized and documented correctly. The sad thing is that many states throughout the country do not even apply for donated resources.”
96 APWA Reporter
August 2012
At least two Washington counties, Pierce and Snohomish, found a bright spot in a declared disaster recovery process: the tracking and documenting of volunteer worker efforts, generally called “Donated Resources.” This process has nearly reimbursed the applicant for its share of matching funds required by FEMA Public Assistance Programs for declared disasters. For South Prairie, according to Barbara Nelson, Pierce County’s neighborhood emergency team (PC-NET) liaison, “we sent the town forms for documenting the sign-in and sign-out of each of these kids. They collected permission slips from parents, and the County was able to count those substantial volunteer hours toward reimbursement.” This one volunteer effort brought nearly $11,000 in funding to the town of South Prairie. Pierce County’s organized volunteer efforts resulted in a $29,000 donated resources reimbursement request. Once a presidential disaster declaration is issued and damages are documented, FEMA can provide up to a 75 percent cost reimbursement for eligible projects. State and local entities then must come up with a 25 percent shared cost match. “We are submitting a Donated Resources claim for $12,000 to FEMA for this current declared disaster (January 14-23, 2012),”
says Richard Schroedel, Pierce County’s Department of Emergency Management (DEM) program coordinator. “If approved, this may again provide for full reimbursement of DEM’s Emergency Operation Center (EOC) operational costs—and may provide for additional coverage to offset other emergency work provided.” During a 2009 disaster declaration, Pierce County utilized roughly $29,000 in volunteer time that provided an additional $21,000 in federal funding. This assisted the DEM in receiving full reimbursement of its EOC operational costs (roughly $122,000) during that disaster. They also received donated resources reimbursement funding (approximately $6,000) for documented volunteer hours which was applied to offset another department’s unbudgeted and unanticipated emergency disaster work. “Our contribution of donated resources generally allows us to meet our local match requirement and be eligible to receive additional funding to cover our emergency work costs,” said Veronica Hill, Pierce County’s DEM administrative program manager. The current Washington disaster, January 14-23, 2012’s severe winter storm, left in its wake 11 counties with damaged roads, trees, power lines, debris, equipment, and more—
