Category Rev. Heidi’s Blog

The Maui fires in August 2023 deeply affected all of the Hawaiian islands. PDA and Pacific Presbytery met with our churches and pastors on O’ahu and Maui in person and online in the fall of 2023. We returned to ‘Oahu…

PDA and Pacific Presbytery are here for long haul in Maui. And we are doing and will continue to do exactly that–listen, learn, coordinate, cooperate, collaborate, communicate, and accompany. It is the local community–not people from the outside–that recovers from a disaster.  I am grateful…

They shared around the table that one of the biggest challenges is partners who do not think to coordinate with the Hawaii VOAD. This is trouble for them locally. Efforts are duplicated and inappropriate responses are the direct result of…

VOADS are coalitions of agencies coming together. For our VOAD meeting, those present were: The Red Cross, Salvation Army, Hawaii Baptist Disaster Relief, the United Church of Christ, Americorp, and the Chair and Vice Chair of the Hawaii State VOAD.…

Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters. There is a National VOAD and state VOADS, like the Hawaii VOAD. VOADs are coalitions of faith-based, government and non-profit organizations that come together to collaborate and coordinate to make disaster work more effective and to avoid duplicating…

I began the morning heading into the heart of Diamond Head in Honolulu to join Rev. Edwin Gonzalez-Castillo, Director of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, and Elder John Toillion, Elder at Mililani Presbyterian Church in a meeting with several representatives of the…