One of the benefits of living in Vermont is that we don’t have many large disasters like states in other parts of the country.  However, the result of this phenomenon is that when situations do occur, we also don’t have the same number of resources to respond that those states do.  Often the events that happen in Vermont are much smaller in scale than others across the country but the impact on our state is relatively much larger.  Historically we have many different incidents on record with the most prevalent being floods and winter storms, both of which present interesting response scenarios.  We have also had hazardous materials spills, wind storms, tornadoes, and the occasional tropical storm with tropical storm Irene being the last one that wreaked havoc around the entire state.

Regardless of the type of event, the needs of the people affected is the same no matter what size incident happens.  However, the needs often don’t warrant the response of many of the larger disaster response non-profits that specialize in mucking out, gutting, and cleaning homes; tarping roofs, performing minor construction work to restore access to homes, bridge rebuilding, and outside debris clean-up.

Many researchers have reported in their studies that faith-based organizations (FBOs) play a key role in disaster response all over the world and their involvement has been rising in the recent past. Different faith-based agencies respond differently to a particular disaster, while disaster response mechanisms differ greatly between faith-based and secular organizations. Faith-based organizations have strong roots in the community and have a good understanding of the priorities of the communities, making them an effective stakeholder in disaster response.  And FBO’s like Guardian Angel Ministries meet the needs of all people regardless of the individual’s or family’s faith or religious background.

Guardian Angel Ministries is in the throes of developing a program that will seek to hit some of the needs described in the beginning of this section “head on.”  We already have a Disaster Animal Response Team that supports people and their pets when there is the need to evacuate to a shelter during an emergency and now we are building an Emergency Response Team.  This team will be made up of trained leadership, that is well equipped, and well trained that can empower willing responders who are motivated by the suffering of others and want to engage in easing their pain and loss. Our goal is that Guardian Angel Ministries can provide a pathway that connects the needs of survivors with those who are looking for ways to help, in this case by providing muck, gut, tarp, cleanup, rebuilding, and debris removal support to those in need. 

Our team will provide leadership to volunteers that will support the disaster caused needs of individuals and families in Vermont by providing the following services:

• Mucking - Mucking is the removal of mud, muck, silt and other typically semi-solid material from a home, caused by water inundation. 

• Gutting - Gutting is the removal of damaged construction-related materials, including drywall, insulation, floorboards, paneling and     
              cabinets. 

• Cleaning

• Tarping

• Supporting Building and Repair of Homes

• Assistance with Debris Removal

• Personal Property Recovery

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and will support other volunteer teams as they do the same through the provision of a fully equipped tool trailer which we describe further below.