EDS COVID Response Update – February
The Salvation Army is recognized by federal, state and local governments as an organization able to provide relief services to areas impacted by natural or man-made disasters within the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Response Framework. The Army operates in three phases when responding to a disaster.
PHASE 1 – EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) ensures its own ability to respond quickly and efficiently to a disaster while working to partner with other disaster professionals and educate the public at large about how to prepare for an emergency situation.
PHASE 2 - IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY RESPONSE: Salvation Army EDS personnel and resources are deployed to provide critical resources to those impacted by disasters in coordination with first responders and emergency management.
PHASE 3 - LONG-TERM DISASTER RECOVERY: The Salvation Army works in collaboration with both government and non-government agencies to determine continuing long term and un-met needs, and seek to provide resources to those impacted, as they recover.
As The Salvation Army in CT & RI continues to support critical food needs in some areas, we are also beginning to focus more on the recovery phase for COVID-19. The Salvation Army Service Extension Emergency COVID – 19 Response is reducing its Food Box delivery program to address only the most vulnerable populations over the next three months which will allow locations to ease back into self-sufficiency.
The Ashford, CT Hub is slowing down slightly and evolving to adapt to the current need with the resources that are available. Over 85 volunteers have helped build food boxes at the Ashford, CT Hub. Well over 10,000 boxes have gone out of our HUB in Ashford to provide upwards of 350,000 meals to those in need. We are grateful to almost 100 volunteers who served at this HUB since the onset of COVID, doing their part to ensure that people would not be without.
The Salvation Army continues to partner with the Department of Agriculture, United Way 211, DoorDash, Community Resource Coordinators and the National Guard – the entire network of partner agencies supporting different food insecurity needs. The Salvation Army is currently providing emergency food boxes to 23 testing sites, and 3 pop-up testing sites, throughout the state of CT, and more sites are currently being sought to expand this outreach.
The Salvation Army coordination with DoorDash and Community Resource Coordinators (CRC’s), provides direct distribution to households of those who have tested positive and have been identified through contact tracing during their immediate two-week quarantine period.
The Salvation Army has arranged for two additional tractor trailer loads of emergency food boxes each week into CT - roughly 3,200 food boxes (73,500 meals). This program will continue through the end of May, which will total 85,000 food boxes.
EDS has also continued to respond to local fires and disasters throughout its work during COVID. This includes deploying our emergency disaster canteens (feeding units), supporting formal training exercises and providing mobile outreach to ‘at risk’ communities. One such mobile EDS outreach takes place through the Pawtucket, RI Corps, where meals are served in Pawtucket and Central Falls on Saturdays, and the last Sunday of the month in Providence.
Updated Stats through 02/07/2021
Connecticut:
Individuals Served- 205,519
Meals Provided- 2,613,031
Emotional Spiritual Care Given- 10,606
Volunteer Assistance- 5,017
Door Dash Deliveries- 4,639
Rhode Island:
Individuals Served- 53,348
Meals Provided- 961,107
Emotional Spiritual Care Given- 114
Volunteer Assistance- 2,880
Divisional Totals CT & RI:
Individuals Served- 258,867
Meals Provided- 3,592,138
Emotional Spiritual Care Given- 10,720
Volunteer Assistance- 7,897