Disaster aid agencies uniting to cut red tape

Disaster aid agencies uniting to cut red tape: "Disaster aid agencies uniting to cut red tape
Thursday, November 03, 2005
By PATRICIA C. McCARTER
Times Staff Writer patriciacm@htimes.com

FEMA officials help groups here set up consortium

Local charitable agencies already communicate with each other to help out the needy, but there's a better way to do it.

By combining officially as a Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) agency, they can ease the paperwork disaster victims fill out and have immediate information about available resources when a catastrophe strikes. Plus, with a VOAD in place, they can be one step closer to being eligible for federal funds."