VOAD Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

VOAD Gets New Executive Director

Evan Conley will serve as the new executive director of the West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (WV VOAD), the organization announced Friday.

Conley served in the West Virginia Army National Guard and will now take leadership of WV VOAD after serving in roles across the state, including leading response efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and managing high-intensity operations supporting correctional facilities.

WV VOAD is a collaborative humanitarian association of independent organizations dedicated to serving communities in the state before, during and after disasters.

Evan Conley is taking the reins at West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.

*Courtesy Image*

Focused on the four phases of disaster — preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation — WV VOAD works to identify unmet needs and streamline services to individuals and families impacted by disaster.

“Evan stood out among the candidates in our search process due to his real-life emergency management experience,” said David Lumsden, chair of the WV VOAD Board of Directors. “His leadership skills, operational mindset and deep understanding of crisis response make him an ideal choice to guide our organization into the future and ensure that WV VOAD continues to play a critical role in disaster response across the state.”

After the devastating and deadly flooding that hit southern and central West Virginia in 2016, WV VOAD rose to prominence for helping families recover when the state seemed unable to get anything done. But after that, VOAD was involved in a controversy of its own, eventually leading to the resignation of the organization’s director in February of 2024. The national organization cut ties with West Virginia over these concerns.

Conley said it is an honor to lead WV VOAD and focus on local needs.

“In moments of crisis, the strength of our communities lies in our ability to come together,” he said. “I’m deeply committed to building strong partnerships, expanding our reach, and ensuring that no West Virginian faces disaster alone. Together, we will elevate our collective capacity to respond swiftly, compassionately, and effectively when our neighbors need us most.”

“Evan brings a unique blend of leadership and empathy — qualities that are essential for guiding an organization like WV VOAD,” Lumsden said. “He not only has the operational expertise to lead effectively, but also a deep understanding of what individuals and families endure during times of disaster. We’re confident in his ability to strengthen our mission and are excited to see how he will shape the future of this organization.”

W.Va. Flooding Long-Term Recovery Groups Remain Unfunded

West Virginia created the State Resiliency Office (SRO) in 2021 after devastating floods in 2016, to update the state’s decades-old statewide flooding plan and be better prepared next time. But the state legislature has not funded that plan nor its updates.

The director of the SRO Robert Martin told the Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding last month that the office has focused on grants and collaborations on smaller projects. One such effort was to support long-term recovery groups, local organizations that “encourage community participation and the pooling together of resources to get the most out of the recovery effort,” according to the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.

“We know that following 2016, long term recovery groups sprung up everywhere, and they existed for a number of years, but they’ve all fallen off,” Martin told the committee on Nov. 10. “There’s very few of them that exist today.”

One of those long-term recovery groups that fell off was in Greenbrier County. Twenty-three people died in the 2016 floods, 15 of whom lived in Greenbrier County.

“It breaks my heart on an almost daily basis to know that the group that I put five years of my life into doesn’t exist anymore,” Kayla McCoy, development director for the Greenbrier Long Term Recovery Committee from its start after the 2016 floods to its end in 2021, said.

“We organized really quickly, because we wanted to be able to capitalize on the national attention in the immediate aftermath of that flood, we understood that we had a narrow window to capture dollars and volunteers.”

The group provided supplies, connected community members with government and non government resources, and recruited volunteers to help rebuild the area.

“I think that as West Virginians and as Appalachians, we just get to work whenever there’s a problem before us, we roll up our sleeves and we dive right in,” McCoy said. “There was never this idea of somebody needs to do something. There was this sense of we are going to do something.”

And the group continued after the flooding and expanded to respond to other disasters. When the pandemic hit in 2020, the group was already organized, ready to host vaccine clinics and distribute groceries during the pandemic.

McCoy said that existing local infrastructure meant resources could quickly get to community members.

“I think it’s incredibly important that people who live in communities are affected by that, are affected by disaster, are the ones that are empowered with the tools that they need to recover from that,” McCoy said.

But those early funds stagnated and staffing was scarce. In 2021, the group dissolved.

However, McCoy continued in a personal capacity, for some time attending legislative flooding committee meetings. She says she is still concerned about flooding preparedness in the state.

“Because to pretend that West Virginia is not going to be repeatedly subjected to flooding events, and to choose, because it is a choice, because they have a plan in front of them that they can fund, to choose to deprioritize funding preparedness and mitigation efforts in areas of disaster recovery will directly translate to a loss of human life in West Virginia,” McCoy said. “If we don’t fund preparedness and mitigation efforts, people will die.”

She says she doesn’t know what it will take for proper funding to be in place for the next disaster.

“If 2016 didn’t place preparedness and mitigation efforts at the top of the prioritization list, I don’t know what could,” McCoy said.

FEMA has declared seven more flooding disasters in West Virginia since 2016. This year, the state saw severe flooding in April and August, when one person died in the Eastern Panhandle.

As for the State Resiliency Office’s efforts with long-term recovery groups, Martin told WVPB in an email Dec. 3 that a federal grant for the project “returned from review,” putting the effort on hold.

The Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding will meet again on Monday, Dec. 9.

VOAD Comes Under Financial Scrutiny During Legislative Interim Meeting

Financial funding matters around West Virginia Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) have been referred to the Committee on Special Investigations, the state Auditor and the legislative auditor.

This came after a back-and-forth discussion between Senate Finance Chair Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, and Jenny Gannaway, the executive director of the organization during the Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding meeting Sunday.

A video recently surfaced on the Facebook page ScoopSquad that appeared to show Gannaway directing employees to sell donated items for a tenth of their value to employees. Tarr also raised a number of concerns about employees taking donated items like patio furniture and fire pits home after making a donation to the organization. Tarr asked Gannaway if she had personally taken items to her home in Matewan, but she replied that they had gone to her home in Roanoke.

VOAD has been working in the state since 2016 doing flood relief projects like rebuilding bridges torn out by high water and raising and rebuilding homes. The organization gets its money through state and federal grant funding as well as corporate donations and grants.

Gannaway began the presentation to the committee detailing some of the organization’s recent work.

“Our goal after that was to build our capacity here in this state… we now have a shower unit that can be deployed within hours and six washers and six dryers,” she said. “We have currently built 169 bridges, 54 of those was used from using CDBG (Community Development Block Grants). And 115 of them was using private donations and donations that had came to West Virginia.”

Once Gannaway’s presentation was completed, however, Tarr began questioning the money that flows through the organization and how it was used.

“I’m sure you’re aware of videos and pictures that have come out that question some of the behaviors that you personally have had,” Tarr said.

Gannaway replied that she was aware of the video but had not personally seen it.

Tarr also asked about the organization’s hiring practices and the hiring of family members including Gannaway’s brother, great niece and great nephew-in-law without board approval.

Gannaway explained the hirings occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic when it was difficult to hire employees. She noted that the organization hired family members from several other employees.

“Looking back on that, that was probably something I would never do again. But at that time when we had to get things done,” she said.

Then Tarr asked questions about specific items that were donated but ended up at Gannaway and other employees’ homes.

“Did you take as your own seven pieces of items donated to VOAD? They were valued at $600 to $2,000, to write them off rather than record them as write offs as a way to not have to have them on the books as they went to your house,” Tarr asked.

“I did not say to write anything off,” Gannaway said. “We had permission to take donations for items that we could not give out to flood survivors. And I gave large donations for anything that I took that I might have given to someone.”

Gannaway also said she has since donated many of those items to other people. Tarr asked if that happened since the information about the items came to light and she said it was before.

Tarr also questioned her use of a VOAD rental truck, paid for using grant money, to transport approximately $4,000 worth of items from VOAD’s warehouse to her home in Roanoke.

“Was he on VOAD’s checkbook?” Tarr asked. “Did he pay for that rental truck with dollars or any dollars VOAD received?”

“The rental truck had been leased by West Virginia VOAD. And we did use that truck but also I did pay him to do what he done out of my own pocket,” she said.

Tarr also questioned giving certain VOAD employees “Hero” bonuses of more than $7,000 each including Gannaway.

“It was told to me from our CFO at that time that he had cleared this with our CPA and our auditor,” Gannaway said. “We had had employees working weekends and things and was not paid for those times.“

Gannaway said she could not recall how much her hero bonus was.

At the end of the meeting, Tarr put forth the motion to have the Committee on Special Investigations, the state Auditor and the legislative auditor review the state funds that have been given to VOAD for flood recovery work.

“In light of the discussion with Miss Galloway, I’m not convinced that the funds that went through VOAD were used appropriately. I’m not sure how much of that would have been state dollars with just even the recent appropriations, let alone what’s happened since 2016,” Tarr said. “Those state dollars that have been involved that were directly related to Miss Gannaway’s supervision, and probably the board as a whole, also should be referred to state Auditor. I’m pretty sure the state Auditor has not had a chance to look at especially these most recent funds.”

Localities Continue To Help With Floods, Looking For More Assistance

The Kanawha County Commission allocated more money to aid flooded communities and is working with state and local officials to secure more.

Fifty-thousand dollars was approved for West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, or VOAD, to help rebuild personal bridges that were destroyed in the flood. Executive Director Jenny Gannaway requested $40,000 but the commission decided to give more.

“We’ve got families in hotels that we’re providing them. One in particular is a young mom with two small children. Her house was destroyed,” Gannaway said at the meeting. “So we’re trying to help her get into a rental property, close to her job. She lost her car and everything. So we are helping families like they get back in.”

Commission President Kent Carper said this is a one-time payment, but that this is an organization he is happy to continue to support.

“Two reasons why we’re going to do this, I think I’m speaking for everyone. Your reputation is just excellent,” he said. “You just know your business, and you’re effective at getting things done.”

The commission estimates the county has spent $200,000 so far and is putting in a request for reimbursement from the state. Carper said he is hoping to receive support from the state.

“I got several of these nice emails from the legislature, from senators wanting to know what they can do,” Carper said. “Well, they can pay the bill!”

The damage assessment process is ongoing. Homes, bridges, creeks, churches, fire stations, and roads were damaged during the flood. Eight homes were destroyed. Individuals and local communities are struggling to pay for the damage.

Federal aid from the Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA) could be on the way if the disaster qualifies. Commissioner Lance Wheeler said that they are working to gather and submit that evidence.

“I’ve been working with the state emergency management,” Wheeler said. “They tell us that they believe these numbers are very close to passing that threshold. And we’re positive at this moment that we will get that FEMA declaration. However, you never know how FEMA is going to operate until they do. So we’re just trying to do as much as possible collecting evidence.”

The commission is asking residents in areas affected by the flood to continue to fill out FEMA surveys because they will help their communities qualify for aid. One hundred and sixty-seven have been collected so far. Surveys are available online, by QR code, and there are paper surveys available at the VOAD center in Quincy.

The commission also voted to extend debris pick up to Friday, September 15 and allocated another $100,000 to the effort. During the weekend, the hours for debris clean-up will be 8 a.m. to – 2 p.m., and during the week 8 a.m. to- 3 p.m.

Wheeler said this is needed because residents are still working to clean out, and around, their homes.

“You know we have to remember that this isn’t just trash. This is personal belongings,” Wheeler said. “This is things that people had in their home, loved items that they had and now they have to get rid of,” Wheeler said.

Nearly All 2016 Flooding Recovery Projects Finished, Except Schools

Seven years after the historic floods of 2016, the state has finally completed nearly all of the houses and bridges that were damaged in the deadly flood.

Garner Marks, the general counsel for the West Virginia Development Office, told the Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding that 99 percent of the housing projects, 100 percent of the bridges and 99 percent of the demolition projects had been completed.

“The State of West Virginia was allocated $106,494,000 with 12 years to expand that mitigation funding to fortify resiliency measures to decrease the impact of future flooding events and other natural hazards,” Marks said. “In the same 12 counties that were designated for these disaster recovery funds. those include Clay, Greenbrier, Kanawha, Nicholas, Fayette, Jackson, Lincoln, Monroe, Pocahontas, Roane, Summers and Webster counties, each of these projects has to meet the HUD definition for mitigation, which are those activities that increase resiliency to disasters and reduce or eliminate the long term risk of loss of life injury, damage, to and loss of property and suffering and hardship by lessening the impact of future disasters.”

The state’s response to the flood cleanup was slow initially and the state was even put on notice by FEMA for slow use of the more than $400 million set aside for recovery efforts. Problems with West Virginia Rise were straightened out after the program was turned over to the West Virginia National Guard.

As of June 30, 2023 the program has completed 385 housing projects, 54 bridges that serve 121 homes, and 85 demolition projects working with outside groups like West Virginia VOAD or Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.

In a separate presentation to the committee, Matt Blackwood, the deputy director of the West Virginia Emergency Management Division, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) agreed to spend more than $400 million for public assistance and flood mitigation in West Virginia.

“You can see we have about $436 million, that we spent approximately $246 million,” Blackwood said. “The remaining about $190 million mainly relates to school projects here in Kanawha County, and also in Nicholas County.”

The unspent money will be declared officially spent once the schools are finalized, Blackwood explained. Members of the committee asked Blackwood to prepare a report for the committee on the status of those schools. Nicholas County has had significant delays causing costs to increase well beyond what was budgeted by FEMA.

As 1 Year Flood Anniversary Approaches, Home Construction Begins in Clendenin

“I know it was raining hard when I got off the interstate.”

Richard Wolfe said he doesn’t remember a lot about the evening of June 23, 2016. He was visiting his sister in Charleston when he decided to heard toward his home of more than 70 years on Koontz Street in Clendenin during a severe storm that would result in historic levels of flooding for the community.

“When I got off the interstate, the water was covering over the park and ride and I turned around and went back to Charleston,” he said. “I knew I couldn’t get into Clendenin.”

That was on Thursday. It was Sunday before Wolfe was able to return to his home where he said everything in the house was turned over.

He remembered a utility trailer had floated into the upstream side of his home and a small camping trailer into the downstream side, trailers he’d never seen before, and there was “mud everywhere.”

Wolfe, who has been living with his sister for the past year, will soon be back in his Clendenin home, but it won’t be the same house he lived in for seven decades.

Nearly a year after the devastatingly high waters covered his home in mud and debris, a crew of 6 Mennonite men have started to build a new house in the same place his home once stood.

The men were laying row after row of concrete block for the new house’s foundation on Tuesday afternoon, scraping the excess mortar squeezed from the seams between each one, as Wolfe watched from a front porch across the street.

Orie Lahman brought the small group from Indiana to Clendenin on Monday and by Tuesday, they had almost completed the foundation. Lahman said once that’s done, his crew will return to Indiana and another group will take over Wolfe’s construction.

Then in a few weeks, Lahman will return with a larger group to start on another house down the street.

“We like to bring in about 20 people, young people and adults, and work and try to build the whole house in a little more than a week maybe,” he said.

Lahman said it won’t be move-in ready after a week, but his team of Mennonite disaster volunteers can take it from a bare foundation to a home with hung drywall in that time.

Richard Wolfe looks on as a group of Mennonite volunteers rebuild his home across the street from this porch on Koontz St. in Clendenin.

Wolfe’s home is one of ten being rebuilt in the community of around 1,200 people 20 minutes north of Charleston.

Funding for the homes has come partially from awards from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, but largely from nonprofit organizations like Greenbrier County’s Neighbors Loving Neighbors, the United Way of Central West Virginia, and the West Virginia Rotary Club, all organized under the West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, or VOAD.

Jenny Gannaway, VOAD’s president and executive director, said it’s the coordination of efforts that’s making the rebuilding process possible.

“One person cannot do it all, it takes everybody I may have the funding that I can put on the table, but without someone an organization doing the case management or another organization to build the home, then my funding is not going to to as far,” she said.

“So, by all of us coming together and working together, we are able to stretch our dollars and accomplish a lot more.”

Gannaway and representatives of the other voluntary agencies involved in funding the homes broke ground on the project in front of Wolfe’s property Tuesday.

Gannaway said VOAD has identified four families, including Wolfe, to take the new homes and is working to find the additional six.