Currently Speaking: Flooding Preparedness, Response, + Recovery

Matthew Ward from the Vermont Department of Health and the Medical Reserve Corp and Sarah Henshaw from the Lamoille Area Recovery Network will discuss their organizations' missions and impact on communities affected by flooding and flooding preparedness, response, and recovery. They will tie the increasing likelihood of floods to climate change and promote ways for community members to increase their civic engagement and contribute to the recovery of those with unmet needs through volunteer opportunities and donations.

Matt Ward is The Emergency Preparedness Public Health Specialist with the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) for Lamoille and Washington Counties. Matt has worked on disaster and public health responses to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico as well as the West African Ebola outbreak in Liberia and with neglected tropical disease with The Carter Center in South Sudan. Prior to working with VDH Matt was the Disaster Program Manager with the American Red Cross for northern Vermont.

Sarah Henshaw is a nonprofit professional with over 20 years of partnering with communities, nonprofits, and individuals to build prosperous and inclusive communities. In this work, Sarah has responded to multiple international and domestic disasters, including Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua, Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, multiple flooding events in Guatemala and Honduras, and now multiple flooding events in Vermont. Following the July 2023 flooding in her home county of Lamoille, Sarah joined forces with a collaboration of health and human service leaders to support households impacted by flooding – leading to the formation of Lamoille’s long-term-recovery-group Lamoille Area Recovery Network (affectionately known as LeARN). Sarah is LeARN’s Coordinator, supporting households recover from natural disasters by providing financial and non-financial support. Sarah is also the Founder of Leaves of Change VT, a woman-owned nonprofit advisory and consulting collaborative working in partnership with US and international nonprofits and an instructor for Michigan State University’s Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise Online M.A. and Graduate Certificate Program.

Admission is free and open to all.