United Way of Southwest Virginia plans to hold a disaster preparedness symposium in the wake of widespread devastation brought by Hurricane Helene in 2024 and Winter Storm Jett in 2025.
Those storms motivated United Way of Southwest Virginia to plan and host the summit, said Megan Parks, executive director for the organization.
“We saw communities that were incredibly resilient, but we also saw how difficult it can be to coordinate resources, communicate across organizations and reach vulnerable residents when everyone is responding simultaneously,” she said. “Our primary goal is to move Southwest Virginia from a culture of reacting to disasters to a culture of preparing for them.”
The event is open to emergency management professionals, as well as those who work in disaster response and recovery, and community-based services. United Way of Southwest Virginia is encouraging local government and emergency management officials to attend along with first responders, nonprofit and community organizations, and others who play an important role before and after disaster strikes.
The symposium is slated for September 22 at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon, starting at 9 a.m.
Parks said she hopes attendees will leave the event with stronger relationships, a better understanding of available resources, clearer communication pathways and a greater understanding of how their organizations fit into the larger regional disaster response and recovery system.
Parks hopes the summit will double as an opportunity to identify gaps in regional disaster preparedness. She added that she hopes attendees will learn how to work together across local government, nonprofits, businesses, emergency management and community organizations to address them,
United Way has raised and distributed more than $2.5 million in disaster recovery funding throughout the region after Hurricane Helene and Winter Storm Jett. The organization has also focused on building disaster preparedness through training, education and community partnerships. Since February 2026, the organization has conducted 24 emergency preparedness trainings that have reached more than 350 people across Southwest Virginia, Parks said.
