The Central Territory’s Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) has established its first territorial warehouse to serve as a hub for all things EDS in the Midwest. Located in Rockford, Ill., it’s the largest of three EDS warehouses in the Central Territory funded by a national grant that will help enhance preparation and response to natural disasters in the Midwest and beyond.
“The locations of the warehouses are very strategic,” said Kevin Ellers, then territorial EDS director who has overseen the establishment of divisional warehouses in St. Louis, Mo., and Minneapolis, Minn., as well. “Between the three, they provide good coverage, not just for distribution or service, but also for making connections and communicating with other organizations.”
The Rockford warehouse serves as a location for storing, sorting and distributing goods and houses large-scale disaster vehicles and equipment such as a shower trailer. Its expansive capabilities were recently seen during the response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, when donations were accepted from individuals who purchased items from an Amazon Wish List which were then sorted, packed and delivered to affected locations for distribution.
“We were able to contribute to the relief effort by staging product here and then supplying it to the
South,” said Kevin, adding that the new territorial warehouse also enabled them to accept larger donations, such as semi-trailer loads, which in the past wasn’t possible due to limited space.
In addition to providing ample room for storing goods and housing vehicles and equipment, the Rockford warehouse is becoming a hub for training exercises. The large parking area is ideal for staging disaster scenarios to give volunteers hands-on opportunities to practice response skills.
“The vision is that this will be a really vibrant center for the whole Midwest,” said Kevin. “We’re building a really strong team that can go out and support divisional teams. We are planning to do trainings there so we will have several robust teams for feeding, clean up and spiritual care.”
The warehouse also helps to keep volunteers engaged throughout the year, especially during “blue sky” times, or periods with fewer disasters to respond to, when parts of the facility can be used for other Salvation Army services like food drives and holiday distribution.
“One thing we’re trying to do is during blue sky times, getting people involved in stuff like Christmas distributions,” he said. “Last year we used the parking lot for that and our SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network) guys came out and helped walk the families through. They got to see a different part of The Salvation Army, and they loved it!”
Visit edscentral.org to learn more about emergency disaster services.
