On October 26, 2012,
at 11:59 PM, the 2012 FEMA Community Resilience Challenge Grant opportunity
closed. This was a REALLY fast track
grant - Written in September, with the
only known announcement buried away on an AFG web page, it was released on October 9th and
closed on October 26th.
We've never seen a
grant quite like this one - administered by FEMA, funded by the Rockefeller
Foundation, and reviewed by The Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation,
the grant offered up to $35,000 to applicants submitting conceptual plans for
emergency preparedness and recovery - a classic example of working together. We took it a step further!
On October 18th. we
made an announcement on our Blog, and on this same date sent a targeted email
to over 1000 of our friends and customers that we thought would be interested.
Approximately 20% reviewed the material and approximately 100 choose to
work with us in applying for the grant.
We now have applications pending in over 90% of all Alabama counties as
well as in Mississippi, Texas and elsewhere.
To those that
responded and chose to allow us to assist in developing worthwhile plans - we
thank you! The applicants included
Ambulance Services, County Commissions, Fire Departments, E911 and EMA
organizations, Law Enforcement agencies at both the county and municipal
levels, Municipalities & Townships, Schools and Universities.
While we are hopeful
that all these applications will be funded, we thought it would be worthwhile
to share an overview of the six basic programs for those who may wish to undertake
such projects at the local community level (primarily paid for by business and
institutional participants). The six
programs are as follows:
SafeCampus - An outdoor wireless PA system directly controlled
by 2-way radio. Especially well suited for universities. Outdoor call boxes, and wireless call
buttons can be included as well as new digital 2-way radios with both voice and
text messaging capability.
SafeCommunities - A cooperative partnership between business and
institutions and law enforcement based on the use of wireless communications in
times of emergency when traditional phones (either wired, cellular or both)
and/or AC electrical power services are not usable.
SafePlaces - A program involving the placement of low cost
emergency one-way wireless call boxes in places where large numbers of people
congregate or in facilities where immediate aid is required. This program is generally sponsored by
emergency aid providers of on-scene assistance and/or transportation.
SafeSchools - Designed for multi-school districts to provide a
private digital administrative wireless communications system between the
superintendents office, the transportation shop, and all schools. Each school is assigned six personal 2-way
radios for administrative, housekeeping, maintenance, and security use.
SafeTran - A state of the art school bus transportation
system with all buses equipped with vehicular radios capable of communicating
both voice and text modes plus a GPS locator and emergency call button
January 2013 Update - FEMA has announced that applicants for this grant should be receiving information on award status in February 2013. The FEMA 2012 Assistance to Firefighter Grant (AFG) programs awards are currently in progress as of mid January 2013.The FEMA Fire Prevention and Safety (PF&S) Program closes on January 18th 2013.
We will keep you advised of other grant program announcements if you will sign up to receive our Blogs (See below right) and/or eNewsletters.
