The Center for Community Systems at NJIT Helps to Build More Resilient Local Communities
The Center for Community Systems has received FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funding through a subgrant from the NJ Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM), to create the Technical Assistance for Resiliency Program. NJIT TARP supports NJ’s vulnerable communities through capability- and capacity-building in dealing with the negative impacts of climate change.
As a response to the many challenges associated with climate change faced by New Jersey communities, FEMA, in collaboration with the NJOEM, has implemented the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program designed to support states, local communities, tribes, and territories as they undertake hazard mitigation projects, reducing the risks they face from disasters and natural hazards, and while the State of New Jersey and its counties have Hazard Mitigation Plans, many NJ communities do not have the resources necessary to develop and implement resilience projects and apply for FEMA funding explained Dr. Colette Santasieri, Executive Director of the Center for Community Systems. “Assisting those challenged communities is where the NJIT Technical Assistance for Resiliency Program (TARP) plays a role, by providing technical assistance to communities in the preparation of applications for FEMA mitigation funds as well as identifying projects that can help communities be more resilient,” said Santasieri.
The BRIC program aims to categorically shift the federal focus away from reactive disaster spending and toward research-supported, proactive investment in community resilience. Examples of BRIC projects are ones that demonstrate innovative approaches to partnerships, such as shared funding mechanisms, and/or project design.
The Center for Community Systems will interface between the government and local communities. While individual communities understand their vulnerabilities because they experience them first-hand, many communities do not have the technical or monetary resources to first determine the types of interventions or projects that can make measurable differences, and then do not have the capacity to apply for Flood Mitigation Assistance Grants. “NJIT TARP can assist those communities with application development and capacity building to provide New Jersey’s under-resourced communities with those needed resources,” said Santasieri.
The grant was awarded through a competitive process and is for a three-year period. “The Center for Community Systems at NJIT was selected by the NJOEM because of the relationships that we built with local communities in New Jersey, and we’ve also created technical assistance programs in the past. We know how to do that work,” concluded Santasieri.