Resiliency Conversation: Challenges and Resources for Rural Communities in Accessing Federal Funding
News Article
June 2024 Resiliency Conversation: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle for Resiliency
Population growth, economic growth, and consumerism all contribute to the increased production of solid and hazardous waste. This in turn negatively affects human and environmental health due to air, water, and soil pollution, and co-occurring impacts of climate change.
Department of Local Affairs Will Wind Down Applications for the State of Colorado’s Housing Recovery Program
After almost two years, the Housing Recovery Program (HRP) will wind down intake of applications on July 15, 2024 for all Rebuilding and Mitigation forgivable and traditional loan applications from recent disasters prioritizing lower income Coloradans with the remaining funds. With one-time funding authorized by SB22-206 and leveraged federal disaster funds, the State of Colorado’s Housing Recovery Program (HRP) will provide $17M in state funds and $7.4M in federal funds to provide forgivable and traditional loans to impacted households.
Colorado's Office of Emergency Management Seeks Responses from Disaster Survivors
The State of Colorado’s Office of Emergency Management is asking individuals who have been impacted by one or more disasters that occurred since 2018 to share their experiences by completing a Disaster Survivor Survey. Survey responses will help the Office of Emergency Management and partner agencies better understand, address and respond to disaster events.
May Resiliency Conversation: May is Wildfire Awareness Month
Although natural wildfires are crucial to the regeneration of grasslands and forestlands, 85% of wildfires, including some of the most damaging ones in Colorado’s history, have been caused by humans, either intentionally or by accident. Long-term drought, low humidity, large scale invasive insect infestations, and historical over-suppression of fires (resulting in an abundance of understory fuels) have resulted in more frequent, intense, and destructive fires.
April 2024 Resiliency Conversation: Planning Ahead for Water Uncertainty
Even as Colorado sits at close to 100% of average snowpack at the twilight of ski season, water availability and management remains top of mind for community leaders across the state. Water availability impacts everything including wildfire concerns, human health, the health of aquatic ecosystems, key water infrastructure, agriculture, and the state’s $62.5 billion per year outdoor recreation industry.
Resiliency Roadmap Implementation Grants Summary
In late 2023, the Department of Local Affairs in partnership with the Office of Economic Development and International Trade Rural Opportunity Office launched funding through the Rural Technical Assistance Program. Each of the Regional Community Teams that took part in the Resiliency Roadmaps Program were eligible for this non-competitive $41,000 award to advance a component of their Roadmap strategies – fulfilling our promise to communities that these plans would not just sit on a shelf.
March 2024 Resiliency Conversation: Remaining Energized through Uncertain and Challenging Times
Considerations about how we source, produce, and consume energy and the ramifications of these actions, span across all sectors and priorities of our Colorado Resilience Framework.
February Resiliency Conversation: Federal Grant Compliance and Monitoring
In this time of historic Federal funding through programs such as the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA), there is a lot of opportunity for local communities to make investments in their infrastructure that will last for generations to come and help set us up to be resilient to potential impacts of the future. However, drawing down this funding takes a lot of effort, such as technical expertise, administrative capacity, grant compliance and more. This can be a challenge for smaller communities with less access to resources.
January 2024 Resiliency Conversation
We are exploring this very concept in this year’s Colorado Resiliency Summit. This year we are diving into “Stories of Resilience: Uniting for Climate Adaptation.” So often we seek traditional solutions to solving our complex and diverse community needs, and we usually outsource additional resources outside our communities to build our capacity.