Page 10 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, AugusT 9, 2024 Resilient Mystic Collaborative communities secure over $12M in Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Grants for climate resilience G nongovernmental partners, the RMC designs and completes on-the-ground projects to protect our most vulnerable residents and public services from harm due to increasingly extreme weather. “The MVP program connects local leaders with state resources to protect our most vulnerable communities from extreme weather,” said Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “The Resilient Mystic Collaborative exemplifies regional teamwork, demonstrating how collective efforts can drive climate adaptation. We are proud to fund critical initiatives such as flood management, resilient community centers, and forest health. We’re proud to award the most funds in MVP history to such a strong set of projects.” These MVP grants bring the total resources secured for RMC climate resilient projects to nearly $140 million in state, federal and foundation grants since the voluntary partnership began. “What is extraordinary is that about three quarters of all the funding we’ve secured are for regional projects,” said MyRWA’s Julie Wormser, who helps facilitate the RMC. “These are critical investments that communities can’t accomplish without partnering with their neighbors.” Multiple FY2025 MVP grants build on the accomplishments of prior successful proposals. By far the largest grant – the maximum $5 million allowed for regional projects – went to the Island End River coastal flood management project, overnor Maura Healey’s announcement of $52.4 million in FY2025 Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grants included just over $12 million in funding for community-designed projects to prevent harm to residents, workers and resources in Resilient Mystic Collaborative (RMC) cities and towns. Convened by 10 Mystic River watershed communities and the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) in September 2018 and now led by senior staff from 20 cities and towns and a multiyear effort by Chelsea and Everett to protect environmental justice neighborhoods and critical regional infrastructure, including fruit and vegetable distribution for all of New England and the Canadian Maritimes. “The Island End River flood barrier will protect thousands of residents in Chelsea and Everett and billions of dollars in infrastructure,” said Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez. “This $5 million grant will advance this project and ensure that our cities remain viable economic engines for the foreseeable future, while also beautifying the area for locals to enjoy.” “What our communities are accomplishing together is nothing short of miraculous,” said MyRWA Executive Director Patrick Herron. “Extreme weather mocks municipal boundaries. Municipal staff and local non-profits are pulling together to protect people and infrastructure at the scale of the challenge.” An emerging goal for Mystic communities has been to reinforce critical facilities that serve priority populations: residents and workers disproportionately affected by extreme weather. Medford and Somerville are working regionally to develop a network of resilient community centers that can provide on-going public services (e.g., afterschool programs and food pantries) while providing food and shelter during heat waves and extreme storms. “These projects are examples of how beneficial it has been to have municipal and environmental justice non-profit staff working together,” said GreenRoots’ Director of Climate Justice & Waterfront Initiatives, John Walkey. “Every year we are getting better and better choosing and designing projects with and for the people who need our work most.” The Town of Reading submitted a regional grant to help 17 communities stormproof key community facilities. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is sponsoring a regional pilot program to understand how best governments can communicate with hard-to-reach vulnerable residents – like unhoused or socially isolated people – before and during extreme weather. “With one of the hottest GRANTS | SEE PAGE 11
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