There are many different funding programs that are administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Two of them are focused on counterterrorism activities: the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSP) and Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grants.
However, when it comes to disaster mitigation, there is the relatively new Building Disaster Resilient Communities (BRIC) grants program that was only initiated in 2018. Six percent of the value of all disaster response and recovery funding for a year is put into a dedicated fund that is then made available for disaster mitigation activities for the current grant year that adds up to $500 million. And, there are billions more in dollars that will become available in succeeding years.
To maximize your opportunity to access these funds, I recommend you listen to this Disaster Zone podcast: “Leveraging Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities (BRIC) Funding.”
The interview is with Derrick Hiebert, who is with Deloitte and has worked on disaster mitigation at the state and local levels. I highly recommend you listen, take notes and then go and do the things he recommends to be sure you qualify when BRIC funding becomes available. Start now — don’t wait to build the partnerships and identify quality projects that can successfully compete for the mitigation funding.
