The revitalization non-profit for historic downtowns, Main Street America (MSA)—a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation—believes that everyone deserves access to a vibrant neighborhood; a place that has a thriving local economy, is rich in character, and features inviting public spaces that make residents and visitors feel that they belong.
MSA recently executed a multi-project Task Agreement with the National Park Service (NPS). The objective of this Task Agreement is to create a suite of resources that provide immediately useful information for Main Street revitalization organizations to use in preparing for and responding to catastrophic events.
Scope of Work: Main Street Community Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Consultant
From record-breaking hurricanes to quick-spreading fires, disasters are all too common occurrences in Main Street communities across the country. Despite their frequency, there are very few disaster preparedness and recovery-related resources available to commercial district revitalization organizations.
Without a comprehensive preparedness plan in place and tools to support both short and long-term recovery efforts, the physical and economic after effects of disasters can be devastating, especially to the historic structures, public spaces, and local businesses in Main Street communities.
To fulfill these needs, and under the supervision of the Director of Strategic Projects and Design Services, the Main Street Community Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Consultant shall perform the following tasks:
National workshops
- Identify locations and state/local partners to host two national convenings focused on best practices in disaster preparedness, recovery, and resilience
- Serve as primary liaison with subject matter experts and stakeholders working on disaster preparedness, recovery, and resilience to identify speakers
Create and lead event programming and content - Work collaboratively with the MSA team to coordinate event logistics
Multi-Part Toolkit
- Research and write a digital handbook on the fundamentals of disaster preparedness and recovery for Main Street districts. This handbook will be prepared based on recommendations from workgroups assembled at national convenings and from other experts and practitioners, including FEMA, ULI, and more.
- Create a preparedness assessment and planning evaluation tool with a checklist on how to respond to disasters within specific timeframes.
- Using materials created for the digital handbook, write and compile content for an online resource library of documents related to disaster preparedness and recovery, including (but not limited to): sample preparedness plans, inventory/mapping tools, and response messaging.
- Compile one-to-two page community profiles of effective disaster preparedness plans and effective recovery efforts in response to hurricanes, fires, floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes.
Webinar series, conference sessions, regional workshops/technical services
- Present disaster preparedness and recovery sessions at state and national conferences
- Serve as lead presenter or moderator of a webinar series produced and delivered by Main Street America
- Conduct up to four regional workshops or technical services
Calculator Tool: needs assessment and feasibility
Conduct needs assessment and research development of disaster recovery calculator tool to assess scope and scale of damage to historic properties and estimate rehabilitation costs.
Work collaboratively with MSA Communications Team to:
- Create content for NMSC’s communication channels
- Create marketing materials for project
- Create and deliver outreach strategy to stakeholders and network
Target goal of completion for this project is December 31, 2021.
Fees and Expenses
The fee to complete the Scope of Work above will be commensurate with experience. Expenses including travel costs, airfare, hotel, transportation, and other travel related to this Scope of Work will be covered in addition to the fee to complete the Scope of Work.
Please send letter of intent, proposed fee, and resume/CV to Lindsey Wallace, Director of Strategic Projects and Design Services at lwallace@savingplaces.org by December 1, 2019.
Photo of downtown Burlington, Vermont by 1778011 from Pixabay.