Re:ground llc + Clarendon Hill Consulting LLC are excited to be a key part of the inaugural Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant program and are actively seeking to partner with other service providers in order to build teams to serve Massachusetts town and city clients. Please contact Dave Hampton at (312) 775-7924 or regroundllc@gmail.
The Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant program (MVP) provides support for cities and towns across the state to begin the process of planning for resiliency. Communities will be able to define extreme weather and natural and climate related hazards, identify existing and future vulnerabilities and strengths, develop and prioritize actions for the community, and identify opportunities to take action to reduce risk and build resilience.
In 2018, the state awarded 34 communities $5 million in funding to complete vulnerability assessments and develop action-oriented resiliency plans. Once “MVP Climate Community Designation” is received through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), communities can compete for for future state Action Grants. In 2017, 71 communities were awarded $1.145 million.
MVP registered service providers
Providers undergo training and are authorized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to provide the services listed above under the MVP program. Each of our team members has undergone training and are registered MVP service providers.
Our collective relevant experience includes:
- Municipal Planning
- Outreach / Community Engagement / Facilitation
- Risk & Climate Vulnerability Assessments, Hazard Mitigation Planning
- GIS Services
Current projects
Town of Nahant
Timeline: Fall 2018-Summer 2019
Relevant Projects (re:ground llc)
Project: Rebuild by Design Resilient Bridgeport
Date: 2014
Role: Team member, re:ground llc
Client: Waggonner Ball Architects / ARCADIS / Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
Facilitator for community planning charette.
MVP Skillsets: Municipal Planning, Outreach / Facilitation, Risk & Climate Vulnerability Assessments
HUD-funded competition created innovative community- and policy- based proposals to protect coastal communities most at risk from sea level rise, severe weather, and future uncertainties. Resilient Bridgeport encourages the stimulation of the downtown area through catalytic projects, such as a reconceptualization of the a channelized and inaccessible urban river – the Lower Pequonnock Watershed – by integrating riparian, urban, and coastal strategies.
Project: Fond des Blancs Haiti Community Strategic Planning
Date: 2016-present
Location: Fond-des-Blancs, Haiti
Role: Team member, re:ground llc
Client: Build Health International
MVP Skillsets: Municipal Planning, Outreach / Facilitation, Risk & Climate Vulnerability Assessments
Health infrastructure & community development planning. Produced environmental assessment and resilience strategies report document. Assisted in developing concept note for grant from funders. Included demographic analysis and research, survey design, coordinating mapping and GIS work. Includes sections on socio-environmental systems, erosion control, flooding reduction, risk communication, food security.
Project: Boston Living with Water competition
Date: 2014-2015
Role: Team leader, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Client: Boston Planning & Development Agency, Boston Harbor Now
MVP Skillsets: Municipal Planning, Risk & Climate Vulnerability Assessments
Led team that developed three preliminary proposals for three urban scales: 1) building, 2) neighborhood/block, 3) infrastructure. Final-round entry proposed urban coastal climate adaptation through innovative scalable (and replicable) financing strategies and interventions to Massachusetts state policies (Chapter 91), which could address increasing extreme heat, flooding, and sea-level rise.
Project: ‘From A New Shore’
Date: 2015
Role: Filmmaker, GIS analysis
MVP Skillsets: Municipal Planning, Risk & Climate Vulnerability Assessments, GIS
Produced video for Harvard GSD course Mapping: Geographic Representation and Speculation. Explores what areas – and land uses – in Greater Boston will be linked by sea level rise and increased coastal and riverine flooding and the new opportunities this might present.
Project: Haiti Helping People Home
Date: 2011-2012
Location: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Role: Team leader, J/P Haitian Relief Organization
Client: J/P Haitian Relief Organization
MVP Skillsets: Municipal Planning,Outreach / Facilitation, Risk & Vulnerability Assessments, GIS
- retrofitted 45 homes for 97 families
- community center seismic retrofit
- local schools seismic retrofit and expansion
- 2 medical clinic seismic retrofit / adaptive reuse; serves an average of 800 patients weekly.
- Kay Kat Fanmi/Kay Solid: new multifamily residential – design and construction of model 2-family home prototype.
- water distribution network analysis and repair
- implementation of earthquake- and hurricane-resistant design and construction standards – organization-wide and community-wide
- partners: Haven International, Build Change, Architectes de l’urgence, Architecture for Humanity, and local builders
Projects included demographic and GIS analysis.
Team Partners
Re:ground llc excels when working with a great team.
We are pleased to be collaborating with the following partners that have extensive experience with Massachusetts municipalities and deep technical expertise:
Resources for municipalities
Community engagement format
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has chosen a straightforward process for Community Resilience Building.
Team bios