MIAMI, FLORIDA and WASHINGTON, DC – The Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center at the Atlantic Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to building the resilience of people and communities, has been awarded $1.1 million as part of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s (DEO) Rebuild Florida General Planning Support Program. On Friday, January 8, 2021, the program announced that nearly $20 million has been awarded to 37 counties, municipalities, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations to provide funding for communities and organizations to develop or enhance state, regional, or local plans which will enable the state of Florida to withstand future disaster.

The funds are allocated through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant – Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) program formed in response to the 2016 to 2017 presidentially declared disasters. Through Rebuild Florida, local governments, and municipalities have access to the resources necessary to bolster their community’s resilience to future disasters.

The Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center (Arsht-Rock) has been awarded $1.1 million to scale a strategy to design and network Resilience Hubs to create an interconnected system of community-serving facilities designed to support residents, educate the public, distribute resources, coordinate communications, and stage government services. Resilience Hubs, designed in partnership with Resilient305 and Miami-Dade County, build awareness and knowledge of individual and community risks and disaster preparedness for neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County. Visitors to the Hubs will find through physical and digital displays, location-specific risks and guidance, resources and tools to Be Prepared, Get Connected and Take Action. 

Atlantic Council Executive Vice Chair and Founder of the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, Adrienne Arsht said, “I was delighted with the news that Arsht-Rock won this significant grant to support the expansion of the first Community Resilience Hub and Pod – especially because it is in partnership with my beloved city of Miami!” 

Director and SVP of the Arsht-Rockefeller Resilience Center, Kathy Baughman McLeod, expressed her excitement: “South Floridians embody what it means to be resilient and the need for resilience has never been greater. This award is validation that communities need more tailored, risk-informed resources, that reflect local needs, culture and art, to survive and thrive in the face of compounding crises of today, and the future.”

Resilience Hubs will be spaces for critical risk and resilience actionable information and services for communities across Florida facing storms, floods, food insecurity and the health and economic impacts of COVID-19. The Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center congratulates fellow awardees and is hopeful for the positive impact to come for people and communities in Florida through this program.

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About the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center

The Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center (Arsht-Rock) will reach One Billion People with resilience solutions to climate change, migration and human security challenges by 2030. We focus our efforts on people, communities, governments, and institutions to help them better prepare for, navigate and recover from the multiple shocks and stressors people all over the world face every day. 

The Atlantic Council promotes constructive US leadership and engagement in the world based on the central role of the Atlantic community, working with its allies and partners, to meet global challenges. Through the ideas we generate, the papers we write and the communities we build, the Council informs public debates, shapes policy choices and forges sustainable strategies to create a more secure, free and prosperous world.