Last spring, as we all got used to social distancing requirements, wearing facemasks, and gathering outdoors to protect ourselves and others from COVID-19, another challenge was brewing: how to keep cool, while also being safe, during a global pandemic.
During the COVID summer of 2020, many resources that people typically use to keep cool during a heatwave were no longer available including public libraries, cooling centers, pools, splash pads, movie theaters, and other indoor areas. Outdoor recreation spots were sometime difficulty to come by as public parks were at capacity and beaches implemented often challenging registration systems with limited capacity. Additional challenges like long, outdoor lines and wait-times at food banks and grocery stores exacerbated the problem. When looking deeper at the COVID-19 cases data, as well as MAPC’s map of urban heat islands, we found that those communities most impacted by COVID-19 were also those most at risk for urban heat due to long-term social disinvestment.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and MyRWA launched COVID-Safe Cooling Strategies with emergency funding provided by the Barr Foundation in order to provide technical assistance and funding to seven communities most impacted by both COVID-19 and extreme heat. In 2020, the program provided support to five municipalities and eight community-based organizations (CBOs) to implement local cooling projects and educational programs.
On April 1st, MAPC and MyRWA launched a second round of COVID-Safe Cooling in order to continue to provide technical assistance and funding to municipalities and CBOs.
Eligible Communities:
Boston (CBOs only)
Brockton
Chelsea
Everett
Lawrence
Lynn
Revere
Interested in this funding?
Interested municipalities and CBOs should fill out the Expression of Interest Form by April 12th in order to receive an initial technical assistance call from the Project Team. While the EOI is not required to submit a full proposal, it is highly encouraged. Full RFP released May 4th with a proposal deadline on May 21st. Applications will be accepted after the 21st on a rolling basis.
For additional information on this program please contact Climate Resiliency Manager, Melanie Gárate at melanie.garate@mysticriver.org or Sasha Shyduroff at SShyduroff@mapc.org.
