The Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs and Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute have teamed up to offer Hoosier cities, counties and towns a Beat the Heat program, which aims to create sustainable, long-term projects, programs and educational material that assist residents in coping with hot days and the public health impacts associated with heat, according to an OCRA press release.
“This collaboration with ERI and our community partners will provide countless innovative tools and resources to better improve the health of our rural communities,” Denny Spinner, executive director of OCRA, said in the press release. “Working with vulnerable populations will be at the center of this project which ensures no one is left behind during a hot summer day. OCRA is excited to build a new partnership with the experts at ERI to provide this opportunity.”
The program will allow for two communities to receive up to $121,940 to fund a full-time staff person for two years and costs associated with program activities.
The staff person, who will receive support from ERI, will be responsible for the following: Assessment of community needs related to heat relief; development of marketing and educational materials; summarization of community engagement techniques; and development and implementation of heat relief strategies.
