📋 Tender Overview
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supports the work of several nonprofit organizations by allocating funds for projects that will reduce future damage to these institutions. Through its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, the agency's allocations and technical assistance will ensure the continuity of services in these locations in the event of future natural disasters.
FEMA will provide funds to the Center for Puerto Rico—the operational arm of the Sila María Calderón Foundation—for an alternative solar energy system that will provide resilience to eight community technology centers (CCT) in Aguada, Arecibo, Canóvanas, Lajas, Loíza, Ponce , Rincón and San Germán.
The agency will also provide funding for the design and construction of a seismic retrofit project that will reinforce an elevated drinking water tank at San Lucas Memorial Hospital in Ponce.
“These projects represent FEMA's vision for a strong and resilient Puerto Rico. While there are dangers that we cannot prevent or avoid, we can certainly lessen the consequences of natural disasters through protective measures like these,” said Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator José G. Baquero.
CCTs support residents who have very limited knowledge about computers and online activity, helping them bridge the digital divide. These centers also offer services including emergency response training and distribution of basic products.
While the Center for Puerto Rico supports over 300 CCTs across the island, the agency's funds will provide solar energy to eight CCTs that have an immediate need for continuity in their emergency services, said Evelyn Nieves, director of Administration and Resources. Humans from the Sila María Calderón Foundation. “In the event of an emergency, like Hurricane Maria, from these centers we can continue to offer food services, training and [help residents] complete FEMA disaster assistance applications,” she said.
For his part, Israel Román Martínez, director of the social support group Surcando la Historia of the Calle Abajo community, in Lajas, said that adults over 70 years of age have taken their first steps in the digital world thanks to the CCT of Lajas.
“One of our participants, who is about 80 years old, didn't know anything about technology. We teach him how to turn on the computer, how to work on it, how to write. He is an innate historian and all those stories that he previously wrote on paper he now writes on the computer.”
FEMA obligated about $50,000 for the first phase of this project. The total cost has a maximum funding amount of $1 million.
Meanwhile, in the south of the island, the San Lucas de Ponce Hospital has been serving residents and neighbors since 1907. Although the past hurricanes and earthquakes of 2020 did not cause irreparable damage to its structure, the hospital administration has expressed concern about a tank 333,000-gallon drinking water tower that was built in 1954 and is showing signs of deterioration.
“The tank has elements of corrosion, lack of adequate support and vulnerabilities. If it is not repaired, there is no other structure that can offer the water pressure and storage capacity that this structure has. The risks of losing this structure can be catastrophic,” explained the chief executive officer of the San Lucas Episcopal Health System, Juan Salazar Trogolo.
FEMA allocated $63,000 for the first phase of this project and will obligate nearly $1.3 million total for all phases of this work.
“After reinforcement, the structure will be able to remain useful for 30 years, with annual maintenance and minor repairs that are necessary,” added Salazar Trogolo.
Annually, the San Lucas Hospital serves over 75,000 patients from Ponce and nine other neighboring municipalities; while providing medical training to more than 130 medical school residents.
For his part, the executive director of the Central Office of Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3, in English), Manuel A. Laboy Rivera, indicated that: “both the community technology centers and the San Lucas Hospital in Ponce are characterized for being a community assistance network. The works approved by FEMA will address the factors that put these infrastructures at risk, as well as the operational continuity of both institutions. At COR3 we are committed to assisting you in the technical matters so that you can direct and complete these important works.”
To date, FEMA has allocated over $3 billion for 198 projects under the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, in order to strengthen Puerto Rico's resilience to future atmospheric events.
