Community Resilience Partnership

What is the Community Resilience Partnership?

SMPDC is a service provider for the State’s Community Resilience Partnership (CRP), lead by the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. The CRP provides grants and support to assist communities to reduce carbon emissions, transition to clean energy, and become more resilient to climate change. As a service provider, SMPDC provides technical assistance to municipalities to enroll in the CRP and apply for Community Action Grants.

Community Enrollment

SMPDC has assisted 13 communities in enrolling in the CRP: Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Kittery, Biddeford, Fryeburg, Eliot, Berwick, Old Orchard Beach, Ogunquit, Alfred, Hollis, Parsonsfield, and South Berwick. The enrollment process includes completing two self-assessments, identifying community priorities, and holding a community workshop. Once enrolled, communities can apply for Community Action Grants.

Community Action Grants

Community Action Grants of up to $75,000 for municipal projects, or $175,000 for multi-municipal projects, are available to all CRP-enrolled communities. The next round is expected to open in early 2026. There are two types of Community Action Grants: 

  1. Grants to support implementation of one or more activities in the CRP's List of Community Actions, which align with the state climate action plan, Maine Won’t Wait. No local match required. 
  2. Grants to support other community-defined climate and energy implementation priorities. Local match required.

SMPDC has supported communities in applying for and receiving grant awards for a variety of projects, including nature-based solutions for coastal resilience, open space planning, and municipal energy efficiency. SMPDC was also awarded a multi-municipal Community Action Grant to support the Southern Maine Climate Action Planning (CAP) Cohort.

How We Can Help

SMPDC helps support CRP-enrolled communities in southern Maine as a Regional Coordinator for the Southern & Midcoast Resilience Coordinator Collaborative (SMRCC). As a member of the Community Resilience Partnership, you can get additional help from SMPDC in the form of:

  • Technical expertise and assistance
  • Project guidance
  • Opportunities to participate in regional projects and to collaborate with other communities with similar goals
  • Assistance with private, state, and federal grants
  • Extra help with resilience projects if you have little to no staff capacity and are more socially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change

 

Looking for feedback on project idea or grant application? Need support with community engagement or finding the right funding source for your project? We're here to help! To get in touch about how SMPDC can support your community’s resilience projects, reach out to Melanie Nash, Sustainability & Resilience Planner, at mnash@smpdc.org.