Resiliency

Mission:

The mission of the Long-Term Community Resilience Initiative is to coordinate a process of individual, business, neighborhood, community and countywide resilience that integrates action across Boulder County in ways which increase the effectiveness of our existing collective capacity of all sectors, respects the unique character of each town and city and leverages additional resources, participation and leadership.

BoCo Strong Conversations:

The Long-Term Flood Recovery Group (LTFRG) is partnering with the City of Boulder, Boulder County, Lyons, Jamestown, Longmont, nonprofits, the education and business community and faith based groups to launch BoCo Strong – a series of community conversations to help Boulder County strengthen its resilience following last year’s floods.

Check out the Boco Strong website at www.BoCoStrong.org and see the calendar below to check when conversations and other community events are happening.

bocostrong

Background:

Following the 2013 Flood, a wide variety of Boulder County residents and organizations have come together to form the Long Term Flood Recovery Group of Boulder County (LTFRG). In addition to identifying and addressing individual unmet needs, the LTFRG has learned from other communities hard hit by disaster the importance of engaging all parts of the community about how to rebuild stronger and better, including all hazard mitigation, cultural landmarks, economic development, nonprofits, parks and other public infrastructure.

The LTFRG believes a critical piece of building resilience is convening conversations about our strengths, gaps and opportunities. The group wants to help build connections among individuals, neighborhoods, communities and sectors that will foster natural and opportunistic partnerships and strategies for resilience. The LTFRG regards community resilience as the capability to anticipate risk, limit impact, and bounce back rapidly form shocks and stresses (e.g., natural disasters, economic shifts, demographic changes, etc.) through survival, adaptability, evolution and growth.

Timeline:

Kick-off meeting with community leaders on March 13, 2014, Xilinx Retreat Center
Form Project Teams at meeting on April 17, 2014
Conduct/facilitate Resiliency Assessment/Conversations from May-September 2014
Apply for State of Colorado Resiliency Visioning & Strategic Planning grant (CDBG-DR) from May-July 2014 (State/HUD have yet to release Action Plan and grant application)
Weeklong potential activities marking flood anniversary Sept. 12-19, 2014 including:
- Resilience Summit (present resiliency assessment/conversations findings)
- Day of Caring: Boulder and Broomfield counties’ largest single volunteer day of service celebrating the spirit of giving back, hosted by Foothills United Way
- Tie into National Preparedness Month
- Panel of scientific experts to report on flooding
- Volunteer Recognition
- Other activities
Develop Implementation Plans for Recommendations from September 2014-March 2015
Apply for funding to implement projects continuously
Resilience Summit II to be planned for September 2015

Collaborative Quilt Project

In order to commemorate the upcoming one year anniversary of the devastating 2013 Flood, a collaborative quilt project will serve as a long-lasting memorial to Boulder County residents’ resiliency. The quilt will follow the theme “Boulder County: Strong and Beautiful.”

Quilters of all types from around the county, the state and the nation are invited to take this opportunity to work together to design a memorable Flood Recovery Quilt. A finished quilt, comprised of 30 blocks, will be hung in the Boulder County Courthouse on Pearl Street, and the remaining submitted blocks will be turned into items for flood survivors (including throw blankets, pillows, wall hangings, etc.). A committee of Boulder County leadership and local quilters will determine which submissions will be included in the Courthouse quilt based on both design and craftsmanship.

The completed quilt will be dedicated and hung during the week of September 8 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the 2013 Flood. Items for flood survivors will be completed thereafter and donated as they are complete, with a final completion date of December 31.

For more details, guidelines and submission information, visit the Collaborative Quilt Project webpage. For photos and updates about the project, follow @BoCoFloodQuilt on Instagram and #bocofloodquilt or #bocostrongandbeautiful.