Darke County Homeland Security & EMA Awarded Grant Worth $27k

Darke County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management (DCEMA) has been awarded nearly $27,000 in State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) funding from the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. SHSP grant funds are distributed by the US Department of Homeland Security and designated to improve local government’s abilities to prevent, protect, respond and recover from natural and man-made disasters.

Due to funding cuts, the guidelines for the FY2012 SHSP grants were changed significantly from previous years. The grant program is now competitive and projects must focus entirely on regional capabilities that can be made available to the region, state and nation as needed.

“Our office partnered with the Darke County Chapter of the American Red Cross for this project application,” stated Mindy Saylor, Director of DCEMA. “These funds allow us to purchase much needed supplies to assist with Functional Needs Sheltering including Special Needs Cots, Ready to Eat Food and a Storage Trailer just to name a few”

Darke County will also benefit from some regional projects that were approved for funding. Including:

• Regional Generator Project – 5 generators will be received at various sizes
• Emergency Operation Center Development Planning
• Montgomery County Regional Forensic Response Mass Casualty Exercise