Cedar Rapids to use $10,000 award to create mobile Neighborhood Resource Center

CEDAR RAPIDS - The city will add a mobile Neighborhood Resource Center component to its Rollin' Recmobile van thanks to $10,000 in funding from the National League of Cities.

City staff will use the van, which began bringing games and activities to neighborhood parks in 2020 to help remove barriers to recreational programs, to provide more services and resources to Cedar Rapids neighborhoods this summer, according to a news release.

The National League of Cities, an advocacy organization representing local governments across the United States, chose eight cities to receive funding as part of its 2021 Leadership in Community Resilience program, including two from Iowa, the other being Dubuque. The other six cities include Alton, Texas; Arlington, Mass.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Raleigh, N.C.; Portsmouth, N.H.; and Spokane, Wash.

'Climate-related events such as the intense winter storm we just faced are paralyzing local communities. These and other impacts such as hurricanes, droughts, wildfires, and floods are felt at the local level, in our cities, towns and villages,” Clarence E. Anthony, National League of Cities CEO and executive director, said in the release. 'We are thrilled to be supporting the staff and elected leaders of eight new cities through our Leadership in Community Resilience Program. It is our hope that by elevating these innovative resilience projects, even more member cities can learn from and adopt resilient and equitable practices.”

The city says it will use program funding to provide equipment to boost engagement with city services - including signage, digital survey stations, chairs and outdoor misters - as well as resources such as water bottles, flashlights and insulated grocery bags. These items will all be made available in the Rollin' Recmobile van.

Dates and engagement opportunities will be shared at a later date.

'Neighborhood Resource Centers became an integral component of the city's response to the derecho in August,” city Sustainability Coordinator Eric Holthaus said in the release. 'Enhancing the Recmobile with these new tools will provide another avenue to connect residents with City resources in locations convenient to them.”

In addition to the funding component of the program, the National League of Cities will share the eight cities' experiences and best practices with other organization member cities to help other communities brace for the impacts of climate change and become more resilient.

'Every city in the country needs a resilient recovery from COVID-19 to build stronger, more equitable communities,” Cooper Martin, the organization's director of Sustainability & Solutions, said in a release. 'Lower income residents and communities of color suffer disproportionately in all kinds of disasters, and we're proud that this grant supports local efforts to improve the lives of all residents.”

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