Palatine receives grant for emergency preparedness

Grants totaling $4 million awarded by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency will help 120 city and county emergency management agencies throughout Illinois support disaster preparedness and response efforts. Among recipients is the village of Palatine which will receive nearly $29,000 in the coming fiscal year.

Palatine is one of only 20 municipalities in the state of Illinois to receive this funding. Others in the suburban Chicago area include Elmhurst, Hoffman Estates, Des Plaines, Evanston and Naperville as well as the 102 counties.

“Although the grant funds are only a portion of our Emergency Management budget, this additional award allows Palatine to better prepare itself and its residents for an unexpected event that may stretch our resources,” said Palatine Emergency Management coordinator Tom Smith, “In order to qualify for this grant, Palatine has to meet a very strict set of preparedness guidelines.”

The Emergency Management Performance Grants are funded through a grant the Illinois agency receives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The grants, which are awarded annually, can be used for day-to-day operations of local emergency management programs.

“Every disaster begins as a local emergency, and that’s why it’s so important to have a sound local emergency management program,” said Illinois Emergency Management Agency director Jonathon Monken. “Particularly in difficult fiscal times, these grants provide needed support to ensure local emergency management agencies are prepared to respond to disasters in their communities.”

Federal grants funding totaling more than $6.8 million also enables the Illinois agency to provide dozens of training courses, emergency response exercise support and emergency planning assistance to emergency management agencies statewide.