The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) released a Call for Project Concepts that could be undertaken with assistance from their Technical Assistance Program. Municipalities in the MAPC region can submit concepts for a diverse range of single- and multi-community projects, which may be of interest to age- and dementia friendly community coalitions.
Eligible projects cover a wide variety of topics that could be relevant to communities working to become more age- and dementia friendly. Such projects include, but arenot limited to:
- Housing production and preservation, especially in regard to affordable housing;
- Economic development, including economic recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 recession;
- Regionalization and shared services;
- Municipal effectiveness and efficiency, including municipal IT;
- Public engagement in planning and municipal governance;
- Improving public safety and public safety practices;
- Public health, including response to COVID-19;
- Climate change (mitigation or adaptation/resilience);
- Clean energy and reducing the carbon footprint;
- Fair housing; equitable transit-oriented development (E-TOD);
- Bicycle/pedestrian mobility;
- Environmental and resource protection;
- Creative community placemaking;
- Arts and culture planning;
- Projects to improve equity and inclusion in the region; and
- Research-based proposals or the development of best practices.
Each TAP solicitation includes priorities for that particular year. This year, projects that promote regional collaboration and serve multiple communities, advance racial equity in the region, promote COVID recovery, and/or seek to implement the multi-family requirements for MBTA communities under Housing Choice will receive preference.
To be eligible for TAP funding, the lead municipality must have a representative appointed to the Council.
Although there is no specific deadline for the submission of project concepts, MAPC strongly encourages that proposals be submitted by January 31, 2022. Proposals submitted after that date will be considered if technical assistance funding is still available.