Senate Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Susan Collins today announced that the National Partnership for Environmental Technology Education (PETE) in South Portland, Maine has been awarded a $3.5 million grant under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Competitive Training Grant Program (CTGP). The funding will be used by PETE to develop the Community College Citizen Preparedness Program to train citizens on how to protect themselves in emergencies before first responders arrive.
“This grant is yet another example of how those in the Maine community are developing new, innovative ideas to keep our citizens safe. When a disaster strikes, people are likely to have to act as their family’s own ‘first responder,’ before trained personnel can arrive. Through PETE’s Community College Citizen Preparedness Program initiative, people living in communities throughout the country will be better prepared in the event of an emergency,” said Senator Collins.
PETE is a partnership of educational institutions, business, industry, and government. It includes more than 500 community and technical colleges throughout the country. The Community College Citizen Preparedness Program will prepare a course to educate citizens on protecting themselves, and train about 4,000 instructors to teach the course at 120 community colleges throughout the country. FEMA’s CTGP was created to develop such new training programs to meet homeland security priorities including Citizen Preparedness and Participation, Intelligence and Information Sharing, and Critical Infrastructure Protection. All grant applications are peer reviewed.
This award, combined with those from other DHS programs, brings the total amount of federal homeland security funding received by Maine this year to nearly $22 million.