From Local Sheltering to Regional Resilience: How Communities Are Getting Ready for Emergencies
By Elizabeth Robert, Emergency Preparedness Manager
Pictured: Manchester Essex Regional Middle High School
October 23, 2025 - Emergencies, whether it’s a nor’easter, a heat wave, or a public health crisis, can hit hard and fast. When they do, cities and towns need to be ready to respond and protect everyone, especially the most vulnerable. Over the past few years, the MAPC Emergency Preparedness Team has had the chance to work with communities across the MAPC region on projects aimed at improving emergency preparedness and sheltering plans.
Through MAPC’s Technical Assistance Program (TAP), funded in part through the state’s District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) funding, the team has supported communities in drafting sheltering plans, testing them through drills and exercises, and exploring what long-term resilience can look like in a changing climate. A few of those projects are highlighted below, along with the lessons they offer for the region.
Meeting Local Needs in Manchester-by-the Sea
Manchester-by-the-Sea is a small coastal town that wanted to make sure all residents, especially older adults, knew what to do if the town ever needed to open an emergency shelter. MAPC started by developing a Mass Care and Sheltering Plan that clearly outlined responsibilities and procedures.
But having a plan on paper isn’t enough. Once it was finalized, we turned our focus to public outreach. We met with seniors, answered their questions, and created a simple, accessible brochure that broke down the plan in everyday language. To help spread the word, we also partnered with the Town to film a public service announcement at the actual shelter site—giving residents a visual understanding of what the space looked like and what to expect.
For Manchester, this wasn’t just about checking a box. It was about building trust, raising awareness, and making sure people felt informed, seen, and supported.
Emergency Preparedness Manager Elizabeth Robert and Emergency Preparedness Specialist II Dan Witts are interviewed in the video above.
Regional Collaboration in Cape Ann
Emergencies often do not stay within municipal boundaries. Not every municipality has the capacity to open and operate its own shelter, so regional planning can be beneficial to all.
After working with Manchester-by-the-Sea, we helped the Town and its neighbors explore the idea of a shared regional shelter. Following a series of conversations, the towns of Essex, Gloucester, Hamilton, Ipswich, Middleton, Rockport, Topsfield, and Wenham decided to join Manchester-by-the-Sea in developing a regional shelter. We identified Gordon College as the site that could serve multiple communities and worked with the American Red Cross to ensure it met their standards. Getting the site designated as an official Red Cross shelter was a major milestone. It meant more resources, more support, and more reliability during an emergency.
MAPC also developed a regional plan and created MOUs (memorandums of understanding) between the participating municipalities and Gordon College to clarify roles and responsibilities. It took conversations and collaboration, ultimately creating a reliable, but flexible system for everyone involved.
The success of this effort is a direct result of municipalities working together regionally, pooling resources, aligning plans, and supporting each other to create solutions no single community could achieve alone.
This kind of collaboration shows the true strength of regionalization: it builds systems that are more sustainable, more effective, and better equipped to serve the public during times of crisis.
A Comprehensive Approach in Medford
In Medford, the City wanted to take a whole community approach to emergency preparedness. The first step MAPC took was to form a cross-departmental, City Emergency Management Team. This group became the foundation for planning and coordination across different types of hazards.
Strong leadership was critical to the success of this work. The commitment and buy-in from Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn were instrumental in driving the initiative forward, setting the tone for collaboration across departments. The active support of department heads further reinforced a culture of preparedness and ensured that planning efforts were taken seriously at every level of city government.
We worked closely with the Team to update Medford’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) and then brought together department leaders to walk through the plan and make sure everyone understood their role. From there, we designed a tabletop exercise that simulated a real emergency scenario—helping participants identify gaps and clarify decision-making processes.
We also developed a separate Mass Care and Emergency Shelter Plan. That effort ended with a hands-on drill, where staff practiced activating and running a shelter site—everything from setting up temporary beds to managing logistics and communications. Finally, Medford began early conversations about regional coordination with its neighboring communities, recognizing that collaboration makes everyone more resilient.
Strengthening Systems in Lynn
In Lynn, the focus was on identifying and filling gaps in the City’s existing shelter plan. We began with a full gap analysis, reviewing supplies, responsibilities, and existing agreements and then provided a list of recommended plan updates.
Next, we held a workshop to walk through the revised plan, answer questions, and clarify roles for municipal employees. To put the plan into action, we facilitated a shelter drill that let staff practice setup and activation in real time in partnership with the Red Cross.
By the end of the project, Lynn had a clearer, more functional plan and, more importantly, staff who had practiced what to do in a crisis. That hands-on experience is something every community can learn from.
Planning for Long-Term Recovery on the South Shore
Being ready for a disaster isn’t just about response, it’s also about recovery. More and more communities are starting to think about what comes after the storm. The MAPC team is currently working on a multi-phase project with South Shore municipalities with the following deliverables:
- A Regional Tabletop Hurricane Workshop – We will facilitate a scenario that will help communities test their emergency plans and start having conversations about long-term recovery to identify gaps.
- A Resilience and Recovery Framework – We plan to partner with the MAPC Data Services team to map flood zones, critical infrastructure, and vulnerable populations, and compile best practices for recovery planning.
- A Regional Recovery Plan – Using the framework as a foundation, we will work with communities to develop a full recovery plan that’s actionable, adaptable, and grounded in local needs.
Shared Learning and Stronger Networks on the North Shore
Emergency preparedness isn’t just about having the right plan. It’s about people working together and learning from each other. At the North Shore Emergency Preparedness and Sustainability Conference, which will be held in the Spring of 2026, we will bring together local leaders, emergency managers, schools, public safety officials, sustainability advocates, and others to talk about real needs and practical solutions. Attendees will be able to attend various sessions on topics identity by local municipalities. The conference aims to provide resources to municipalities to fill identified gaps and priorities and, just as importantly, began building relationships that will be invaluable during future emergencies.
Whether it’s helping seniors understand sheltering options in a small town, running drills in a large city, or building out regional recovery plans, one theme keeps coming up: preparedness is about people, not just plans.
The most effective projects are the ones that bring people together, encourage collaboration, and create opportunities for real-world practice. Our team has seen how much progress is possible when communities have the tools, the support, and the relationships they need to plan ahead.
As the challenges we face, from climate change to public health, continue to evolve, this kind of work is more important than ever. It's work that’s never really finished. Preparedness isn’t a one-time task, it’s an ongoing cycle of learning, testing, refining, and improving.
Taken together, these projects show the many ways TAP funding can help communities prepare for emergencies. Is your community looking to strengthen emergency preparedness, update sheltering plans, or explore regional resilience strategies? MAPC can help.
These projects were funded through DLTA, as part of MAPC’s Technical Assistance Program. Through TAP, MAPC staff are able to assist cities and towns with implementing projects that are beneficial to the community and address regional priorities. Learn more and apply on the TAP web page.