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Community Engagement

 The Resiliency Series

• One of the best ways for KVCOG and our Community Resiliency Coordinators to engage with our region during the pandemic and share relevant information is for us to host ongoing virtual webinars, presentations, and panel-discussions to address important topics in resiliency in Central Maine. Series topics include: small business financing, budgeting for infrastructure, flooding preparedness and planning, technologies for remote work, Maine’s mills and their reuse, and more. View past sessions.

Regional Diversity Initiative 

• Robyn will participate in the Kennebec Regional Diversity Initiative which meets regularly to support diversity and address discrimination. 

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Program Support and Development 

New CARES Act Revolving Loan Fund (RLF)

• Another component of the CARES Act was funding for a new Revolving Loan Fund to help businesses and start-ups in acquiring capital. Robyn provides technical assistance and outreach for that program and help applicants navigate this and related programs. 

Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Plan

• Robyn is working to integrate the content of our research on resilience into the 5-year CEDS Plan being written by KVCOG for implementation in 2022. This project integrates both research and community engagement components as well as incorporating many of our Resilience Series events. 

Comprehensive Planning Services

• Robyn is also working alongside KVCOG’s Planning Director, Joel Greenwood to incorporate resilience and sustainability into the diverse components of municipal comprehensive plans.

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Innovation and Strategy

Land Bank Legislation

• A group of planners, economic development specialists, and policy experts from municipal, regional, and State offices joined together to draft legislation – L.R. 1528 – aimed at establishing a statewide redevelopment office to administer a state land bank. This project is intended to empower local governments in redeveloping derelict or abandoned properties. This bill is being considered by the current legislative session and if successful will help to establish a cooperative relationship between a State office and regional and local governments to redevelop and revitalize properties across the region, and the State.

Central Maine Food Hub Pilot

• Through a number of conversations related to food insecurity, food waste diversion and industrial composting, and food production, a need was identified for a coordinated approach around one regional entity. Following the lead of similar established projects in Maine and across the country, Robyn is hoping to identify key supporters and facilitate the creation of a Central Maine Food Hub that will add capacity to ongoing food resiliency programs. 

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Partnerships

Resilience Practitioner Cohort

• Establishes and maintains relationships between our colleagues across Maine engaging in similar and complementary work in planning, economic development, and community health. These connections make our work more effective by breaking down the barriers that separate regions and professions.

Affordable Housing Task Force

• The Affordable Housing Task Force was convened in 2020 to address the short- and long-term implications of the affordable housing shortage in the Greater Augusta area. Robyn has joined in an effort to engage with issues related to housing and to represent KVCOG. Our hope is to build on inter- and intra-regional projects attempting to address housing insecurity with an emphasis on our rural communities with the goal of pursuing a regional housing assessment for the KVCOG service area.

GrowSmart Maine

• GrowSmart Maine works to provide responsible, informed choices for communities to grow and change. KVCOG has collaborated with GrowSmart Maine on a number of projects, and we hope to include additional programming related to sustainable housing development and a regional housing assessment in the near future.

Waterville Area Soup Kitchen (WASK)

• KVCOG was approached by the Waterville Area Soup Kitchen, a newly-formed group committed to rebuilding soup kitchen operations in Waterville, with the goal of helping them obtain the services they need by facilitating conversations and assisting with the fundamental research needed for a start-up nonprofit. In this and other similar relationships, Robyn’s role is to collaborate and facilitate partnerships.

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Contact Us

Robyn Stanicki
Community Resilience Coordinator

(207) 453-4258 ext.211

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