Medical reserve corps small grants program - the national association of county and city health officials (NACCHO) supports this five-year medical reserve corps (MRC) small grants program

The project goal is to develop and sustain a trained and ready volunteer workforce to support local response needs through building capabilities of the MRC network, identifying and addressing response barriers, and developing a sustainability plan. NACCHO's objectives are to: 1) provide a five-year MRC unit sub-award funding opportunity to strengthen unit response capabilities; 2) identify and evaluate impact of MRC sub-award funding to improve response capabilities; 3) restructure, update, and promote the use of common deployment readiness guidelines; 4) identify and promote the MRC network capabilities; 5) improve integration of the MRC in local, statewide, and/or interstate deployments; 6) provide resources and training to support sustainability of unit leaders, volunteers, and MRC units; and, 7) increase MRC promotion through brand awareness and recognition. The expected outcomes of this project are: 1) increased MRC unit preparedness and response capabilities; 2) increased awareness of MRC response capabilities and financial value; 3) strengthened understanding and application of MRC deployment readiness practices as a standardized set of tools and language; 4) increased understanding of barriers to improve MRC integration and response planning; 5) greater peer-to-peer networking and learning opportunities to enhance unit capabilities; 6) strengthened unit leader skills, volunteer management, and continuity of best practices; and, 7) enhanced brand visibility and MRC network promotion. The products of this project are: 1) small grants and award evaluations; 2) MRC network profile reports including a dashboard; 3) training series; unit resources; 4) focus groups; conferences; workshops; and 5) communications products.