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Homeland Security Foundation

The 20 Cities Project©

I. Project Description

The purpose of this project is to establish Homeland Security Programs in 20 (twenty) major cities located throughout the USA in collaboration with partner institutions. The 20 American Cities were chosen taking into consideration the size of the city, population, their strategic locations and/or their distance to strategic sites. The population in these cities presents 12% of the entire country population. The chosen cities are as follow (in alphabetical order):

1. Atlanta, GA 11. New York, NY

2. Boston, MA 12. Philadelphia, PA

3. Chicago, IL 13. Phoenix, AZ

4. Columbus, OH 14. Pittsburgh, PA

5. Dallas, TX 15. Raleigh, NC

6. Detroit, MI 16. San Antonio, TX

7. Houston, TX 17. San Diego, CA

8. Indianapolis, IN 18. San Francisco, CA

9. Los Angeles, CA 19. Seattle, WA

10. Miami, FL 20. Washington, DC

Update: Due to the receptivity and great potential of this project, HSF has decided to extend an invitation to participate to other cities, especially those with accredited Public Health Schools Public Health Programs within the United States of America. The additional cities are as follow:

21. Albuquerque, NM 31. Milwaukee, WI

22. Ann Arbor, MI 32. Morgantown, WV

23. Birmingham, AL 33. Nashville, TN

24. Baltimore, MD 34. New Brunswick, NJ

25. College Station, TX 35 New Haven, CT

26. Columbia, SC 36. New Orleans, LA

27. Denver, CO 37. Oklahoma City, OK

28. Jackson, MS 38. Portland, OR

29. Loma Linda, CA 39. Richmond, VA

30. Minneapolis, MN 40. Salt Lake, UT

II. Project Goals:

HSF is raising fund as “seed money” to establish the following programs in these cities for the first three years:

a) Degrees and Training

HSF will provide funds to promote degrees and training in Public Health and Homeland Security. In addition, HSF will promote training for small businesses’ owners and schools’ teachers and administrators. The budget for degrees and training is about $9.3 million in the target cities. This budget will increase if more than 20 cities participate.

b) Research in Bio/Chemical Warfare

HSF will assign funds for research in bio/chemical warfare, public health system, institutional response, terrorism and community preparedness. The budget for research is $ 11.0 million and will be allocated among the target cities. This budget will increase if more than 20 cities participate.

c) Artistic Expression

HSF will promote artistic works through performing arts, painting, theater, drawing, music, poetry and photography .The partner institutions in each city will receive assistance for artistic work that promote the values of democracy, freedom and the negative consequence of domestic and international terrorism. The estimated budget for Artistic Expression is about $ 4.0 million. This budget will increase if more than 20 cities participate.

d) Community Services

HSF will assign funds to educate the community about the importance of terrorism awareness and preparedness. In addition, HSF will promote activities to help Crime Watch programs. The estimated budget for community training is about $ 5.2 million. This budget will increase if more than 20 cities participate.

III. Need Assessment

In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on America on September 11, 2001 followed by the Anthrax attack, it was evident to America and to the rest of the world that the USA was taken by surprise, and that the country was not well prepared to provide quick and coordinate responses to those attacks. America is very well prepared to fight a traditional war where the enemy is visible and can be located on a specific region of the world. The war against terrorism, however, is a new type of war, where the enemy can be among us and one that requires another type of preparedness. The terrorist attack to America on September 11, 2001 cost many lives, emotional and psychological pain and an enormous economic loss to the country. Any effort to avoid a catastrophe like this in the future should be welcomed and supported.

IV. Project Justification

Large and mid-size cities are more likely to be chosen as target for a terrorist attack due to concentration of larger population and important historic, economic, political and military sites. Schools and small businesses are the most vulnerable institutions under a terrorist attack in large and mid-size cities. A high proportion of the adult population works in small businesses in large and mid size cities. Small businesses are normally located in busy commercial and financial areas. Also they can be part of clusters such as malls and shopping centers. On the other hand, children and the young population will be attending schools if the attack occurs during day time. For all these reasons, this project is targeting large, mid size cities, small businesses and schools.

The main purpose of this project is to promote and coordinate public and private partnerships in issues of Homeland Security and total-well being in the 20 American cities chosen as the first target for the first two years. Both, President Bush and Director Tom Ridge have spoken several times about the importance for the country of creating this type of partnerships. Public-Private Partnerships are important, especially in the war against terrorism, because the protection of this land, values and institutions is not only a responsibility of Federal, State and Local governments but also a responsibility of private citizens and institutions. Promoting public and private partnerships in delivering Homeland Security Programs will help to pool together financial resources, expertise, physical capacities and know-how in order to reach common goals. HSF programs located inside partner institutions will be a referral place to create more awareness, public preparedness and better responses to terrorist attacks. HSF will develop these programs in collaboration with universities, community colleges, research institutes, local government, law enforcement agencies and non-profit community organizations.

VI. Initial Task

HSF is inviting leader institutions to participate and have the leadership of this project in those cities. The partner institutions will deliver the programs and will cooperate with HSF in fundraising activities, progress reports, outcome evaluations, publication and any other activities and tasks related to this project. Please, contact us if your institution would like to participate.

VII. Procedures

The initial contacts with the Schools of Public Health and Public Health Departments by HSF will be completed soon. HSF is initiating the process of finalizing the final proposal to be submitted to potential donors. This project (if funded) will grant about $ 2,000.000 to Public Health Schools and Public Health Departments per city for three years to strengthen their training and research capacities, to train the community and to promote artistic expression in collaboration with Schools of Arts. HSF is committed to raise the funds for this project with the support and collaboration of the participating schools, private sector and the government. HSF will keep close communications with the Schools that expressed interest in participating. Please, contact us if you have any questions or suggestions.

VIII. Requirements and Responsibilities

The participation in this project is by invitation. HSF has chosen and invited the Public Health Schools and Public Health Departments to participate. HSF has assigned the city to each School according to their geographical location and target cities goal of this project.

a) A letter of intent to HSF expressing the desire to be included in this project

b) A brief description of the activities and projects (within the four areas of the 20 Cities Project) that are of the priority of each school and will be part of this project. This description should include the amount of funds to be allocated for each according to the budget of $2,000.000 per city for three years. All the activities and projects should be related to the goals of the 20 Cities Project.

b.1 Degrees and Training (Public Health Professionals, First Responders, etc.)

b.2 Research

b.3 Artistic Expression

b.4 Community Services:

b.4.1 K-12 Schools (Teacher and Administrators)

b.4.2 Small Businesses (Owners)

b.4.3 Neighborhood Crime and Terrorist Watch Organizations

b.4.4 Others ( Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Red Cross, Chambers of Commerce, etc)

c. An annual Progress Report to be sent to HSF at the end of each academic year

d. Final Report at the end of the third year. This Final Report should include the following:

d.1 Description of the activities and projects included in this project and the funds allocated

d.2 Evaluation and potential impact of this project for the school, public health professions and homeland security in their community (including artistic expression)

d.3 Recommendations

Tasks and Responsibilities of HSF:

a. To prepare the final proposal

b. To raise the funds from US corporation, public sector, individuals and other institutions and give the funds to each participating schools on an annual base and according to the budget of $2,000.000 per city for three years. The funds for the first year will be granted as soon as the project is funded. The funds for the second and third years will be granted after HSF receives the Progress Report evaluations.

c. To collect the annual Progress Reports from the participating schools and prepare an annual report to be sent back to them and donors.

d. To prepare a final report (at the end of the third year) to be sent to the participating schools and donors

Note: The 20 Cities Project is a pilot project and the experience and recommendations of the participating schools should be used to help the public health professions, arts institutes, the government, private sector, and the communities at large to pursue similar projects in the future.

For questions and suggestions, please, contact HSF

sdillon@homelandsecurity-foundation.org

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