Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD)

Frederick County is strategically reinvigorating its Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD), which currently exists only informally. Many organizations already provide essential services, maintain trusted community relationships, support vulnerable populations, and contribute resources during emergencies. However, without a shared governance structure, activation process, communication framework, and agreed upon responsibilities and priorities, coordination can remain informal, episodic, and dependent on individual relationships.

The County intends for the COAD to serve as the County’s community resilience network. This renewed initiative will establish a cohesive, mission‑aligned framework that strengthens coordination among nonprofit, faith‑based, private sector, educational, healthcare, volunteer, philanthropic, and governmental partners, enhancing collective readiness, response effectiveness, and short- and long‑term recovery across the county.

The completed project shall result in a functioning, member driven COAD that can sustain collaboration in preparedness activities during blue sky periods, coordinate effectively during response and recovery, and strengthen community resilience over time. The consultant’s work shall emphasize practical implementation, broad member ownership, measurable outcomes, and alignment with recognized COAD and VOAD practices while remaining tailored to Frederick County.

This project is grant-funded with a period of performance ending May 30, 2027.

**Submission:** Only electronic submissions will be accepted through the OpenGov Procurement Portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/frederickcountymd/projects/298010. Registration will take two (2) business days.

**Proposal due:** Tuesday, November 17, 2026, 2:00 pm.

The County intends to award to the responsive and responsible Contractor whose proposal represents the best value to the County.

The estimated contract value is between **$40,000.00** and **$45,000.00**.

The contract period shall be for 5 months commencing on or about January 1, 2027. The County requires the work to be completed no later than May 30, 2027.

Contractors must be engaged in consulting to facilitate the launch and early development of a Community Organizations Active in Disaster and shall have been actively engaged in this field for a minimum of three (3) years.

No bid deposit, performance bond or payment bond amount applies. The awarded Contractor must return an Insurance Certificate naming Frederick County as an additional insured, the executed Agreement, and the Maryland Registration Certificate of Good Standing.

Tentative presentation/interview date: December 8, 2026.