Washington, DC, March 31, 2025 – The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the country’s over 3,300 local health departments, is pleased to announce the 2025 Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) Operational Readiness Awards (ORA). These awards, made possible through a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response’s Office of Medical Reserve Corps, will build the operational readiness capabilities of MRC units to meet the emergency preparedness and response needs of local, regional, and statewide stakeholders. The awards will support 157 units to build MRC response capabilities (Tier 1) or strengthen and sustain MRC response capabilities (Tier 2).
The MRC is a national network of volunteers, organized locally to improve the health and safety of their communities. The MRC network comprises more than 300,000 volunteers in roughly 800 community-based units located throughout the United States and its territories. MRC volunteer skills are utilized across a range of activities including providing medical, shelter operations, and behavioral health support after natural disasters like tornados, wildfires, and flooding, first aid during large public gatherings, and community education around personal and family preparedness. According to the 2022 Network Profile of the Medical Reserve Corps, MRC units dedicated a total of 1,114,618 volunteer hours to emergency and non-emergency activities in 2022 – equating to an economic value of over $35 million.
- Tier 1 Awards ($5,000) – Build MRC Response Capabilities: Tier 1 provides funding for units to build capabilities to meet local response needs. This funding may support units that are smaller in size, are targeting a specific need, are newly formed, or are rebuilding their MRC units if previously inactive or underutilized.
- Tier 2 Awards ($10,000) – Strengthen and Sustain MRC Response Capabilities: Tier 2 provides funding for units to strengthen and sustain current capabilities for primary or evolving response missions. This funding is intended for units that have an established volunteer management structure, have the capacity to further expand their unit response capabilities, have a demonstrated record of supporting public health emergency responses, or have a record of supporting multiple natural disaster response missions.
2025 MRC Operational Readiness Awards were granted to each of the following local MRC units:
Tier 1 Awards – $5,000
- Alabama – Black Belt MRC, Dallas County MRC
- Arizona – La Paz County MRC, Yuma County MRC
- California – California Veterinary MRC, San Mateo County MRC
- Connecticut – Housatonic Valley MRC, Milford MRC
- Georgia – Southwest Georgia Regional MRC
- Hawaii – Big Island MRC, Kauai MRC, Maui County Health Volunteers, Oahu MRC
- Idaho – Eastern Idaho Public Health
- Illinois – DuPage County Health Department MRC, Edgar County, Jo Daviess County Health Department Emergency Volunteers MRC, Skokie MRC
- Indiana – Lawrence County MRC
- Kentucky – Bluegrass MRC
- Massachusetts – Bristol-Norfolk MRC, Burlington Volunteer Reserve Corps, MetroWest MRC
- Missouri – Christian County MRC, Southwest Lakes MRC
- Nebraska – Three Rivers Public Health MRC
- New York – Columbia County MRC, GO Health VALOR MRC, Niagara County MRC, Rensselaer County DOH MRC, Sullivan County MRC
- Ohio – Pickaway County MRC Unit, Pike County Ohio Medical Reserve Unit, Wood County MRC
- Oklahoma – OKMRC District 5 MRC - Southwest OK
- Oregon – City of Cannon Beach MRC
- Pennsylvania – Bucks County MRC
- Texas – Alamo Area MRC, Brazos County Health District, West Texas MRC
- Virginia – Blue Ridge Health District MRC, Lord Fairfax MRC, Near Southwest MRC, Portsmouth Health District MRC
- Washington – Chelan-Douglas MRC, Northeast Tri County MRC, Vashon Island MRC
- Wisconsin – Greater La Crosse Area MRC, Marathon County MRC
Tier 2 Awards – $10,000
- American Samoa – American Samoa MRC Unit
- Arizona – Maricopa County Public Health MRC, Mohave County MRC, Santa Cruz County MRC of Arizona
- California – Contra Costa County MRC, Marin MRC, Sacramento MRC
- Colorado – Colorado Veterinary MRC - West, Front Range Veterinary MRC of Colorado, MRC of El Paso County, Rocky Mountain MRC of Colorado
- Connecticut – Capitol Region MRC, Naugatuck Valley MRC, Shoreline MRC, Torrington Area Health District MRC
- Florida – Nassau County MRC
- Georgia – Clayton County MRC, Preston Harpe MRC of East Central Georgia
- Illinois – Bond County MRC, Kane County MRC, Macoupin County MRC, Monroe County MRC, Peoria City/County Health Department MRC, South Central Illinois MRC, St. Clair County MRC
- Indiana – District 7 MRC, Marion County Health Department
- Iowa – Johnson County MRC
- Kansas – Jefferson County Health Department
- Kentucky – Healthcare Emergency Area 4 Response Team (HEART) MRC
- Louisiana – New Orleans MRC
- Massachusetts – Berkshire MRC, Brookline Department of Health, City of Springfield, MA Health and Human Services MRC, Metro East MRC, Norfolk County 8 MRC, Upper Merrimack Valley MRC/Westford Health Department, Wachusett MRC
- Minnesota – MN Mobile Medical Team, MRC of Hennepin County, MRC of Ramsey County, University of Minnesota MRC
- Missouri – Cape Girardeau County MRC, Macon County Community Volunteer Corps, Pleasant Hill MRC, Schuyler County MRC
- Nebraska – Loup Basin MRC, Panhandle MRC
- New Hampshire – Central NH MRC, Lakes Region MRC, Northern NH Unit MRC
- New Jersey – Mercer County MRC, Sussex County MRC, Union County MRC
- New Mexico – Southern New Mexico MRC
- New York – Erie County MRC, Schoharie County MRC, Ulster County MRC
- North Carolina – Capital MRC
- Northern Mariana Islands – Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands - CNMI MRC
- Ohio – Cincinnati-Hamilton County MRC, Clark County MRC, Cuyahoga County MRC, Fairfield County MRC, Fulton County MRC, Hancock County MRC, Lorain County MRC, Medina County MRC, Portage County MRC, Richland County MRC, Sidney-Shelby County Health Department, Union County MRC
- Oklahoma – OKMRC Tulsa County MRC, OKMRC Stress Response Team, OVMA SART MRC
- Oregon – Coos County MRC
- Pennsylvania – South Central PA MRC
- Puerto Rico – MRC of Puerto Rico
- Rhode Island – Rhode Island Behavioral Health MRC, Rhode Island Junior MRC, Rhode Island MRC, Rhode Island Veterinary MRC
- Tennessee – Shelby County Health Department MRC
- Texas – Brazoria County MRC, Coastal Bend MRC, Dallas County MRC, Galveston County MRC, Harris County MRC, Montgomery County MRC, The University of Texas at Austin MRC
- Utah – Southwest Utah MRC, Summit County Utah MRC, Utah County MRC
- Virginia – Loudoun MRC, Southside MRC, Southwest Virginia MRC, Three Rivers MRC
- Washington – Jefferson County MRC, Pierce County MRC, Whatcom County MRC
- Wisconsin – Eau Claire County MRC, Juneau County MRC, Saint Croix Valley MRC, Sawyer County MRC
To view more information for each MRC unit, visit the ASPR MRC unit directory.
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About NACCHO
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the over 3,300 local governmental health departments across the country. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information, visit www.naccho.org.
