Closing the Interim Housing Cliff:
Is Your State Prepared to Transition 10,000+ Displaced Residents from Emergency Shelters to Interim Lodging Within 14 Days?
The State Disaster Readiness Initiative (SDRI) is an executive strategy framework and HSEEP-aligned exercise. It brings State Emergency Management Directors, ESF-6 leads, and State/Federal Housing Task Force stakeholders together to stress-test interim lodging capacity, resolve critical supply bottlenecks, and establish a pre-disaster, FEMA-reimbursable deployment roadmap before a catastrophic event occurs.
A workshop built around your team, your priorities, and your readiness.
The "Day 14" Housing Cliff
During major catastrophes, states face three distinct housing phases.
Immediate Mass Care
Congregate shelters, cots, and Red Cross operations.
Interim Lodging
Commercial lodging, non-congregate housing, and multi-family leasing.
Permanent Recovery
FEMA Direct Housing, manufactured housing, and permanent rebuilds.
The primary bottleneck occurs in Phase 2. When emergency shelters close and hotel inventory maxes out, long-term federal housing remains months away from site permitting and utility hookups. SDRI bridges this exact gap while protecting local commercial lodging capacity for incoming mutual aid workforce strike teams.
What Every Workshop Delivers
Workshop Objectives
A half day that helps your leadership answer the questions that decide how the first 72 hours actually unfold.
States gain a clear, working picture of their readiness and a roadmap they own. LCI works alongside your team as a collaborative partner from the very first workshop.
Built for the People Who Own the First 72 Hours
SDRI works best when the agencies and partners responsible for housing decisions sit at the same table.
A Three-Phase Framework for State Disaster Housing Resilience
Most states begin with Phase 1. Each phase stands on its own, so there is no need to commit to all three up front, and each builds on the momentum of the one before, moving your state from first awareness to a fully executed disaster housing strategy with LCI alongside you at every step.
Executive Briefing | State Disaster Housing Readiness Assessment
Convenes State Executive Leadership, ESF-6 Leads, and Housing Task Force stakeholders to establish a capability baseline, evaluate current lodging inventory, and identify critical policy and operational gaps.
Deliverables
- Executive SitRep
- State Housing Gap Analysis
- Initial Priority Matrix
Tabletop Exercise (TTX) | Inter-Agency Housing Stress-Test
An HSEEP-compliant scenario exercise simulating a mass-displacement disaster. Stress-tests the state's ability to transition 10,000+ residents into interim housing within 14 to 30 days while managing commercial lodging constraints and first-responder workforce staging.
Deliverables
- After-Action Report (AAR)
- Improvement Plan (IP)
- 90-Day Operational Roadmap (Eligible for EMPG/grant funding)
Strategic Playbook | State Disaster Housing Implementation Plan
Establishes a state-specific disaster housing operational playbook, pre-scripted Resource Request System (RRS) templates, standby vendor contracts, and FEMA PA Category B / Direct Lease cost-share coordination frameworks.
Deliverables
- Comprehensive State Disaster Housing Playbook
- Pre-Scripted Task Orders
- Governor's Decision Briefing
A Plan for Every Hazard
The Blueprint includes hazard-specific playbooks so response is decided long before the event, not during it.
Wildfire
Flood
Earthquake
Hurricane
Winter Storm
Mass Displacement
From First Conversation to Full Execution
Each step earns the next. The state stays in control the whole way, and LCI stays at the center of the work.
Phase 1
Establishes the executive capability baseline and identifies the gaps.
Phase 2
Stress-tests readiness through an HSEEP-aligned tabletop exercise.
Phase 3
Delivers your state-specific disaster housing playbook.
Ongoing Partnership
LCI helps execute through advisory, exercises and support.
Start with the workshop.
Let's build readiness together.
Reach out and a member of our team will help you scope a workshop for your state. We handle facilitation, deliverables, and follow up, so your team walks away with a clear picture of where readiness stands and what comes next.
The Readiness Workshop. Built Together.
It identifies challenges and begins a three-workshop framework tailored to your state.
State Authority & Procurement Alignment
The State Disaster Readiness Initiative is structured to operate within existing state emergency administrative statutes and federal reimbursement programs.
State Command & Control
The State Emergency Management Agency and Governor's Office retain 100% operational command and resource-tasking authority. Lima Charlie serves as a specialized logistics force multiplier for State EOC Logistics and ESF-6.
Pre-Disaster Contract Mechanisms
Supports standby Master Service Agreements (MSAs), State Term Contracts, and emergency procurement exemption frameworks to ensure rapid deployment without bidding delays.
Federal Reimbursement Ready
Workflows are pre-configured to align with FEMA Public Assistance (PA) Category B (Emergency Protective Measures) and Individual Assistance (IA) Direct Lease guidelines.