Opportunity Overview
The Kauaʻi Emergency Management Agency (KEMA) is accepting FY2027 Grant-in-Aid proposals for local emergency-preparedness needs that benefit Kauaʻi when adequate federal or state funding is unavailable. The current round includes separate funding opportunities for new Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programs, damage assessment/search and rescue/aerial public warning and notification, and Emergency Support Function 6 (ESF-6) mass-care and sheltering operations.
Funding and Deadline
Deadline: September 30, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. HST. On September 14, 2026, the County officially extended the deadline from September 15 to September 30. Applications must be received by the deadline; the County states that postmarks do not control.
Funding: Up to $10,000 for each new CERT funding opportunity; $10,000 total for the damage assessment/search and rescue/aerial public warning opportunity; and up to $50,000 for refuge-area/sheltering operations. Funding decisions are expected around October 1, 2026. The project period is October 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.
Eligibility and Key Rules
The County states that eligible private or nonprofit organizations may apply. The reviewed damage assessment/search and rescue/aerial warning application requires an applicant to be a private organization, nonprofit corporation or unincorporated association organized to benefit the people of Kauaʻi and able to provide relevant local emergency-support services where adequate federal or state funding cannot be secured.
The current application requires an organization description and qualifications, project description and measurable outcomes, a project timetable, budget and budget narrative, other funding sources, a list of the board of directors, and evidence that the signer is authorized through bylaws or a corporate resolution. The budget worksheet asks applicants to show County cash, other cash and in-kind support; the packet states that match and in-kind funding are valued rather than stating a mandatory match. Administration is capped at 20% in the budget worksheet. Recipients must comply with applicable laws and licensing requirements and provide quarterly fiscal and program reports plus a year-end report.
Completed applications are submitted to kema@kauai.gov.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 82/100. This is a strong local emergency-preparedness opportunity for qualified Kauaʻi organizations, especially established search-and-rescue, CERT and sheltering partners. The modest award sizes limit broader strategic value.
N9+ Fit Score: 12/100. The Nonagon N9+ remote physical-exam platform is not a natural core fit for these grants and should not be forced into them. Search-and-rescue medical assessment could theoretically create a use case, but the controlling program is focused on emergency-preparedness capacity rather than telehealth delivery.
QC Healthcare Fit: 22/100. Preparedness or responder-health training could create a limited supporting role, but QC Healthcare is not the principal program fit.
Direct vendor review: Dr. Miltie should not be advanced as the direct applicant for the reviewed SAR opportunity because the applicant must provide qualifying local emergency-response assistance and satisfy the charitable-activity requirements. A vendor/subcontract role is also low priority unless an eligible grantee identifies a legitimate need.
Strong Applicant Prospect
Kauai Search and Rescue — Atlas Organization Opportunity Score: 98/100. KSAR is a nonprofit volunteer search-and-rescue organization that responds at the request of official Kauaʻi agencies, trains year-round, and relies on grants and donations for equipment and training. Its mission directly maps to the KEMA SAR funding category.
Next Action
Qualified Kauaʻi emergency organizations should select the funding category that matches their actual operational role and prepare a tightly scoped October 2026–June 2027 project budget. For KSAR, the strongest concept is a direct search-and-rescue capacity project involving eligible equipment, communications, field-safety tools or training rather than an N9+ purchase.
Official source: County of Kauaʻi deadline-extension notice.