Community Assistance Planning Program

Big needs, little budget?

Communities around Oregon face a range of pressing needs – economic development, social equity and affordability, revitalization, resiliency, and consensus building – but not all have the expertise or resources to tackle the issues. Through OAPA’s Community Assistance Planning Program (CAPP), volunteer planners help communities break through planning challenges and come up with practical, implementable recommendations.

The program is designed to bring planning resources and opportunities to communities that would otherwise not have access to these services or planning expertise, and to strengthen the ability of community members to influence or determine decisions that affect their quality of life. The CAPP seeks to foster community education and civic engagement.

The CAPP is a pro bono program, meaning that the program provides the time of planning experts to a community without compensation. However, the community may be asked to provide meeting space, refreshments, or other resources; limited funding from OAPA may also be available to help defray costs.

Services and resources for wildfire recovery

The CAPP has expanded its services to assist Oregon communities with long-term wildfire recovery and resilience planning, including identifying best practices and resources to help communities plan for and recover from wildfire disasters. 


Recovery planning helps a community determine how, where, and what to rebuild after a disaster. The output is often very focused on projects and implementation. Resiliency planning looks ahead to what events and circumstances might impact a community and how best to prepare for those circumstances. In other words, it helps prepare a community to adapt and recover quickly from disruptions, like wildfire, earthquakes, etc., and helps to make that community more self-sufficient in the process.

Attention planners! We need volunteers for CAPP!

OAPA needs members with a variety of skills and experience to serve on upcoming CAPP workshops. Volunteers will be selected based on the expertise required to address each community’s needs. AICP members may be eligible to earn pro-bono CM credits for their service

For More Information

Contact Deb Meihoff, FAICP for more information on OAPA's Community Assistance Planning Program.