Preparing our home in the Square for the storms we know are coming — a flood protection project for the neighborhood business that keeps Roxbury's tours, market, and gatherings on the calendar.
Visit Nubian Square, LLC has applied to the Readiness for Resiliency (R4R) Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant — a $5,000 grant to help small businesses prepare for natural disasters before they strike. Our Business Profile was submitted on November 6, 2026, and our founder completed the program's "Know Your Hazards" disaster resilience course the same day.
Where things stand: the application is submitted and pending. Grant recipients are notified on January 15, 2027. No award has been made — this page describes the project we have proposed.
The hazard we plan for first is flooding and water intrusion from heavy rain and winter storms. Our business operates from a lower-level unit at 1 Elmwood Street in Roxbury — and a lower-level space takes water first when the street and the drains can't keep up.
Nubian Square's drainage burden is something we see up close: through the Boston Green Infrastructure Program, our team does the gutter cleaning and sharps removal for Nubian Square itself, storm after storm. Boston's other standing hazard is the winter storm — blizzards and nor'easters that freeze pipes, cut power, and shut down the tours and events this business runs. One heavy-rain event that puts water into our unit would take out stored tour and event equipment, our records, and the office we run bookings from — and every tour, market day, and event on the calendar would stop with it.
The project hardens our lower-level office and storage space at 1 Elmwood Street against water intrusion, in five parts. Every item answers the same risk: water getting in, and the power loss that comes with the storms that bring it.
Barriers fitted to the unit's entry points, stored on site and put up ahead of a forecast storm — keeping water out at the doors.
A sump pump system installed by Carlos Arzu Martinez, licensed plumber and local union member, sized for the unit, with battery backup so water removal keeps working when the power is out.
A backflow valve on the unit's drain line, installed by Carlos Arzu Martinez, the same licensed plumber — stopping the street's water from coming up through our own drains.
Sensors at the water entry and the low points of the unit, with an automated shutoff — so a leak or a burst pipe is caught in minutes, not after a weekend.
Exposed pipes insulated against freeze, critical tour and event equipment raised on platforms above floor level, and business records moved into waterproof, fire-resistant storage.
Implementation: Carlos Arzu Martinez, licensed plumber and local union member, for the pump, valve, and pipe work; barriers and sensors fitted by their vendors; the work supervised and documented by our own team, with photographs at every step. Work would begin only after award notification.
| Item | Estimated cost |
|---|---|
| Deployable door flood barriers, fitted (2 entry points) | $1,250 |
| Sump pump system with battery backup, installed (licensed plumber) | $1,600 |
| Backflow prevention valve, installed | $900 |
| Water sensors + automated shutoff, installed | $500 |
| Waterproof / fire-resistant records storage + equipment elevation platforms | $750 |
| Pipe insulation / freeze protection for exposed pipes | $400 |
| Total project cost | $5,400 |
| R4R grant requested | $5,000 |
| Visit Nubian Square, LLC contribution | $400 |
With this project done, a heavy-rain night or a nor'easter becomes a cleanup, not a closure. The office stays dry and powered, the equipment and records survive, and the work this neighborhood counts on stays on schedule:
We are part of how this neighborhood works — and we intend to stay open for it, through every storm season.
The Readiness for Resiliency (R4R) Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant is a program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, sponsored by Verizon. It helps for-profit small businesses identify their most likely natural disaster risk and fund a mitigation project before disaster strikes. Preparing for this application, our founder completed the "Know Your Hazards" course on Verizon Small Business Digital Ready.