Evaluation Report How Trust-Based Philanthropy Fueled Nonprofits’ Swift Response after Hurricane Ida
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT To our community; It was nearly noon on August 29, 2021—the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina—when Hurricane Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon in Southeast Louisiana. It was a Category 4 storm, and its impact was devastating, especially in the Bayou Region, River Parishes, Northshore, Grand Isle, and Plaquemines Parish. When a disaster like this hits, we often turn to metrics of impact: power lines downed, numbers of buildings and homes destroyed, meters of water level rise. This is critical information to track and understand. But when we respond to disasters, we respond to people. When the Foundation learned that Ida was coming, we thought about the people we have come to know and love through our work. We knew some of our nonprofit partners were already planning their efforts. Others would take action just after the storm had passed. We stood behind them, and our funders did, too. In this report, we reflect on that work through a particular snapshot in time—from just before the storm hit, to six months afterwards, in early spring 2022. Within three weeks of the storm, we’d raised $4 million from 1,300 generous donors. Much of our funding went to “rapid response” grants, through which we can get funds swiftly to nonprofits in the face of emergency. We had supported more than 70 nonprofits, and distributed over $3 million, by October 2021. In this document, we aim to capture the impact of those early grants through stories, data, and photography from our grantee partners themselves. The damage Hurricane Ida left in its wake is by no means fully repaired, and families and communities are still recovering both physically and emotionally. As yet another hurricane season is upon us, our nonprofits continue to meet our region’s needs, and we continue to support them. Their work grows stronger and more effective every day. We also know that every day, our efforts around climate resiliency grow more urgent. Our region’s nonprofits are aware of this, and they are working to mitigate the impact of future disasters. By supporting their work, our donors show foresight and innovation—they look ahead, knowing that together, we will build a more secure and sustainable future. Sincerely, Andy Kopplin President & CEO, Greater New Orleans Foundation Doris Z. Stone Chair in Philanthropic Leadership
BACKGROUND: A SWIFT RESPONSE AFTER HURRICANE IDA TRUST-BASED PHILANTHROPY IN ACTION The “rapid response” grantmaking this report explores is part of an impactful, efficient process the Foundation has developed over many years. This was a collective effort — we at the Foundation could not have responded without the collaboration of local leaders, elected officials, nonprofit teams, neighbors, donors, and community members. Throughout our response, we are neighbors before we are funders and program officers. We listen and build real relationships, as people, with those who have been most affected and who are doing the hardest work. Then, fueled by the generosity and compassion of our donors, we act. We show up for nonprofits—and because they ask us, we stay engaged. Our approach to disaster response grantmaking is trust-based philanthropy that leverages foresight, strategy, and empathy. Together with our nonprofit partners, we think ahead. We are constantly integrating the expertise and experience of our region’s nonprofit leaders. We hone our work based on their feedback, input from our partners in other communities, and the latest knowledge in this field. As the 2020 hurricane season began, local nonprofits joined us for a hurricane preparedness workshop so they could develop their own response plans. Together, we heard from members of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness as well as local emergency management offices from New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, and St. Tammany Parish. Since 2019, we have also given nonprofits the chance to pre-register with us to receive expedited grants for disaster response in case of emergency. As the storm approached, our region was preparing. We were, too. On Friday, August 27, two days before the storm hit, we knew that communities all across our region were bracing, and we got to work supporting them. We were in touch with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng and other regional leaders, taking stock of the resources on the ground and assessing the expected need. When President Biden granted Governor John Bel Edwards’ request for an emergency declaration for the state of Louisiana, we immediately activated our Disaster Response and Restoration Fund. Using our knowledge of the landscape and experience from past disasters, we processed $50,000 in grants to five nonprofits that were pre-staged to respond. They provided food and medical aid, disaster cleanup, and a phone hotline to connect residents to more resources. In the days just after Hurricane Ida made landfall, our grantee partners took action. Ida had a devastating impact on Southeast Louisiana, particularly in the Bayou Region, the River Parishes, Laffite, and Grand Isle. Nonprofits and grassroots groups there responded immediately.
To best support them, we needed to know the true extent of the damage. So within forty-eight hours of the storm, we were on the phone with parish officials across the region, getting close reports from the ground. We wanted to know the most significant challenges, and learn how governments were responding so that we did not duplicate their efforts. Our CEO, Andy Kopplin, met with the governor and parish leaders to coordinate statewide action. Then we got in touch with nonprofits directly, especially those in the hardest-hit areas. We asked them what they needed. We also asked them to connect us with other nonprofits, grassroots efforts, and local leaders they knew. We listened, learned, researched, and then began awarding grants ranging from $20,000 to $150,000. The groups we supported were offering emergency health services, food distribution, legal and technical assistance for FEMA aid applications, emergency shelter, mucking and gutting operations, and more. These organizations were of all types and sizes—from larger, older nonprofits, to emerging grassroots efforts. We tailored our process to ensure we equitably funded organizations led by people who are Black, indigenous, and people of color more broadly. We know many of these organizations face disparities in funding and are more likely to be serving communities of color, who often face the greatest harms from disasters. We also know these organizations personally. In our first round of giving, 44% of nonprofits we supported had executive directors of color; this matches the demographics of our 13-parish region, where 44% of residents are people of color. We adjusted our grantmaking process to fit the urgency and constraints of the moment. We gathered information and conducted our due diligence verbally instead of requiring organizations to fill out a formal application when they had no power or internet. We transferred funds via ACH instead of delivering checks that groups might not be able to cash for weeks. We also traveled in person to the Bayou Region and the River Parishes. We loaded up our cars with supplies that our partners had requested, like diapers and cleaning products. We delivered these goods in person as we met with leaders and saw their operations. We listened and learned. We also offered advice where we could, made connections across our networks, and personally delivered the news of grants. We tended to the relationships we have built over many years. We wanted to assure communities in our region that we have their backs. Our donors were moved to act, too. They placed their trust in our efforts. Throughout this difficult time, we were moved and energized by the immediate generosity of our donors. We were able to tell them with confidence that we could get their funds to the people who needed it most, and quickly. We received major gifts from the Baltimore Ravens in partnership with The Stephen & Renee Bisciotti Foundation, as well as from the Atlanta Falcons via the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Mrs. Gayle Benson created the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund, and from those efforts she personally contributed nearly $800,000 to the Foundation, which we matched dollar for dollar. Within five days of the storm, we had raised $2 million. Less than three weeks out from the storm, over 1,100 people had joined us to raise over $4 million. A month and a half after the storm, we had raised $6 million and distributed half of it. Our region’s nonprofits will continue this work, and we will remain active partners.
The hardest-hit parishes in our region may take years to fully recover. They are looking ahead, rebuilding for the future, and we will not abandon them. We reserve approximately 40% of all disaster response funds for long-term recovery, because we know our communities’ needs don’t go away when the news coverage ends. We will keep awarding grants and we will learn from these efforts to strengthen our support going forward.
A CONVERSATION WITH ISABEL BARRIOS Isabel Barrios is a senior program officer and our in-house disaster recovery expert. We asked her to describe some key aspects of trustbased philanthropy in a disaster. How is disaster grantmaking different from other grants the Foundation makes? Disaster grantmaking is a particular kind of grantmaking that is in response to an event—a disaster. But disaster grantmaking is also very related to the work that we do year round. The impact of disaster really is about the kind of conditions that people experience day-to-day, the infrastructure, and the quality of housing that they live in. The better-off people are, the less vulnerable they are to disasters. So any foundation that’s working on changing socially-produced conditions is really working on long-term disaster preparedness and mitigation. How do you pick grantees during such a chaotic time? We trust people to do the work. And we trust people to know how to best use the funds to help their community. There is a whole layer of “due diligence” that has to happen in order for us to be able to make a grant. We have to adhere to IRS rules, and so organizations that we give money to have to be in good standing with the IRS. But our due diligence is also very relationship-driven. We confirm what organizations are doing good work from our existing relationships with nonprofits across the region. We also learn from board members, elected officials, local leaders, program officers, other foundations, and people who are doing work in the field. We look to the people who are loved, trusted, and looked up to. We also ask our grantees, “Who’s out there doing the work?” They want to tell us. They’re really generous—they want to see other nonprofits get resourced to do aligned, collaborative work. In addition to that, we read whatever is being reported in the papers or online. And whenever we can, we do visual verifications—we’ll drive out to the place and see what people are doing. We join the state and regional Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) calls, in which organizations share and coordinate their responses as well.
We try to do all of that very quickly. Whenever we know that a storm is barreling in, we’re on our way. We are texting, we are calling, we are checking in with people so that we can have something lined up right away. *** This report will take a closer look at the work of these nonprofits in the six months after Hurricane Ida.
A STORY OF IMPACT: WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT After a disaster, The Foundation engages in trust-based philanthropy. Our donors trust us to use their funds to fuel the greatest possible impact in our region. We, in turn, trust our nonprofits’ expertise and action. In this report, we seek to share their impact, and answer some key questions about nonprofits’ experiences through early spring 2022. 1. How have nonprofits used rapid response funds so far to address the impact of Hurricane Ida on our region? 2. What can we learn from our nonprofit partners about disaster response, and about how to improve our own disaster grantmaking in the future? We worked to answer these questions in several ways: •
Through interim grant reports, in which our nonprofit partners provided data about their impact—such as meals served or homes repaired—as well as reflections and narratives about their experiences. We kept the report process streamlined, as we know our nonprofit leaders are busy, and we were flexible in gathering their responses.
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Through focus groups—we engaged local specialists in nonprofit impact to facilitate conversations with two groups of grantee partner leaders. We compensated each participant for their time. The event also served as an informal networking and collaboration session.
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Through photography and storytelling—we know that numerical data is only one way to measure a nonprofit’s success, so we asked grantee partner leaders to share stories and photos that represented their experiences. We believe our partners should be fully in charge of their own narratives. We aimed to amplify their voices and make space for them to tell their own stories in their own way. This is one of the best ways we have to understand the impact they have in their communities.
In the pages that follow, we are proud to share the findings with you alongside our own context, reflections, and role in the work.
KEY FINDINGS AROUND GRANTEE PARTNER NONPROFIT OPERATIONS THROUGH SPRING 2022 1. Up against dual disasters of a pandemic and a hurricane, nonprofits have been engines of recovery. Their creativity and resilience has fueled real impact despite enormous challenges. 2. In the wake of Hurricane Ida, nonprofits needed fast, responsive, low-tech grantmaking. 3. Nonprofits work together when they can, but they want to collaborate and communicate even more. They want to join forces, not duplicate efforts, and they need support in doing so. 4. Over time, nonprofits honed their response to adapt to immediate community needs. In the initial aftermath of the storm, they served everyone impacted, then increasingly directed services towards those with the greatest needs. 5. Nonprofits’ recovery efforts are ongoing. Nonprofits are still hard at work, but they’re exhausted and emotionally drained. Our partners need continued support. 6. Long-term recovery means planning for the next disaster—with a focus on equity, community, and sustainability. Nonprofits want to be prepared for crises. They want to have the resources and plans they need before disaster hits.
HOW GRANTEE PARTNERS RESPONDED, AND WHAT THEY NEED NOW FINDINGS FROM FOCUS GROUPS, INTERVIEWS, INTERIM GRANT REPORTS, AND CONVERSATIONS At the Foundation, we hold fast to principles of resilience, equity, civic participation, and sustainability in our disaster response grantmaking. We define these principles as: Resilience: Grantmaking and disaster recovery should improve a place holistically, so it is stronger than it was before a disaster. Sustainability: Grantmaking and disaster recovery should take into account a long-term view of an uncertain future. Equity: Grantmaking should take into account present and historical barriers to access and resources, and work so that there are not disparate outcomes or opportunities along lines of difference, such as race, gender identity, or socioeconomic status. We work to create a community where everyone can thrive. Civic Participation: Grantmaking and disaster recovery should leverage and engage the local community as leaders in their own recovery. Our grantee partners exemplified these principles, and we learned much from what they had to share. We are pleased to share the lessons we learned: THE NEEDS OUR GRANTEE PARTNERS ADDRESSED Immediately after the storm, communities across our region had urgent, pressing needs. Our grantee partners
used their grants to address them, providing food, water, ice, cleaning supplies, shelter, and “mucking and gutting.” They also helped their communities charge their cell phones, raise their sunken fishing boats, wash clothes, and care for their pets.
By the spring of 2022, about four months after the hurricane, nonprofits continued to offer critical survival resources like food, water, and shelter, but they also identified other pressing needs. At this point, many nonprofits had shifted into the “recovery” or “rebuilding” phase, and said that some of the most pressing needs in their community included home restoration, health services (including mental health), and accessing benefits.
Through all phases of their response, nonprofits navigated how to conduct their work amidst the reality of COVID-19. They needed supplies, information, and access to medical care and vaccines, all of which were hard to come by in the midst of a hurricane response. A FOCUS ON EQUITY: THE PEOPLE GRANTEE PARTNERS SUPPORTED Our region’s nonprofits know that disasters do not affect everyone equally. Those with the fewest resources before a storm face the greatest harms—a home in need of repair before a Hurricane is less likely to withstand heavy winds and rains, and a family without the funds to evacuate to safety from a storm are left in greater danger. As one grantee partner leader put it: “Preparing for a storm is expensive: You need food, water, batteries, medicines, and expensive supplies. You need time off to prepare. For families and individuals who live paycheck to paycheck, an end-ofmonth storm can be devastating. Bills are due, benefits won't renew until the next month (and may not be usable until there's power), and many families lack the savings they'd need to purchase the recommended 72 hours of food, water, and supplies.” Over ninety percent of grantee partners prioritized support for families earning a low income. A majority also focused their response on supporting community members who are people of color, seniors, people with disabilities, and/or living in rural areas.
The nonprofits the Foundation supported spanned our 13-parish region and beyond. Many grantees, regardless of where they were based, pivoted their operations to support the hardest-hit areas, such as the Bayou and River Parishes.
WHAT WE LEARNED There were many commonalities across nonprofits’ experiences responding to the storm. 1. Up against dual disasters of a pandemic and a hurricane, nonprofits have been engines of recovery. Their creativity and resilience has fueled real impact despite enormous challenges. Hurricane Ida transformed communities, so nonprofits adapted. Many nonprofits adjusted the way they operated, and some shifted their services to respond to the need they saw. Many grantee partners moved locations to the hardest hit parishes, and expanded who they serve within their mission. A small nonprofit in Terrebonne Parish, for instance, had been working to build a local bandstand. After Ida hit, they switched gears entirely and turned a local distillery into a staging area and distribution site for groceries and supplies. They traveled to the hardest-to-reach parts of the bayou, bringing necessities to community members who couldn’t, or weren’t ready to, leave their homes. A lawyer from Larose had launched a nonprofit to respond to the impact of COVID-19 in her community. After Ida hit, she began gathering food, cleaning supplies, and water—soon enough, she’d covered the entire floor of a school gym with large white plastic buckets of supplies for residents to take. A nonprofit designed around planting trees switched gears and started tarping roofs. A legal services nonprofit helped with FEMA appeals. Community centers, church lawns, and grocery store parking lots became food pantries and supply distribution sites, lit by generator-powered lamps and an occasional fan as the heat climbed over ninety degrees. Nonprofits met the basic needs of their communities for food, water, ice, cooling centers, showers, clothes, fuel, shelter, and cell phone charging stations. They provided legal assistance, financial support, advocacy, hotlines, and information. They addressed healthcare needs, offering COVID-19 vaccinations and emergency health services, mental health first aid and treatment. One grantee partner rebuilt houses with the help of young apprentices learning to do construction work. They trained a future workforce and created jobs as they helped families return to their homes. Nonprofits also harnessed the power of volunteers—many of them local—who supported everything from mucking and gutting, to tarping, rebuilding, and re-roofing. To fuel work like this, nonprofits were creative in their fundraising. Many utilized grants like the ones the Foundation provided. Many also solicited donations in other ways. As one grantee partner put it: “We did a radio broadcast in Panama City, Florida, asking for donations. And within literally thirteen hours of making that broadcast, they had a truck heading my way…they provided pretty much whatever we needed.” Then, using their ingenuity and adaptability, nonprofits put resources to the best possible use. 2. In the wake of Hurricane Ida, nonprofits needed fast, responsive, low-tech grantmaking. For weeks and even months after Hurricane Ida hit, communities across our region had no electricity or internet. In Grand Isle, power did not fully return until January 2022. Our region’s nonprofits faced urgent needs that required funding, but their leaders didn’t have time to fill out long grant applications. Many also didn’t have the
means to submit them online. Phone battery life was precious and cell coverage was spotty. Leaders therefore had to forgo funding that required long applications. One grantee partner leader put it this way: “We had damage to our homes and we also did not have electricity. We also didn't have water. So if you would have asked us to do a grant proposal at that point, there was no way.” Grantee partners told us they were grateful for the Foundation’s focus on swift, responsive grantmaking. We were able to do so in part because we had learned so much from philanthropic colleagues that led the way in testing and applying these practices elsewhere. As one leader explained of the support they received from the Foundation and senior program officer Isabel Barrios: “They were so much quicker with the funding coming through, and the applications were shortened. And that made an enormous difference. Because I literally was working out of my house with nothing, not even a generator for three weeks, no power, nothing. And no cell phone working. Isabel is like my hero, because I can literally call her in tears.” The Foundation will maintain this commitment to fast, low-barrier, trust-based grantmaking every time we respond to a disaster. We use what we learn from this process to inform our longer-term grantmaking as well. 3. Nonprofits work together when they can, but they want to collaborate and communicate even more. They want to join forces, not duplicate efforts, and they need support in doing so. When we hosted focus groups to learn about our grantee partners’ experiences, it quickly became clear that these discussions were far more than focus groups. Our grantee partners were connecting with one another before they even sat down at the table for the discussion. Some had never met, and some had worked closely together before. Some had heard of one another's work but never been together in person. Some hadn’t seen one another in a very long time. As we began asking questions, our partners were eager not just to share their experiences, but to connect. They wanted to help one another, and they wanted to learn. They were trading strategies, sharing recommendations, and even making plans to collaborate after they left us that day. There was a palpable sense of camaraderie and release. At the end of ninety minutes, it was difficult to bring the conversation to a close. Across these focus groups, as well as in our interim grant reports, our interviews, and our informal conversations with grantees, this was a resounding commonality: nonprofit leaders want to connect with one another. They want to share volunteer power, resources, and information. One grantee partner leader said they wanted a better way to communicate with other nonprofits and community members alike. At one point in the recovery, they had set up a number of meal distribution sites, but were struggling to get the word out. As they put it: “We had to send a message to those families about the specific meal locations, because they don't know, and they don't have time or money or gasoline to get in their car and search for it. So if there's one point of contact where they actually can go to list all of those points of distribution, for your hot meals or your commodities…that would be essential.”
Grantee partners sought the Foundation’s help with this. They asked to receive the full list of grantees the Foundation had supported early on, so they could know who else was responding in their area and nearby. They asked for help coordinating and connecting during both times of disaster and times of calm. One said: “There's a great opportunity for GNOF to fund organizations in the blue skies to build up their relationships.” Nonprofits in our region have already leveraged relationships in generous, effective ways. They want to see resources used efficiently, even when that means giving up some of their own. One grantee partner leader told a story about a day they ended up with more ice than they needed. They said: “You have to work together and help each other…we didn't need all that ice. There was a need in Des Allemands. So my brother made a call.” This leader’s brother worked with the local fire department to get the ice transferred to the people who needed it. Nonprofit leaders respect one another. They share tools and refer clients and volunteers to one another. To the Foundation's immense gratitude, they recommend one another for the funding opportunities they receive. One leader said: “If something that comes in falls in my lap, and I can't use it, or my organization can't use it, but I know that [another organization] can, I pass it along to their organization, and they pass things to us.” We are moved by their generosity and their fierce conviction that we are stronger together. We will keep working to facilitate that connection and develop concrete ways to help nonprofits work together. 4. Over time, nonprofits honed their response to adapt to immediate community needs. In the initial aftermath of the storm, they served everyone impacted, then increasingly directed services towards those with the greatest needs. The Foundation pursues equity in our grantmaking process, and our grantee partners seek equity in their resource distribution. They want to make sure their entire community has what they need, but also that those with the least access to resources before disasters get the most support to recover. To accomplish this, our grantee partners first focused on community-wide needs in the direct aftermath of the hurricane. They offered supplies, food, and support to everyone they could reach. Many relaxed eligibility criteria early on to accommodate more people. Over time, however, they targeted their support to those with the highest needs in order to support an equitable recovery. As one grantee partner wrote: “During the initial Response phase…we take a whole-community approach, looking for underserved communities. Then we prioritize the households with veterans, single parents and pregnant residents, [and people who are] elderly and disabled.” Another shared: “Upon transitioning to long term repair work, we have the time to take a more expansive and house-
hold-specific approach to identifying who needs the most help with housing recovery. Therefore, we now also look at a household’s social vulnerability based on residents’ membership in marginalized or excluded demographic groups, and we look at the extent to which each specific household is economically struggling.” The hurricane impacted some occupations more than others, too. In some parts of Southeast Louisiana, fishing is a way of life and a key part of the economy. Hurricane Ida sank and destroyed many boats, which meant fishermen couldn’t earn the money they needed to pay for repairs. In one of our focus groups, we learned of a resident of the Bayou region who spent the storm, with their children, on their spouse’s boat. They felt it would help them reduce damage to the boat and preserve their livelihood. After the leader told this story, our focus group turned into an impromptu strategizing session. Many nonprofits in the room worked with fishermen, and suddenly, they were trading ideas for how to help them get back to work. Our grantee partners have the local knowledge of who needs the most help, and how that help is best delivered. Their awareness, and their responsiveness, is a guide for our own efforts. 5. Nonprofits’ recovery efforts are ongoing. Nonprofits are still hard at work, but they’re exhausted and emotionally drained. They need continued support. In our disaster grantmaking, we seek to promote sustainability. We know recovery work must be sustainable, and our region requires environmental sustainability in order to lessen the impact of future disasters. In early spring of 2022, five months after the storm, 80% of grantee partners were still responding directly to the impact of Hurricane Ida. At this point, they reported challenges, including: •
A slowdown in funds and resources after the initial phases of recovery: nonprofits faced slowing support alongside a lag in receiving federal aid and insurance funds. It was difficult for nonprofits to solicit continued funds or apply to new grants while they were initially responding to the disaster. Now, they’re grappling with the impact.
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A lack of resources to meet continued demand: nonprofits are no longer receiving the same number of volunteers as they did early on or even in past disasters before the pandemic. They also face a shortage of specialized workers—there are too few medical professionals to help their community due to COVID-19, and communities feel the impact of the “skilled labor shortage” in home rebuilding and repair.
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A lack of sustained political and media interest: nonprofits in some of the most impacted areas told us they feel forgotten. After the surge of national focus in early September 2021, news outlets and politicians seemed to move on.
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Continued need for affordable housing and basic supplies: even as communities rebuild, many residents find themselves unable to afford housing. Residents are still in need of basic supplies, food, and support, yet donations have long since slowed down.
One of the largest ongoing needs nonprofit leaders face is around mental health. Both nonprofit teams and their communities need mental health resources and support. Nonprofit leaders were especially worried about children, who had missed so much school, and the social support it provides, during the storm and from prior COVID-19 shutdowns.
Leaders are determined, but they are also exhausted, stressed, and overburdened. In our focus groups, nonprofit leaders were sometimes overwhelmed by emotions as they spoke of their experiences. They’d faced a “sprint” of response that had turned into a marathon. Many hadn’t had time or the ability to repair their own homes or secure the resources they needed for their families. As one grantee partner leader put it: “When your team lives in the community…and they are doing this work, I think we need to not ignore the mental health of our teams. I think we need to really put some dollars, and find some grants, that focus on the mental health of your team. Because your team has been running, running, running, running.” Another leader said: “For all of our ‘tireless efforts,’ we are freaking exhausted.” In their grant report, one nonprofit team member wrote: “Hurricane Ida was stressful. The fact that we were already feeling the long-term mental health effects of the pandemic, we were in a fragile state when we realized we were being impacted by another severe hurricane, and on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina to boot.” As we continue our work with our region’s nonprofits, we know their needs are complex and ongoing. We must help them as they address the physical and psychic toll of the disaster. We must stay connected even when other support runs out. 6. Long-term recovery means planning for the next disaster—with a focus on equity, community, and sustainability. Nonprofits want to be prepared for crisis. They want to have the resources and plans they need before disaster hits. We heard our grantee partners return over and over again to the concepts of equity and sustainability when they talked about their long-term response. Many say they’ve become “disaster pros” whether or not they wanted to. Now, it’s a matter of making sure the next disaster doesn’t hurt as much. Our partners are clear that when they rebuild physically, it needs to last. They know that Southeast Louisiana will sadly face more disasters, and they want to be prepared. As one leader put it: “We really feel like when we are rebuilding that we need to be taking into consideration green rebuilding and green infrastructure. Projects like trees, and bioswales, and all of that, so that we are more resilient.” Grantee partners talked about “blue skies” planning for disasters, whether through building relationships, collecting resources, or developing action plans. Their reflections included: “You know, under blue skies, why are we not storing fuel? Cleaning supplies and tools? Masks, all of your protective gear?” “We have to build relationships in blue skies so that when they are gray we know where to go.” They know that planning for the future means learning from the past. They suggested to their colleagues that they turn their most effective responses to Hurricane Ida into best practices going forward, much as some of
them did after Hurricane Katrina. They had reflections such as: “What took months following Katrina took weeks after Ida. For those of us who were veterans of Katrina, we knew what needed to happen, and how to move forward in a more organized manner. We knew that through working together, lending a hand to our neighbors, we could recover.” “We have an emergency operations plan, so that was really instrumental and we had staff that went to check on the warehouse, start generators, roll out the trucks. We had tarps, we had all the things that we needed to do work in the warehouse, so we were ready on day one of responding.” As nonprofits move more fully into long-term recovery, their leaders are aware that rebuilding must be both sustainable and equitable. They are creative—one nonprofit, for instance, is putting solar panels on the new roofs they put on. But even when all physical structures are rebuilt or repaired, our communities have a great deal of work to do. The inequities across Southeast Louisiana mean some residents feel the impact of disaster more than others, and recovery is uneven along lines of race and economic status. Nonprofits know this, and many are targeting their long-term support with equity in mind. We know that disasters are especially devastating for those who are already experiencing poverty, unstable housing, and food insecurity. Our region has long grappled with weak infrastructure, especially in rural parishes, as well as inequitable access to housing and healthcare. So when Ida toppled power lines, blocked roadways, left residents without medical care, and destroyed houses, these inequities grew deeper. As nonprofits respond and rebuild from Hurricane Ida, their leaders know they are addressing much more than the impact of Ida alone. As they go forward, they are striving to make the investments of time, energy, and funding that can help the most vulnerable areas become less vulnerable to disaster going forward. *** We learned a great deal from grantee partners through their grant reports and focus groups. We had the chance to connect with four nonprofit leaders for longer conversations about their experiences responding to Hurricane Ida, and are proud to share their stories here. We also asked them to share photographs with us. The images they shared are placed throughout these articles, and throughout the report as a whole. ***
WORKING TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE, EQUITABLE FUTURE As funders and civic leaders, we are inspired by the creativity, ingenuity, and determination of our grantee partners. As weather disasters become more frequent, we need to find, and fund, new solutions. We must believe in a future for our region that is greener, stronger, and more sustainable than feels possible—then we must work for that future until we see it come true. At the Foundation, we are lucky to have fundholders, partners, and collaborators who are working toward that future, too. We know that an equitable, sustainable future is possible for our region, and every day, our partners like Pastor Bernard, Theresa Dardar, John Dias, and Jeray Jarreau are proving it. They know that Southeast Louisiana has faced far too many disasters in recent years. They’ve faced those disasters head-on. But they persist in rebuilding, and we persist in our support. Together, we grow stronger each time.
APPENDIX: OUR DISASTER FRAMEWORK Our disaster response strategy is comprehensive. We continue to refine it as we learn. Below, we share a brief overview of the strategy itself and the values that ground it.
The problem we face: Greater New Orleans has faced disasters and crises in recent years, from Hurricane Katrina to the arrival of COVID-19. It is clear, unfortunately, that there will be disasters to come. Sea levels are rising at alarming rates. Our coastal land is subsiding dramatically, and storms are becoming more intense and frequent. How we address it: As a leading disaster recovery and resilience funder in the Gulf South, the Greater New Orleans Foundation is equipped to respond to the many threats we face as a region, most recently natural disasters and the COVID-19 crisis. We address not just the immediate needs of our community and its nonprofits, but also
the short and longer-term needs for recovery, and the planning required to lessen the toll of future disasters. What grounds us: We are guided by our commitment to civic leadership; we are in this work not just because it takes a toll on our environment and economy, but because it deeply impacts our community. And we know that not all of us are impacted equally; when it comes to both crises like flooding and COVID-19, people of color and low-income communities have been most at risk. Our response must take such realities into account. We hold fast to principles of equity, sustainability, civic leadership, and resilience. Why we succeed: We meet the threats we face from a position of strength; we have experience overcoming disasters. We have addressed crises alongside our neighbors in the Gulf South, in Puerto Rico, and in the Philippines. We know what works. We use this knowledge alongside ongoing research to inform our response and recovery strategy. When we have acted: We were active in recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina. In the years that followed, our work centered around natural disasters both in Greater New Orleans, and outside of it when our experiences meant we were uniquely equipped to help. We addressed the BP oil spill in 2010, Hurricane Isaac in 2012, the flooding in Baton Rouge in 2016, the tornadoes in New Orleans East in 2017, and Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, Florence, Michael, Barry, and Dorian between 2017-2019. In 2020, we supported recovery from the earthquakes in Puerto Rico. In 2020, we expanded our focus beyond natural disasters to crises of public health with the COVID-19 crisis. In 2021, we addressed the devastating impact of Hurricane Ida, and in March of 2022, we responded to the tornadoes in parts of our region. The actions we take: The Greater New Orleans Foundation’s disaster response strategy encompasses: • • • • • • • • •
Strategic coordination with government, nonprofits, and the philanthropic sector Internal preparation and external preparation with partners like donors and nonprofits Tactical communications to support our efforts Research into local nonprofits, community leaders, and best practices around disaster recovery. Responsive grantmaking that helps nonprofits and individuals rebuild Peer support to other foundations and place-based funders Fundraising Capacity building for nonprofits Activation of employee assistance funds
Hurricane Ida Disaster Response & Restoration Fund Donors Since 2020, the Foundation’s Disaster Response and Restoration Fund has awarded over $11 million to nonprofits serving our 13-parish region. We acknowledge the generosity of many individuals and families, including leading contributions from the following donors:
Alan & Sherry Leventhal
Forman Watkins & Krutz LLP
Rockefeller Foundation
Aliski Family Fund
Freeport McMoran
Sharon D. Lund Foundation
Amalgamated Foundation
Further Forward Foundation
Silicon Valley Community
Annenberg Foundation
Glaxo Smith Kline
Foundation
Aramco Americas
Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund
Southern Insulators and Reliable
Arnold Ventures
Greg and Donna Howard Family
Glass and Mirror
Aronson – Besthoff Fund
Fund
Stephen Elledge
Arthur Jung III
Hilliard Lyons Trust
Swedish Match North America
Bertrand and Mariann Wilson
Hueber-Breuer Construction
The Arthur M. Blank Family
Family Fund
Company
Foundation
Boeing Company
Humana Foundation
The Baltimore Ravens and the
Canal Barge
IBERIABANK/First Horizon
Stephen and Renee Bisciotti
Capital One
J Aron Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Foundation, Inc.
Casey Langteau Art, LLC.
JP Morgan Chase Foundation
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of
Catherine Meehan Donor Advised
Kenneth Spradley Donor Advised
Louisiana Foundation
Fund
Fund
The Charles & Lucille King Family
Cathy and Walter Isaacson
Kresge Foundation
Foundation
Chevron USA
Molina Family Foundation
The Governor’s Disaster Fund
Delta Dental Community Care
Mrs. Gayle Benson
The PepsiCo Foundation
Foundation
Mrs. Lore Aloro
TJX Foundation
Dennis and Alisson Allen
Peterson Family Foundation
United Health Foundation, Inc.
Dick J. Guidry Fund
Rachael Schultz Fund
Walker Sturdivant
DJR Foundation
Reily Foundation/Ethel Reily Dicks
Wells Fargo
Donald B. Tanklage and Carole F.
Memorial Fund
William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable
Tanklage Foundation
Reily Foundation/H. Eustis &
Trust
Eugenie & Joseph Jones Family
Frederica G. Reily #1 Family Fund
William Randolph Hearst
Foundation
Reynolds American and Sante Fe
Foundation
Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
Natural Tobacco Company
Winky Foundation
Five Below
Robert Merrick Family Fund
Hurricane Ida Disaster Response & Restoration Fund Grantees We were proud to support the following organizations with rapid response grants in the wake of Hurricane Ida. We are immensely grateful for all they have done: 504HealthNet
El Centro
Luke’s House Clinic
Acadiana Legal Services
El Pueblo NOLA - NOLA Village
Market Umbrella Crescent Saul’s Light Fund Saving Our Urban Maroon Landscape (SOUL)
All Hands and Hearts Bayou Community Foundation
Emergency Legal Responders
Sankofa
Mary Queen of Vietnam
SBP
Matthew 25:35
Second Harvest Food Bank
Familias Unidas
Mount Calvary Church
Feeding Louisiana
Music and Culture Coalition
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services
Bless Your Heart, Larose
Fletcher Technical Community College
NAMI New Orleans
Southern Mutual Help Association
Blessed to be a Blessing International Ministries
Forward Together New Orleans
NAMI St. Tammany
St. Charles Council on Aging, Inc.
Bayou Country Animal Foundation Bayou District Foundation Bayouland YMCA
Northshore Disaster Recovery
Bogalusa Help Center, Inc. Friends of Grand Isle Boys Town Louisiana
Giving Hope
Broadmoor Improvement Association
Habitat for Humanity
New Wine Christian Fellowship
Team Rubicon
Next to Eat
The Level Up Campaign
Nicholls State University Hurricane Relief Fund
The Salvation Army of Greater New Orleans
Hache Grants Association Nola Tree Project Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New OrleansHands On Northshore Food Bank
Together Louisiana
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Houma
Operation Restoration Our Daily Bread
Training Grounds
Household of Faith
Plaquemines Community C.A.R.E. Centers
United Houma Nation
Jefferson Community Foundation
Project Hope
Catholic Community Center, Galiano Circle of HOPE, Inc. Coastal Communities Consulting
Helio Foundation House of Tulip
Junior League of New Orleans Diaper Bank
Committee for a Better New Orleans Level Up Campaign Common Ground Relief Crescent City Family Services Culture Aid
Rebuilding Together New Orleans Red Cross
Rice and Beans Ministry First Peoples Conservation Council Rooted School Louisiana Policy Institute for Children
Samaritan’s Purse
Together New Orleans Uncommon Construction United Way of St. John Parish United Way St. Charles VIA LINK World Central Kitchen YMCA of Greater New Orleans
About the Disaster Response & Restoration Fund: With the partnership of generous individual, corporate, and philanthropic donors, we have made impactful grantmaking, provided critical technical support to nonprofits, elevated important issues in the public discourse, and collaborated with government and business leaders to solve critical challenges in the midst of disaster. The Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Disaster Response and Resetoration Fund and supporting initiatives ensures Southeast Louisiana and other Gulf Coast communities are stronger when confronted with disasters. Our disaster grantmaking is grounded in equity, sustainability, resiliency, and community engagement.
GREATER NEW ORLEANS FOUNDATION CENTER FOR PHILANTHROPY 919 St. Charles Avenue New Orleans, LA 70130 | www.gnof.org PHONE: 504-598-4663 | FAX: 504-598-4676 INSTAGRAM: @gnofoundation TWITTER: @gnofoundation FACEBOOK: @greaterneworleansfoundation YOUTUBE: @gnofoundation