Announcing $3.7 million in grants to support hurricane recovery in Florida and Appalachia

Last year’s Atlantic hurricane season was a memorable one in the U.S., and nobody knows that better than the people marking a year of recovery from catastrophic Hurricane Milton while keeping their eyes on this year’s forecasts.

Thanks to CDP’s Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund donors, my colleagues and I have spent the last year forming new relationships and deepening existing ones with community leaders—some with years of experience navigating disaster recovery, and some who have been thrust into a new world since September 2024. The following grants, totaling more than $3.7 million, are the result of those relationships. The grants support local and community-based organizations and larger organizations working directly with community groups to build their capacity to lead recovery:

• Appalachia Funders Network, through fiscal agent Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, received $260,000 to host a data consortium, standing up and maintaining a web-hosted data visualization tool, and acting as the lead aggregator of recovery funding data for a four-state region impacted by Hurricane Helene in September 2024.
• Collier Disaster Alliance was awarded a $500,000 grant for Hurricane Milton recovery. Collier Disaster Alliance is repairing and rebuilding homes for Collier County’s most vulnerable survivors using resilient rebuilding practices, including Fortified™ roofing and elevated HVAC and water heater installations.
• Habitat for Humanity of Florida was granted $230,000 to support two local affiliates in Pasco and Sarasota Counties in their efforts to stabilize housing for the most vulnerable survivors in their service areas in light of the significant housing recovery needs caused by Hurricane Milton. The affiliates provide temporary shelter solutions, supply furnishings, appliances and materials, and leverage volunteer and licensed contractor labor to provide essential repairs for homeowners who are unable to recover their housing without assistance.                       
• Information Technology Disaster Resource Center received a $400,000 grant, with $200,000 coming from the Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund, to support the deployment of volunteer information technology specialists to provide, install and maintain wireless access points to low-access and low-capacity communities impacted by Atlantic hurricanes, California wildfires, and other disasters in California, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Outcomes will include more connectivity for first responders and communities, enabling them to resume normal “online life,” including banking, work, school and recovery navigation. This grant was made in collaboration with the Disaster Recovery Fund and the California Wildfires Recovery Fund.
• Invest Appalachia received $299,500, with $236,900 from the Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund, to embark on a two-year coordinated communications project to support long-term disaster recovery from Hurricane Helene and other recent extreme weather events. A recovery communications coordinator will amplify local stories of resilience and recovery across all six Central Appalachia states, including stories around disaster impact, community recovery and the critical role of proactive investment in rural resilience as the region continues recovery from extreme weather events that have occurred over the past several years. This grant was made in collaboration with the Disaster Recovery Fund.
• Lowlander Center was awarded $250,000 to completely rebuild four homes destroyed by Hurricane Ida for members of the Pointe au Chiens Indian Tribe in their Tribal village in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, Louisiana, in partnership with Mennonite Disaster Service. The homes will be elevated and built to IBHS Fortified™ Gold standards to ensure resilience in future hurricanes and coastal flood events and generational durability to help preserve enduring residence on what remains of the Tribe’s ancestral homeland.
• NC Local received $50,000 to support creating and maintaining a Western North Carolina hub to ensure that Western North Carolina residents and survivors of Hurricane Helene can access trustworthy information about ongoing recovery efforts that directly affect their lives.
• Rebuilding Together Greater Florida received $350,000 to repair or rehabilitate 75 homes for vulnerable, displaced and impacted households in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. The project will incorporate resilient construction techniques to better position clients during the next disaster, and coordination with other area voluntary organizations to ensure equitable recovery across the service area. This grant was made through funds designated for Florida’s recovery from Hurricane Helene.
• SBP received $350,000 to support an owner-occupied rebuilding operation serving and preserving home equity for low-to-moderate-income homeowners. The program incorporates both volunteer and professional labor models and uses resilient rebuilding construction techniques, including replacing roofs to FORTIFIED™ standards, to strengthen homes in the face of future disasters. This grant was made through funds designated for Florida’s recovery from Hurricane Helene.
• ToolBank USA was awarded $250,000 to sustain and expand their ongoing services supplying area nonprofits with tools, equipment and expertise to achieve their recovery goals. Funding will support staffing, operations, and the provision of tools and other critical rebuild and repair resources for community-based organizations throughout the region as they work toward long-term housing recovery. This grant was made through funds designated for Florida’s recovery from Hurricane Helene. Learn more about the impact of this grant here.
• United Way of South Sarasota County received $209,060 for recovery from multiple hurricanes in coastal Florida. UWSSC will use the funds to staff a full-time director of recovery and resilience for two years, ensuring smooth coordination of services for survivors, including disaster case management, rebuild and repair assistance, and meeting miscellaneous unmet needs brought to the attention of the long-term recovery group.
• United Way of Southwest Virginia was awarded $500,000 over two years to expand and strengthen its Citizen Recovery and Preparedness Program, providing recovery and preparedness education and household disaster preparedness kits to communities impacted by Hurricane Helene and Winter Storm Jett, as well as recovery navigation and critical repair services to impacted households across every affected county in the state.
• Vibrant Emotional Health received $600,000, with $200,000 from the Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund, to support disaster behavioral health training and preparedness across multiple U.S. states in response to recent disasters. The funding will strengthen their Crisis Emotional Care Team, expand expertise with national specialists, and provide trainings, such as Psychological First Aid and Skills for Psychological Recovery, to nonprofits, first responders and community leaders. This work will enhance recovery coordination and build long-term resilience in communities facing recurring crises.

CDP will continue to make grants to support recovery from the 2024 hurricane season and past seasons. As always, our grantmaking will focus on equitable recovery for all, with attention placed on supporting historically marginalized populations often left behind in disaster recovery.

If you or your organization would like to explore how you can help U.S. communities and our Atlantic neighbors secure the resources for long-term recovery from hurricanes like Helene and Milton, please contact CDP at info@disasterphilanthropy.org.