Announcing Six New Recovery Grants for the Caribbean and Florida

I am proud to announce that the Center for Disaster Philanthropy has awarded six grants for communities in Florida, Puerto Rico, St. John, St. Croix and Barbuda to support ongoing recovery efforts. These grants from the CDP 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund and the CDP Hurricane Irma Recovery Fund complement more than 20 prior grants awarded to community organizations providing support in housing, livelihoods, health and renewable energy sectors — all areas where disaster recovery intersects with disaster preparedness.
The new grants include:

• $100,000 to Love City Strong to promote and install new UV and carbon filtration systems on residential cisterns over a 12-month period for senior citizens, single-parent families, low-income households and people with disabilities on St. John.
• $50,000 to the St. Croix Foundation for Community Development’s Community Solar Project in partnership with the Virgin Islands Workforce Investment Board, Sustainable Systems International and Lion’s Den Solar. The project will train 40 individuals on fiber optics and solar installation through the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER).
• $49,917 to the Monroe County Long-Term Recovery Group to provide support to volunteers working on repairs and reconstruction to homes damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Irma.
• $49,398 to COSSMA, Inc. in Puerto Rico to grow their “Strengthening Our Roots” program that will expand to new community health clinics to train and support 150 households on home gardening and food security.
• $25,328 to Fundación Casa Cortés to reduce levels of post-traumatic stress in the elderly population through interactive healing and art therapy activities.
• $25,000 to the Antigua and Barbuda Red Cross to support families on the island of Barbuda with ongoing repairs and reconstruction to their homes.

Each of the new grant recipients are local organizations working directly with the communities they serve. They consist of staff and volunteers from their communities and the understanding they bring matters for successful recovery efforts. From my years as an Emergency Manager, I know the importance of supporting local organizations that were there before the disaster and will be there during the entire recovery process to help their communities heal and thrive.