Second round of grants to support Hurricane Ida recovery and preparation for 2022 hurricane season

Hurricane Ida was the largest and worst storm of 2021, causing billions of dollars in damage across the U.S. It came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Aug. 29. It slowed down and stalled over southern Louisiana, bringing flooding rainfall, heavy winds and high tides along the Gulf Coast. More than a million Louisiana customers lost power, some for weeks. Then Hurricane Ida continued inland and across the country, eventually causing significant damage along the east coast.

We recently awarded a second round of grants from the CDP Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund. These grants continue our effort to support local community recovery from Hurricane Ida throughout Louisiana and to help prepare for the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season. As with all CDP grantmaking, the population of focus is any population disproportionately affected by a disaster, which typically includes people living in poverty, communities of color, immigrants and refugees, seniors, single-parent households, children and others marginalized by systemic inequities.

Here are our newest grantee partners:

Center of Hope for Tangipahoa (long-term recovery group for Tangipahoa and St. Helena Parishes) –$200,000 to identify and assist residents of Tangipahoa and St. Helena Parish who have unmet needs as a result of Hurricane Ida.

Culture Aid NOLA – $50,000 to support “July Supply,” an event aimed at preparing the families of New Orleans for the coming most-active months of the season hurricane season. Culture Aid distributes kits of supplies that can be stored at home until needed in the event of a storm, including flashlights, batteries, shelf-stable foods and bottled water

ToolBank USA – $100,000 for the establishment of ToolBank Disaster Services – New Orleans operation to help those rebuilding after Hurricane Ida. They will work in Terrebonne, Lafourche, Saint Charles, Jefferson, Orleans, Saint Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes.

VIA LINK – $80,000 to provide data that supports the recovery process. This includes data about the pace of recovery, what needs residents have and what resources are available to them. VIA LINK creates sophisticated dashboards that centralize and interpret this data for a range of disaster recovery organizations.

Read my February blog post to learn about our grantee partners that received funding from the CDP Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund earlier this year.

We anticipate a busier than usual hurricane season for 2022. At CDP we stand ready to support recovery from storms that disproportionately affect already marginalized populations who may still be recovering from previous events. We are grateful to these critical partners for the work they’re doing!