Together, We Have Rebuilt Homes, Lives and Our Community!
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Since Hurricane Ida made landfall here three years ago, Bayou Community Foundation has worked swiftly and strategically to help local residents and nonprofits recover from the Category 4 storm’s devastation and to rebuild lives and our communities.
Our Bayou Recovery Fund has truly served as the philanthropic engine in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle, with $12 million in charitable gifts invested or committed to date to fund critical relief and recovery services and welcome our people back home.
BCF Responds Quickly To Fund Critical Nonprofit Relief Services
As Category 4 Hurricane Ida approached our coast, Bayou Community Foundation opened its Bayou Recovery Fund for Hurricane Ida Relief and, within hours of her landfall when the extent of the devastation emerged, the Foundation was accepting generous donations from around the country.
Within one week, with power still out through most of our region, BCF launched a massive gasoline distribution program in Golden Meadow, Grand Caillou and Montegut to help the most impacted residents fuel generators and automobiles; many had only their cars for shelter for weeks.
BCF funded disaster relief grants to local organizations who had boots on the ground, distributing food, water and emergency supplies. We also funded grants for campers and other temporary housing for those left homeless, roof repairs and demolitions, classroom supplies and classroom equipment to help students and teachers return to school, and repairs and equipment for nonprofit facilities to help them resume critical work.
Today, BCF continues to fund nonprofit programs that serve ongoing hurricane recovery needs such as food insecurity, homelessness and behavioral health with through our Annual Nonprofit Grants Program.
Hearts, Hands and Hammers: Housing Recovery Programs Bring People Home
Building houses may not be common work for a community foundation, but Bayou Community Foundation values its ability to respond, pivot and act boldly to address the needs of our community. BCF leaders recognized the tremendous need for housing weeks after the storm as we saw hundreds of families living in tents, in cars and in severely damaged buildings with nowhere to turn. Housing was also identified as the most urgent need in our Recovery Needs Assessment.
Blessed with donors, partners and amazing volunteers from across the country, BCF simply did what needed to be done. We embraced the tremendous opportunities and resources available to us to repair and build storm-tough homes for residents of limited means, successfully launching and managing Rebuild Dulac, Rebuild South Lafourche and Rebuild Grand Isle, and rebuilding lives one home at a time through the power of volunteers and philanthropy.
Our people deserved nothing less!
Read the Full Report HERE
We are grateful to each and every individual, family, corporation and foundation who generously contributed your compassionate and impactful gifts of all sizes to Bayou Community Foundation’s Bayou Recovery Fund for Hurricane Ida Relief!