The Bayou Community Foundation (BCF) has received a $250,000 grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation to support housing recovery efforts in Terrebonne Parish, Lafourche Parish and Grand Isle following Hurricane Ida.

The Blue Cross Foundation’s gift supports BCF’s Bayou Recovery Fund, which makes grants to nonprofits working to repair and rebuild homes for local residents in the aftermath of the Category 4 storm.  Since September 2021, the Blue Cross Foundation has contributed a total of $500,000 to BCF’s Bayou Recovery Fund to support ongoing relief and recovery programs in the Bayou Region.

“Bayou Community Foundation is grateful to the Blue Cross Foundation for their continued generosity to the Bayou Recovery Fund for Hurricane Ida Relief.  Housing recovery is our priority, and this $250,000 contribution is a huge funding boost for our nonprofit grants to help more residents repair, rebuild and return to Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle in the months ahead,” said Executive Director Jennifer Armand.

“Community foundations like BCF are some of the most reliable and powerful instruments for regional recovery. We are grateful to them and local nonprofits who have been showing up for everyday people trying to find their footing after two extremely difficult years” said Michael Tipton, president of the Blue Cross Foundation. Tipton added that the Blue Cross Foundation has stepped up its giving across Louisiana in response to COVID and natural disasters, making $22 million in grants since March of 2020.

Since September, Bayou Community Foundation has funded over $5 million in relief and recovery programs through nonprofit grants from the Bayou Recovery Fund. Over $2.2 million has supported housing efforts, including an $850,000 grant to Mennonite Disaster Service for a major home building and repair program concluding in Dulac this month.

The Ray & Kay Eckstein Charitable Trust has committed a gift of $500,000 to support the continuation of this Mennonite Disaster Service project this fall, with a challenge that Bayou Community Foundation raise an additional $500,000, providing at least $1 million for home construction and repairs for needy families in the Dulac area.

“With the Blue Cross Foundation’s $250,000 contribution, we are much closer to reaching that $1 million challenge and building more homes for families who lost so much in the storm,” Armand said.