|
Advocacy Blog
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Two Years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: The Charitable Response
Nearly two years have passed since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and now is a perfect time to look at the charitable work in the area in terms of what has been accomplished, what needs to be done, and how charities point out the inequities that remain. The Chronicle of Philanthropy ($$) spotlights this discussion of charities and the hurricane recovery through a series of articles. An important point to discuss two years later is that charitable funds are still drastically needed.
In examining the giving so far, the Chronicle ($$) notes that "charities who are still working with storm survivors say even the unprecedented outpouring of charitable giving may not be enough to meet the continuing housing and social-service needs they see in the Gulf Coast — needs, they say, that may worsen in the coming year as federal support for survivors decreases and many of the poorest evacuees, lacking the resources to return home, settle permanently in the cities to which they originally escaped the disaster."
One article discusses the unique way the Rockefeller Foundation has helped New Orleans plan the development of the city. By helping to come up with the Unified New Orleans Plan, Rockefeller is looking towards strengthening local housing and philanthropic institutions so that they will be able to take on the rebuilding effort that is going to last for years. Nonprofits are worried about getting funders involved in the long-term recovery. As a newly released research project from the Foundation Center has found, "institutional donors may have their most important role to play after initial relief efforts have taken place and the attention of individual donors has moved on to other topics."
Another article focuses on the Mississippi Center for Justice, a nonprofit public interest law firm, which is working to provide legal assistance to residents who are facing trouble with contractors or other legal issues. And one exciting new organization that has applied for tax exempt status is the New Orleans Kid Camera Project. Children use disposable cameras to document life after Katrina creating powerful images. There is also an updated list of fund raising efforts for Hurricane Katrina.
And this interesting article from Salon points out that federal funding provided to Mississippi has largely been given out to the wealthy. "Under the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant program, 70 percent of the funds are supposed to be allocated to low- and moderate-income people. But the governor successfully lobbied to waive that requirement, undercutting its impact on Katrina survivors. As a result, only 25 percent of the money has reached the poorer segments of the population."
Posted by Amanda Adams
|