Philanthropy Front and Center-Atlanta

Hurricane Katrina: Where Did the Money Go?

Despite my aching legs and feet from all of the walking, my husband and I had a blast celebrating our fifth anniversary in New Orleans. I thought four years would be enough time to rebuild homes and fix the damaged ones. Instead, I found myself wondering, “Where did the money go?” 
 

The Foundation Center attempts to answer this question in its newly released report: Giving in the Aftermath of the 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes (2007-2009). According to the report, economic and community development has now “captured the largest share of ongoing foundation support dollars (24 percent) and the second largest share of grants (18 percent).” This represents a shift in the focus of service providers and grantmakers from immediate relief to recovery and rebuilding.  You can find this report and a wealth of other information at the Focus on Gulf Coast Hurricane Relief area of our web site.

I’m glad this shift is taking place. When I toured the Ninth Ward, I saw a sea of abandoned homes, empty home lots, battered FEMA trailers, and makeshift signs of remembrance and pleas for help. I was sorely disappointed and hurt to see what little had been done to rebuild the area, so I am glad to see that grantmakers are now more aggressively directing funds to rebuilding those communities.

Although rehabilitation will take years, I saw evidence of glaring success initiated by celebrities. The tour guide showed us Brad Pitt’s housing development from his Make It Right Foundation New Orleans. We also saw the Musician’s Village, a powerful partnership between Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., and Habitat for Humanity. It was refreshing to see these new communities being reconstructed.
 
Now that I have seen parts of the aftermath with my own eyes, I realize that I probably wouldn’t have been near the Ninth Ward had I traveled to New Orleans prior to Katrina, unless I was visiting someone.
 
You would never know the devastation that wrecked the city if you stay downtown or in the Quarter. When you don’t have to look at the devastation daily, it’s easy to ignore the fact that more help is needed in less affluent areas. Even though billions have been donated, affected parts of the city still have a long way to go to rebuild.
 
Here is how you can help.

Asia M. Hadley, Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Grants That Make a Difference: The “Men Read” Program

Several of you have shared stories about grants that have changed lives for the better. The latest, submitted by Jolene Constance, assistant warden at the C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center in Louisiana, focuses on a donation not of dollars but of books -- books that have been an instrument of change and opportunity.

Grant Recipient
C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center (state prison for adult males)
DeQuincy, Louisiana

Grantmakers
National Center for Family Literacy
Louisville, Kentucky
and
Verizon Foundation
Basking Ridge, New Jersey

About the Grant
Donation of 1,000 books
The donated books were given to children visiting their incarcerated fathers during National Family Literacy Day weekend and every other weekend during the month of November. The fathers read the books to their children during visits.

Impact of the Grant
The children of incarcerated parents are the silent victims of crime. They do not see their loved ones as convicted felons but as people they love, miss, and can only see during visits. In many situations they are only able to visit a few times a year due to financial and geographic constraints. When children’s fathers read to them during visits, it facilitates reconciliation and a bonding experience that is rare in a prison setting.
Not only do books bridge social barriers, they bridge literacy barriers as well. To prepare, offenders read the same books in literacy classes that they'll read to their children. The program has helped to remove the stigma associated with lower-level reading among the prison population; reading children's books is now respected because those who do are seen as caring parents. This is a wonderful secondary benefit of the program.

What makes this particular grant a good example of the effective use of philanthropic funds?
It has been proven that children of incarcerated parents are at greater risk of becoming offenders themselves. By breaking that link, we can save a whole generation of young people from becoming adjudicated offenders, reduce the number of crime victims, and save taxpayer dollars now spent to house offenders. Rebuilding relationships between offenders who are being discharged and their families is priceless. If offenders are committed to their families, they are less likely to recidivate and more likely to become productive members of society, which means one less single parent household due to incarceration, one less family seeking financial support from government entities, and one less victim of a senseless crime.
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Do you have a story about a grant that made a difference? Submit your story, and we will continue to feature them on a regular basis on our blog, on PhilanTopic, and at other areas of our Web site. We also encourage you to submit stories of grants that are addressing needs associated with the current economic crisis.

Joanne Kepics, Regional Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations' Annual Conference

Last week I attended the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO) 2008 Annual Conference, "People: The Power of Nonprofits". It was a good opportunity to hear some terrific speakers and to meet lots of colleagues committed to doing great work.

Paulette Maehara, president and CEO of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, discussed the important role nonprofits play in society, as well as the vital need for fundraising in these difficult economic times. Her three tips for nonprofits are:

• Communicate with your donors. It's important to let your donors know what is going on with your organization and what your needs are.
• Don't be afraid to ask. If your organization has a great mission and is doing good work, donors appreciate the opportunity to give.
• Always thank your donors. This seems to go without saying, but it's always a good reminder to let your donors know how much you appreciate their gift, as well as to what good work their money is going.

Michelle Nunn, president and CEO of Points of Light and Hands On Network, discussed the ServiceNation Summit, at which both presidential candidates expressed their commitment to service and civic engagement. 

Both Senators McCain and Obama are co-sponsors of the bi-partisan Kennedy-Hatch Serve America Act, a "Legislative Initiative to Expand and Improve Domestic and International Service Opportunities for All Americans". Ms. Nunn encouraged attendees to contact their representatives to ask for support of this legislation.
  
Another major speaker was Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, best known as the commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, responsible for coordinating military relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina-affected areas across the Gulf Coast. One of his current activities is speaking about the value of disaster preparedness and raising money for the American Red Cross. 

He urged attendees to build a culture of preparedness and to plan to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. Honore said: “How you survive a disaster is proportionate to what you were doing the day before.” He said that the country is getting better at disaster response, but needs to get better at disaster preparedness.

In addition to the major speakers listed above, there were plenty of breakout sessions on topics such as board leadership and development; public relations and marketing; fund development; and social enterprise.

Thanks to LANO for a great conference!

Joanne Kepics, Regional Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Interactive Maps and Charts for Gulf Coast Hurricane Giving

Focus on Gulf Coast Hurricane Giving is the first in a special, regularly recurring series that the Foundation Center has designed to give you fast facts, visual snapshots, and related news and research about current news events or timely topical issues, in time for the third anniversary of the Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Use our interactive maps and charts to explore more than 4,000 grants, totaling over $800 million awarded to more than 1,900 recipients for Katrina- and Rita-related relief and recovery efforts. These tools illustrate the geographic areas and types of services and organizations that received this support. Drill down by state, county, city, ZIP code, or three levels of giving category to zoom in on the individual grants that went to help those affected by the hurricanes.

You can also see related research and news summaries that we've published since 2005. Please see this guide for full details on what you can access in this special interactive feature.

[Note: We are experiencing high web traffic with this online feature, so the direct links above may be slow to load. You may be able to access these pages more quickly from our home page. We apologize for this inconvenience.]

Comments? Suggestions? Let us know what you think!

Sandy Pon, Reference Librarian, Atlanta office