GiftsShare:
Photo: David Shafer/Mercy Corps.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana – When Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf Coast six months ago, hundreds of local organizations were suddenly left without staff, office space and revenue at a time when their services were needed more than ever.
Local nonprofits, child and youth service providers, and small businesses are slowly recovering, but few are operating near pre-hurricane levels. To help bring back these important services, the humanitarian aid organization Mercy Corps is providing several major grant initiatives to get local nonprofits and small businesses back on track.
“So many of the people, organizations and businesses that are helping rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf were themselves victims of the disaster,” said Denise Barrett, a veteran aid worker who leads Mercy Corps’ program in the Gulf. “Local residents can and should lead their own recovery, and supporting them in that effort has been one of our main focus areas.”
Special focus on needs of children and youth
An assessment of services available to children and youths by Tulane University’s School of Social Work, coupled with Mercy Corps’ experiences in communities throughout the region, has lead to a grant-making process for as many as 100 Louisiana and Mississippi social service organizations in serious need of support.
Mercy Corps and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF have partnered to allocate $600,000 in grants to these organizations and will, in the next week, begin accepting proposals from organizations that serve children: childcare centers, schools, sports leagues and after-school programs.
Following that initiative, Mercy Corps will provide $400,000 in grants to New Orleans nonprofits that provide essential services to those who live and work in low-income neighborhoods.
Revitalizing neighborhoods through small business
To help bolster the local economies of low-income hurricane-affected neighborhoods, Mercy Corps and the local credit union HOPE are partnering to provide low-interest loans to small business owners who deliver services vital to rebuilding efforts, such as construction and contracting businesses, and facilitate the return of people to low-income neighborhoods. This collaborative micro-enterprise program invests in high-return areas that need capital to rebuild the retail services that will sustain the returning population and aid rebuilding. Grants from $10,000 to $20,000 will initially be offered to help jumpstart affected businesses. HOPE is sponsored by the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta.
More About Mercy Corps’ Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery Program
Mercy Corps has a multi-faceted recovery program in the Gulf that includes several other long-term recovery and projects such as ReClaim New Orleans and the Youth Program.
ReClaim New Orleans is revitalizing neighborhoods by promoting deconstruction as an alternative to demolition of homes that are designated as condemned. The benefits of deconstruction include keeping tons of materials from the land fills by salvaging reusable materials, which can help preserve the historical materials that make New Orleans architecture distinctive. It can also help homeowners retrieve valuables such as photos or family memorabilia.
In addition, the sale of salvaged building materials generates some revenue for homeowners. Mercy Corps and its local partner the Green Project are advocating with FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers to incorporate deconstruction into New Orleans’ demolition plan.
The Youth Program provides psychosocial support (books, education, music, sports and training for youth providers) to help children and families heal. This program includes a book called What Happened to My World? that was created to help parents and teachers work with children on processing their feelings about what happened during and following the hurricane. Mercy Corps has also given young children and students more than 70,000 “comfort kits” that contain school supplies, books and age-appropriate toys.
Share:
