Lessons in Disaster Recovery and Philanthropy: Reflections from Hurricane Katrina
At the 2025 Grantmakers In Health Annual Conference, GNOFN was proud to co-host two powerful panels: From Crisis to Capacity: Resourcing Community-Led Disaster Resilience and Bridging Gaps: Empowering Underserved Populations in Crisis Response and Recovery. These panels offered timely insights about post-Katrina recovery from community leaders, experts, and nonprofit organizations based in Gulf South. These sessions elevated the expertise of local leaders who continue to shape how communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disaster.
Reflection 1: Mental Health Recovery Must Be Community-Centered
Disasters leave long shadows, and the mental health impacts are often most severe in communities already grappling with systemic injustice. Panelists emphasized that healing must be rooted in community, not imported or imposed. Locally led mental health services, culturally responsive care, and consistent funding for grassroots providers are essential. Funders have a critical role to play in resourcing organizations that understand and reflect the lived realities of the people they serve.
Lesson 2: Educational Resilience Requires Empowerment, Not Just Infrastructure
Nearly two decades after Hurricane Katrina, we are still reckoning with its impact on the public education system. Panelists shared how resilience goes beyond rebuilding schools to include trauma-informed approaches and a commitment to empowering teachers, families, and students. This is particularly important for marginalized youth who experience multiple layers of disruption. Supporting these communities means investing in models that center wellbeing, advocacy, and equity in the classroom and beyond.
Lesson 3: Housing Recovery Must Address Structural Inequities
The housing disparities laid bare by Katrina persist today. Black communities were often left out of key recovery mechanisms like insurance coverage and rebuilding resources. The sessions urged funders to understand how housing systems function before, during, and after disaster to avoid repeating these injustices. Equitable recovery must involve policies and investments that prevent displacement, restore community infrastructure, and build long-term housing security.
Lesson 4: Nonprofit Resilience Is Public Health Infrastructure
One of the clearest takeaways from both sessions was the vital role of nonprofits, especially those rooted in underserved communities, in disaster response. Strengthening nonprofit resilience means strengthening the entire ecosystem of recovery and public health.
These reflections align with GNOFN’s broader strategy, which seeks to build power alongside resilience. Through collective funding and long-term investment, we aim to address the root causes of vulnerability like racial injustice, environmental harm, and economic insecurity, while uplifting the solutions already in motion within our communities.
