A group of philanthropic funders created the fund in September 2005 in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. By the end of the period this guide covers, it had distributed over $5 million in grants, reaching more than 245 local and neighborhood-level groups.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| Late summer 2005 | Funders from two networks, one for health and environment and one for environmental grantmaking, held an emergency conference call about the philanthropic response. |
| September 2005 | The fund began as a pooled vehicle in which people at the centre of the disasters helped guide how money was used. |
| 2005 to 2009 | Grants went to work in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas. |
| April 2009 | The advisors chose to bring in Florida, so the whole Gulf of Mexico shoreline was covered. |
During that first call, participants raised the need for independent testing of environmental contamination. Money was gathered to pay a respected chemist to sample sites along the affected coast. Funders also agreed that emergency relief mattered, but felt that philanthropy should mainly provide steady, long-term support for rebuilding.
They viewed the catastrophe as a chance for the region to rebuild in a fairer and more democratic way. The hoped-for results included better governance, restored wetlands and shorelines, modern urban planning, green construction, energy-efficient regional transport and stronger nonprofit services in health, education and social care.
The fund aimed to empower communities that had long been left out, to treat recovery as a whole, and to stay engaged with many issues and groups across the region. Its grants supported community, state and regional efforts that benefited displaced and returning residents and promoted human rights and sustainable rebuilding of neighbourhoods, cities and ecosystems.
Its founders noted that the region had been neglected by philanthropy before the storms and that rebuilding would take years, so the fund planned to continue indefinitely. Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Gustav and Ike were described as revealing how racism, and development that ignored sustainability, hurt both people and the environment. A number of foundations and individual donors backed the fund; see donors and supporters and funding.
Later events, including the 2010 spill, are covered under the oil disaster section.