When catastrophic events such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita occur, entire communities can be destroyed and social support systems can be decimated. This was the case across Louisiana, where the storms wiped out entire neighborhoods and all of the intangible character and community pride that were associated with these unique areas. Thanks to the generous funding from the American Red Cross, the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps was able to work with its partner agencies to help re-establish hope and renew a sense of community for thousands across the state via its Building Community Resilience (BCR) program.

The program assisted disaster-impacted areas across the state in developing a renewed sense of community and social support by funding arts, wellness, and educational programs designed to address the emotional and spiritual needs of Louisiana citizens devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The BCR program completed two grant cycles and allocated a total of $3.5 million to 33 non-profit organizations to help re-establish community resilience and re-create legacies and neighborhood traditions that made so many communities across Louisiana so unique.

The Recovery Corps funded wellness, educational, and spiritual programming from Shreveport to Baton Rouge and Lake Charles to New Orleans with the intention of reducing the amount of depression and post-traumatic stress felt by Katrina- and Rita-impacted families while also re-establishing the social structures and activities to which so many generations had grown accustomed.

In addition to providing support networks to program participants, the Recovery Corps through its BCR program was able to help rebuild the capacities of the participating non-profit organizations that may have also experienced negative effects from the 2005 storms, bringing the many organizations together to work in unison in helping neighborhoods, communities, and social groups re-emerge throughout the state.

While it is difficult to directly measure the specific outcomes that these types of programs provide, it is clear that building revitalized communities that residents are eager to come back to is a critical component of successful long-term human recovery. And though we most often focus on tangible items while on the path to recovery, spiritual and emotional support from community settings can furnish the extra drive to help residents feel an added level of comfort as they rebuild their lives in the wake of disaster.

Specific areas focused on by the BCR grantees included mental health therapy and counseling; providing care to caregivers; educational and economic training for children; community arts activities to provide educational recreation and to promote literacy; after school programming services aimed at counseling, community integration, conflict resolution, and avoiding substance abuse; cultural programs for the residents of FEMA trailer parks; educational support for HIV-positive citizens; marriage counseling services including parenting and life skills for couples; cultural arts and afterschool programs for at-risk youth to encourage positive self expression and lessen anxiety through spoken word poetry, music, art, dance, and educational tutoring; and wellness workshops to prepare human service professionals residing in hurricane-impacted areas to self-identify and screen for disaster related mental distress and disorders and learn how to make appropriate referrals to mental health care.

The varied outreach approaches of the different agencies provided tremendous accessibility for disaster-impacted residents in their communities, allowing the program to touch a wide range of individuals and families.

The success of the Recovery Corps’ BCR program contributed immensely to hundreds of disaster-impacted families’ abilities to begin or to sustain the path toward long term recovery.