The Work

W.K. Kellogg Foundation Awards Grant to CommonHealth ACTION to work on Community-Based Disaster Planning (CBDP) with Louisianans affected by recent disasters [02.06]

Six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, CommonHealth ACTION and the Center for Empowered Decision Making (CEDM) came together to assess the immediate needs of residents displaced by the storm. A grant through the W.K. Kellogg Foundation initiated this collaborative effort – The Safe Recovery Partnership – and focused its efforts on areas in the Greater New Orleans area served by several Louisiana Turning Point partnerships.This partnership supported the groups in their mission to secure the safe return home, or acquisition of a new home, for community residents. In addition, The Safe Recovery Partnership assisted these groups to develop sustainable mechanisms to ensure that the voices of those most impacted across Louisiana Turning Point communities inform redevelopment efforts, so that the mistakes made during Katrina’s disaster response efforts are never repeated. 

The grant was later expanded to focus on the unique plight of the children in New Orleans, listen to their stories, document their experiences, identify their needs, and to assess the resources available to them.

Findings associated with practice and policy implications and recommendations have been published and made available for public consumption (see links below and was extended to focus on the plight of the children in New Orleans.

Katrina: Safe Return Home, From Recovery to Rebuilding
Prepare for the Children: A New Phase of Recovery