Introduction
Caring Communities: The Role of Nonprofits in Rebuilding the Gulf CoastThe idea of “social entrepreneurship”—innovation in the philanthropic sector to fill in the gaps left by both the market sector and the state sector—has become a hot topic in the last decade. People increasingly wonder how nonprofit enterprises and social entrepreneurs can effectively mimic the successes of the market economy in increasing human welfare, choice, and dignity without either the profit-loss system of markets or the democratic and constitutional checks of the public sector.
Continue ReadingRebuilding Religiously
Hurricane Katrina showcased the religious nonprofit sector’s dramatic success in responding to the immediate and long-term needs of a populace ravaged by natural disaster.
Coordinates of Resilience
The story of successful disaster response and recovery after Hurricane Katrina is the story of human action undertaken at the most personal level.
Post-Disaster Recovery and Social Entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurs play critical roles in every disaster-recovery effort, including in New Orleans.
Articles
Coordinates of ResilienceLenore T. Ealy
The story of successful disaster response and recovery after Hurricane Katrina is the story of human action undertaken at the most personal level.
Post-Disaster Recovery and Social Entrepreneurship
Emily Chamlee-Wright and Virgil Henry Storr
Following a disaster, social entrepreneurs provide materials, services, and information and fill in the gaps left by insufficient, government-provided services.
Information Trickles Up
Jerry Brito and Daniel M. Rothschild
In the aftermath of disasters, information travels in a variety of directions and through a variety of means, but very rarely does it flow from the top down.
Visible Hearts, Invisible Hands
Roxanne Alvarez and Veronique de Rugy
Americans give money away, lots of it. But why do they give and what nonprofits do with that money?
Centralizing Compassion: A Disaster’s Tale
Jennifer D. Zambone
What happens to a society if the government becomes the only source of compassion?
Features
Rebuilding ReligiouslyM. Z. Hemingway
Hurricane Katrina demonstrated a colossal failure of government at the local, state and federal levels, but it also showcased the religious nonprofit sector’s dramatic success in responding to the immediate and long-term needs of a populace ravaged by natural disaster.
Networking through Disaster
Malia Politzer
New Orleans is better known for its thriving music culture than its digital savvy, but four years after Katrina, blogs, Twitter, Yahoo groups, and wikis are helping to transform the city.
Profiles
Connie Uddo
Outreach Coordinator: Beacon of Hope
"We weren’t bureaucratic. There was not red tape to go through. You needed help; you got it."
Mary Tran
Executive Director: Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation
"Our area wasn’t on the map to be returned, so because we kept up-to-date with what the city was doing, we organized community members to go up to City Hall to let the committee know that we’ve already returned. You can’t turn us into green space."
Zack Rosenburg
Co-founder and Co-director: St. Bernard Project
"We were shocked to see the lack of progress and [that] there was hardly anything going on. There was no rebuilding going on."
Saundra Reed
Chair of the Board: Central City Renaissance Alliance
"We the people, the residents, the citizens, have come to a clearer understanding...that it is our responsibility to participate in the direction that our future is going in and make clear [that] what our voices say needs to be honored."
Tronn Moller
Gulf Coast Consultant: National Council of Churches
"Churches bring to FEMA, to Homeland Security, a level of expertise in disaster. Being able to provide water, and being able to provide food, being able to provide housing."
Katie Mears
Gutting/Rebuilding Program Coordinator: Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana
"We were working with the most desperate cases, oftentimes acknowledging the gutting wasn’t about reconstruction. It was about closure for the pre-Katrina life."
Karen Gadbois
Founder: Squandered Heritage; Member: New Orleans Institute for Resilience and Innovation
"There’s a recognition that the most effective change agents and heavy lifters have been either in nonprofit sector, or...just pure volunteer."
Pam Dashiell
Co-Director: Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development; Board Member: Holy Cross Neighborhood Association
"We talk to the community. It’s not us with the knowledge; it’s the community with the knowledge. It’s an interactive deal, absolutely....We are the people, and we live here."
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