Bayou Community Foundation funds $12 million worth of recovery projects since 2021

Since Hurricane Ida made landfall here three years ago, Bayou Community Foundation has worked swiftly and strategically to help local residents and nonprofits recover from the Category 4 storm’s devastation and to rebuild lives and communities.

The Bayou Recovery Fund has served as a philanthropic engine in Lafourche, Terrebonne, and Grand Isle, with $12 million in charitable gifts invested or committed to date to fund critical relief and recovery services and welcome our people back home. The Bayou Community Foundation has further awarded 132 grants totaling over $4 million to local nonprofits for recovery services.

“Thanks to the immense generosity of compassionate donors and throughout the country, our growing community foundation boldly expanded its operations and capacity, created hugely impactful funding and volunteer partnerships, and designed and implemented an innovative housing recovery program to fill the unique needs of some of our most vulnerable residents in this precious but often overlooked coastal Louisiana bayou region,” said Jennifer Armand, Executive Director of the Bayou Community Foundation.

Beginning with the 26,000 gallons of gasoline distributed just days after the storm; followed by grants awarded to local nonprofits providing food, supplies, and campers to displaced residents, the Bayou Community Foundation’s Bayou Recovery Fund has made a transformational impact on Hurricane Ida survivors throughout our community. This work has most importantly elevated the lives of so many neighbors in need.

One of the most unique aspects of Bayou Community Foundation’s work is their Rebuild Dulac/South Lafourche/Grand Isle project, where volunteers work to repair and build storm-tough homes for residents with limited means. The Bayou Community Foundation so far has repaired 530 homes since 2021, with over 100,000 volunteer hours logged.

Photos provided by the Bayou Community Foundation.

Housing recovery efforts in Dulac, Grand Isle, and South Lafourche alone have provided relief for under-resourced and under-served households who survived Ida but were left homeless in her wake. With heavy hearts, Bayou Community Foundation leaders know that hundreds of households still need help and our region’s recovery continues.

“We are blessed with leadership that recognize the unique needs of the our most vulnerable residents and took bold and innovate steps to elevate the lives of families in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle, and give them hope and help in recovery that no other program could at the time,” continued Armand. “Our local volunteers and building partners are the hearts, hands, and hammers behind our housing recovery program, and I will forever treasure working with each and every one of these generous souls and the 500 special families we have assisted on our housing recovery journey. It has been a blessing for me and for our BCF team to do this important work in our precious and unique Bayou Region!”

On behalf of each and every local resident who has been helped in some way by Bayou Recovery Fund grants or our housing recovery programs, the Bayou Community Foundation wishes to thank you for partnering with them as they continue their work to rebuild lives and our precious coastal community.

For more information, please visit Bayou Community Foundation’s Facebook or website. Read the full impact report here.