East Tennessee Foundation Provides Support Post-Hurricane Helene
When Hurricane Helene struck the southeastern U.S. last summer, the East Tennessee Foundation immediately sprung into action.
During the disaster, the foundation quickly activated its Neighbor to Neighbor Disaster Relief Fund, a rapid-response fund focused on providing financial support to nonprofits addressing immediate and long-term recovery for residents in East Tennessee.
Disaster recovery is nothing new for East Tennessee Foundation as it has stepped up to support their region’s urgent needs and recovery from other crises for nearly 40 years. Hurricane Helene marked the fourth time the foundation had activated the fund in the past 12 years.
Hurricane Helene, however, was no normal disaster. It was the deadliest storm to hit the U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — and its impact on East Tennessee was devastating.
Philanthropy’s First Responders
East Tennessee Foundation is one of several community foundations across the South that activated rapid-response funds to support their communities in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
And that response is part of a larger trend in the field — as community foundations across the U.S. have increasingly become philanthropy’s first responders following natural disasters.
Community foundations in every region of the country play a leading role in quarterbacking rapid-response and longer-range fundraising. With their strong relationships with and understanding of local nonprofits, community foundations are uniquely positioned as a trusted source that can help guide the most efficient and impactful deployment of funding.
You can learn more about community foundations and disaster response in our recent report.
On the Ground in East Tennessee
In East Tennessee, the community foundation has already provided $4.8 million to support its community. Funds have supported 110 disaster recovery grants to nonprofits and agencies who were on the ground responding to relief efforts. These grants were made possible by the more than 7,000 donations to its Neighbor to Neighbor Disaster Relief Fund in addition to grantmaking from donor advised funds and county affiliate funds totaling $650,000 of the $4.8 million.
Grantees were vast and included Legal Aid of East Tennessee, an organization that provided funding for legal expenses to address the increase in demand for legal aid following Hurricane Helene across 13 counties.
Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee supported partner organizations with cold storage to meet rising demand from communities and Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee provided essential nutrition to disaster-affected communities, along with the necessary transportation to ensure efficient distribution in rural areas.
Many residents lost housing following the storm or their homes were deemed too unsafe for people to live in. Funding opportunities by East Tennessee Foundation made it possible for organizations like Of One Accord to provide funding for repairs for storm-related damage for qualified households and Holston Habitat for Humanity to support new builds for individuals and families impacted.
Frontier Health used their funding to provide household essentials, landscaping and garden restoration, and community outreach supplies to impacted persons and United Way of East Tennessee Highlands is providing support to Long-Term Recovery Groups, helping those impacted by Hurricane Helene in six disaster-declared counties.
Through a partnership with the Nolichucky Outdoor Recreation Association, MountainTrue was able to support an environmental cleanup program and Unicoi County Search & Rescue was able to purchase a truck for first responders.
East Tennessee Foundation is committed to building a locally led structure as part of their recovery strategy and estimates their recovery phase to be between three to five years. You can learn more about their long-term recovery plans here.
