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Local partnerships help communities respond to disasters

Published Date
Author Providence Annual Report Team

When disaster strikes, the Providence family of organizations supports communities by addressing short-term, pressing needs and building up longer-term local capacity. In 2022, Providence’s investments helped communities around the world get much-needed resources following both natural and human-made disasters.

In the weeks immediately following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Providence’s grantmaking organization, St. Joseph Community Partnership Fund, joined long-time partner, Catholic Relief Services, to provide immediate on-the-ground resources like supplies, meals, transportation, housing and medical services. In addition to urgent response efforts, Providence’s intermediate support helped reunite and relocate families, guide refugees in new countries, and in some cases, get people back home when it was safe.

Providence caregivers rallied together to raise $183,000 – in addition to the Fund’s $160,000 matching commitment – to support people in the conflict zone.

In the U.S., communities in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions were severely impacted during the 2022 hurricane season, and Providence’s response was swift. The Fund committed $100,000 each to Catholic Charities USA and Center for Disaster Philanthropy, two organizations with a local presence and deep understanding of community needs. With these unrestricted funds, regional organizers deployed resources where needed based on their deep expertise and knowledge of local infrastructure.

As natural disasters become more frequent, it is more important than ever to invest in the infrastructure and capacity to not only meet needs quickly but to invest in long-term recovery and planning to help communities withstand disasters and build up local infrastructure to better prepare for the next disaster.

The Fund invests in the health and well-being of communities across the Providence family of organizations in four priority areas: disaster response and resilience, housing, education and capacity building.