Philanthropic, Public, and Private Partners – with Leadership Gift from Kenneth C. Griffin – start first-of-its-kind Fund to Help Communities Prepare for Rapid Response to Disasters
MIAMI (May 31, 2022) – As hurricane season arrives, the first-ever Miami Disaster Resilience Fund, a collaborative of philanthropic, public, and private partners led by The Miami Foundation, launched today with the goal to raise $20 million dollars. This permanent, revolving fund will place resources with nonprofits in advance for quick response whenever disaster occurs and invest in long-term recovery.
This program grew from the Resilient305 initiative – a collaboration of Miami-Dade County, the cities of Miami and Miami Beach – and launches with a $5 million leadership investment from Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin. A South Florida native, Griffin has been active in supporting a range of initiatives from education to urban vitality that position Miami at the forefront of civic opportunity. Significant support for the fund also comes from philanthropist Daniel Lewis, with additional funding from the Key Biscayne Community Foundation, Coral Gables Community Foundation, Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Univision, and others. To date, over $6.6 million in resources has been raised for this critical initiative.
Hurricane season lasts from June 1 – November 30 each year and the Miami area is at risk. Data shows the County faces damage from a direct hurricane or tropical storm on average every six and a half years. With each storm, Miami-Dade’s grassroots-based organizations play a critical role in helping our communities prepare and recover.
The goal of the Fund is to minimize the time for nonprofits to receive resources after a disaster from 14 days to two days, reduce costs by 600%, and ready the philanthropic and nonprofit community at the start of each hurricane season with a preemptive, permanent source of support.
“The Miami Disaster Resilience Fund will help our community better prepare for escalating disasters like hurricanes and mitigate stresses, by increasing capacity and deepening coordination and collaboration across sectors,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “The more we can do to prepare, including supporting the people and organizations at the frontlines of resilience and recovery in their communities, the quicker we can respond in the face of a disaster.”
“As a world-class city, we need a world-class, unified, proactive disaster strategy,” said The Miami Foundation President and CEO, Rebecca Fishman Lipsey. “This initiative and the network we are building allows our community to be prepared before a disaster hits. In every neighborhood, leaders step up in times of crisis. We want to ignite and prepare that network, long before any crisis hits.”
In the first round of grants, The Miami Foundation awarded an initial investment of $178,000 to advance equitable resilience building, community education and preparedness to five organizations that support a network of 18 nonprofits.
- Global Empowerment Mission
To support operations costs and guarantee access to free supplies for non-profit organizations on the frontlines of disaster preparation and response. GEM will designate a section of their Doral warehouse for the needs of Miami organizations to provide supplies free of charge when needed.
- Miami Climate Alliance
To support disaster preparation among Miami Climate Alliance’s network of seven neighborhood-based member organizations that have established Resilience Hubs throughout Miami- Dade County.
- Dade County Street Response
To support operational capacity building for Dade County Street Response’s Disaster Relief Team and its Community Emergency Operations Center in Liberty City, in partnership with other community- based organizations such as Florida Rising and Miami Workers Center, among others.
- The Smile Trust, Inc.
To support operational capacity building for The Smile Trust’s Resilience Hub network and its Community Emergency Operations Center. This includes, but is not limited to, infrastructure investments, preparation for community workshops and information sessions at the start of hurricane season, as well as disaster preparation kit giveaways. Resilience hubs are community groups that help their neighborhood communities prepare for disasters
- Axis Helps/Urban Impact Lab
To support Urban Impact Lab’s AxisHelps.org website enhancements as a portal for residents to access economic and social resources during and after a disaster.
Additionally, nonprofit leaders can visit www.miamifoundation.org/MiamiStrong to join a growing network of community-based organizations that provide grassroots-level support in times of disaster. Through the network, nonprofit leaders have access to disaster preparedness and recovery resources, supplies at wholesale prices, and a direct line to each other in the face of a storm.
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