Every year communities along the Gulf of Mexico, from Texas to Florida, brace themselves for the hurricane season.  Each year they suffer from loss of property, income and even lives, losses which take years to recover from.

2005 stood out as a particularly disastrous year, as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit communities in four states, dramatizing many of this country’s economic, environmental and human rights failures all within the course of a few short weeks.

The Environmental Support Center, River Network and the Institute for Conservation Leadership wrote a report called We Want to Be at the Table: Helping Environmental Groups Rebuild After Katrina.

The report highlights the challenges facing community-based organizations in the months following Katrina and Rita.

Thanks to a special grant from the Public Welfare Foundation (www.publicwelfare.org), ESC was able to award several special capacity grants to environmental organizations affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The following is a list of some of the environmental justice groups that we were able to help re-open their offices, replace damaged equipment and furniture, and organize their constituents.   

• The Center for Economic and Environmental Justice, Biloxi, Mississippi
• Community In-power and Development Association, Port Arthur, Texas
• Gert Town Revival Initiative, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Mossville Environmental Action Now, near Lake Charles, Louisiana
• Moving Forward Gulf Coast, Slidell, Louisiana         
• North Gulfport Community Land Trust, Gulfport, Mississippi
• Project Awake, Sumpter County, Alabama
• Safe Way Back Home, a program of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Turkey Creek Community Initiatives, Gulfport, Louisiana

The Environmental Support Center’s Technology Resources program provided environmental justice groups along the Gulf Coast with computers and electronic equipment, training and support. The Public Welfare Foundation Norcross Wildlife Foundation made this work possible.

 Click here for resources for environmental groups in the Gulf Coast

Back to our Homepage