Preparing for the Worst: Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque Selected for Pioneering Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Program

DUBUQUE, Iowa—When disaster strikes, community foundations are often called into action, helping residents connect to potentially life-saving services and start rebuilding shattered lives, all while under extreme hardship conditions. The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque (CFGD) has been selected to participate in a new disaster-preparedness, response, and recovery program designed to help community foundations expand their ability to respond quickly, efficiently, and effectively to natural disasters, in the immediate aftermath and during long-term community rebuilding.
 
Eighteen community foundations from across the Midwest will be a participating in the new two-year program, known as the Philanthropic Preparedness, Resiliency, and Emergency Partnership (PPREP). The program will provide resources, learning, and best practices so that participating community foundations can build their skills and leadership capacity in order to be better prepared should a natural disaster occur. The program is managed by the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities.
 
“When a community is hit by a natural disaster, many people want to give back to help their friends and neighbors,” said Nancy Van Milligen, CFGD president/CEO. “PPREP will ensure that the Community Foundation is an expert in connecting that generosity with those who need it most.”
 
CFGD has helped with recovery efforts in the past. When record-setting rainfall in late July 2011 sparked mudslides and flash flooding in Dubuque County, the Foundation joined with Diamond Jo Casino and Mystique Casino to launch the 2011 Recovery Fund campaign, which raised more than $200,000 for local relief efforts. To distribute the dollars, the Foundation partnered with local nonprofits to identify residents most in need of assistance.
 
Community foundations bring unique attributes to disaster work, including the ability to bring together service providers, community-based organizations—including those working with communities that are often neglected after a disaster strikes—businesses, government and others, as well as their capacity to efficiently pool and distribute funds from donors. The PPREP program is designed to support foundations and equip them with tools and knowledge they need to serve their communities when an immediate, effective, and coordinated response is of the utmost importance.