Nonprofit Disaster Resilience

The Objective

Increase the disaster resilience and readiness of Marin’s safety-net providers.

The Issue

Marin has a number of safety-net providers that deliver essential services to people in need on a year-round basis. The needs range from day-to-day personal emergencies to major events that impact the whole community—including those driven by climate change. During disasters, the clients of these organizations – Marin’s most vulnerable residents – will turn to the organizations that have helped them in previous times of need. Engaging community-based organizations in emergency planning and preparedness efforts now will strengthen their resilience and enhance their ability and confidence to respond when a disaster of any kind strikes.

Our Approach

The Marin Nonprofit Disaster Resilience and Preparedness Project was launched in 2016 as an initiative of the Buck Family Fund of the Marin Community Foundation to increase the disaster resilience and readiness of a cohort of safety-net organizations serving Marin County residents. Thirteen community-based organizations were selected to participate in this 14-month pilot project, which consisted of small grants and comprehensive technical assistance focused on strengthening each organization’s ability to continue to operate following a disaster, serving their existing clients and likely others who have been severely impacted. In 2018, nonprofit organizations that had successfully completed the program received pre-approved immediate disaster response grants of $30,000 each, to be activated in the event of a declared major disaster. The next iteration of this initiative is under development. An update will be posted here when our new approach is finalized.