New chapter for Community Foundation

The Gazette Editorial Board

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The Flood of 2008 swept many people and organizations into close encounters with disaster on a scale never previously experienced. The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation was no exception. And the Foundation wasted no time in putting together a considerable response that has been important to our community's recovery.

At its essence, the Foundation is a non-profit organization using individual funds and resources donated by local citizens and businesses to support and enhance the quality of life in the community. The grant-making institution aims at emerging problems as well as preparing for the future.

Our epic flood put new meaning into the term “emerging problems.” Yet a day before the record crest, the Foundation launched its Flood 2008 Fund. The creators decided its primary role in disaster recovery should be sustained recovery efforts after first responders did their work. That involved filling gaps between the layers of state and federal assistance and navigating complex rules.

After distributing $15 million in flood recovery assistance, the Foundation recently closed this chapter and issued a formal report. It gives us a better idea of this organization's impact and stepped-up role over the past three years.

More than $5.7 million received from 2,200 donors from 43 states and four countries from June 2008 to March of this year boosted the effort.

The Foundation directed its grants to other specialized non-profits that could assist those in need with everything from daily necessities to rebuilding homes. That assistance also included stabilizing dozens of non-profits damaged in the flood so they could be effective in the recovery. The breakdown of 155 grants:

l 53 percent to assist individuals and families, much of it toward rebuilding homes or finding other housing alternatives.

l 27 percent for “systemic issues” - services that address peoples' emotional well-being, substance-abuse issues and neighborhood relationships.

l 20 percent to help dislocated and damaged non-profits.

A citizen committee governed by restrictions on conflicts of interest determined grant recipients, which filed disclosure reports on how funds were used. The Foundation's full report is online at www.gcrcf.org.

Now what? Use lessons learned. At the top: Play a creative role in helping address major community issues, and don't wait for the next disaster to act. Already, the Foundation has advised other communities dealing with more recent calamities, such as Joplin, Mo., and has joined the Mississippi River Partnership coalition to share information and strategies that can improve response.

We're eager to see what follows.

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