In the last year alone, Californians have experienced the impacts of multiple climate disasters including severe drought, extreme heatwaves, earthquakes, catastrophic wildfires, and now several back-to-back Atmospheric Rivers. Climate change will only continue amplifying the risk that Californians face from natural hazards. We can’t keep doing business as usual disaster philanthropy to meet the scope of our current reality. The recent winter storms bearing down across the State, while garnering significant attention in major cities, will have long-lasting impacts mostly felt by those with the least resources, including the unhoused, Tribal communities, those living in mobile homes, renters, small business owners and farmers, and those living in rural settings. As California continues to experience these repeated hazard events, it is not sustainable, nor realistic, to expect philanthropy to support individual, isolated disaster that occurs across California at the scale needed for a resilient recovery. We must instead center building community resilience as the highest priority for disaster philanthropy.
Northern California Grantmakers invites funders to join them for a disaster briefing on Wednesday, January 18, 2023 from 1-2pm (PST), co-hosted by Philanthropy California, the League of California Community Foundations, and the California Office of Emergency Services. This is an opportunity to discuss how philanthropy and the state can best collaborate to build community resilience, and the steps we must take to shift our approach to disaster response.