Goals, Objectives & Rationales

Resilience is found and cultivated in multiple ways and by many groups. However, we do believe that it can be generally described as a community’s power to recover quickly and with minor interruption from adversity. In the case of Southeast Louisiana, that adversity often takes the form of enhanced hurricane damage due to long-term environmental degradation.

Resilient communities are those that adapt successfully to these challenges in ways that are most relevant to them and that involve everyone. Water management is obviously key to our ability to function on multiple levels, but it does not by itself complete our understanding of resilience. Urban gardens that provide traditionally underserved communities with food security also add to our resilience, as do educational programs that teach our citizens (of all ages) about the issues that face them and what they can do improve their ability to cope in this unique environment. In short, resilience from our point of view entails a variety of complementary practices that are inspired by a mindset geared to adapting to the challenges posed by our environment and by our physical location as coastal communities.

Resilience is at the core of our region’s economic, social and cultural viability. Indeed, it is an important part of New Orleans’ evolving Master Plan. While some may speak of “protecting” us from hurricanes and the consequences of a deteriorating coast, a more honest assessment of our situation indicates that we can never be fully protected from natural and man-made threats. With this in mind, we believe that the communities we serve must work to reduce the level of risk to which they are exposed rather than living under the illusion that levees alone are a panacea that will save them from having to make difficult decisions about their respective futures. Raised, storm-resistant homes, more thoughtful municipal and parish building codes, better surface management of water, armored infrastructure, detailed plans for orderly and rapid evacuation and re-entry, and, in extreme cases, even citizen-led plans for the permanent relocation of entire communities, are all essential components of a resilient coastal region that can effectively adapt to its fluid environment.

For the New Orleans region to endure in a recognizable form, its citizens must learn to live more flexibly with water. Even in areas that have vastly improved pumping systems, flooding cannot be avoided when we are visited by heavy, sustained rains. This does not, however, mean that we must resign ourselves to frequent property damage and impassable roads. The temporary retention and management of rain water at surface levels can do much to prevent water from overwhelming residences, businesses, streets and vital infrastructure. The introduction of building codes that prohibit continued slab-on-grade construction in areas that are known to flood can transform tragedy into a minor inconvenience.

Other coastal communities throughout the world have managed to thrive by implementing measures that complement and support massive but not infallible levee and dike systems. What has distinguished them from us has been their recognition of the importance of so-called “multiple lines of defense,” lines that cut cross government agencies and enter the thresholds of private homes and businesses. Aware that even well-intentioned governmental actions cannot fully protect them, these communities have come to the realization that they must also do their part to save themselves.

Every resident of Southeast Louisiana is faced with a simple question that, for us, has assumed existential proportions: How can we create communities that better adapt to our unique geography so that we and our children can continue to live, work and even thrive here? The answer to this question can only be provided by the people whose lives depend upon our collective success.

We believe that our future hinges on creating a civic ethic that values resilience. Underlying this belief is the recognition that we must take responsibility for our own future, as no one else either can or will.

Finally, our region in the period after Katrina has seen the establishment and growth of multiple nonprofits. It is no secret that our state lacks the sort of philanthropic resources that other part of the country enjoy in abundance. We, therefore, feel a great responsibility to build the capacity of our most effective nonprofits so that they can provide our communities with the types of services that will be needed long after the greater New Orleans area has faded from the national consciousness. In short, an important part of resiliency is self-sufficiency.