A Disaster Within a Disaster: Philanthropy Responds to Learning Loss

Moderated by Debra Jacobs, President and CEO of The Patterson Foundation, this webinar featured the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) in a discussion of the ways in which funders can mobilize resources to strengthen the ability of children, families and communities to withstand the challenges associated with COVID-19 and other disasters and recover equitably. 

Explaining that many funders and individual donors focus on immediate relief efforts after a disaster, Patricia McIlreavy, President and CEO of CDP, stressed the need for philanthropy to invest in the longer-term recovery and reconstruction phases after a disaster as well as preparedness and mitigation efforts that can reduce the impact of future disasters. She encouraged funders to engage with communities to identify strategies that respond to both immediate and long-term needs, sharing that CDP had directed some of its relief resources to census and get-out-the-vote campaigns in communities to ensure those populations were counted and their voices heard. McIlreavy noted how COVID-19 has illuminated systemic inequalities that have created vulnerabilities for certain population groups — including Black and Brown and economically challenged communities. She urged funders to be courageous in calling out those systemic issues and to invest in strategies that address the underlying root causes. 

Kayla Klein, Director of Black Hills Reads, described how United Way of the Black Hills (UWBH) had taken on the roles of funder, advocate, facilitator and leader as it worked to meet the needs of early learners and the programs that serve them during the pandemic. Adopting a two-pronged approach that supported community-level action as well as statewide public policy change, UWBH developed and distributed a wide range of tools and resources to make the economic case for stronger early learning systems across South Dakota. All of these resources are available on the Early Learner South Dakota website where communities can also learn about planning and implementation grant opportunities that are available.

Kimberly Rusnak, Project Director of the Children’s Opportunity Fund, explained how the Greater Washington Community Foundation (GWCF) has worked to ensure educational equity in Montgomery County, Maryland, during COVID-19. When GWCF realized that the local school system would be all virtual in fall 2020, it raised private funding to open Equity Hubs to ensure children had safe and supportive spaces to engage in virtual learning, involving public partners to scale this approach more broadly. She noted how many of these students had not been served by out-of-school-time programs before the pandemic, explaining how partners were integrating the outreach and enrollment practices used for the Equity Hubs into those programs to ensure these children continue to be served as the schools return to in-person instruction. 

As she moderated the conversation, Jacobs shared insights from The Patterson Foundation’s efforts to respond to the pandemic. She explained how Patterson has focused on caring, connecting, collaborating, contributing and creating as it worked with communities and partners to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. She encouraged funders to continue to take a whole-child approach as they respond to the disaster, engaging a variety of partners in a community, including individuals, businesses, nonprofits, government and media, to address the wide range of needs children and families are experiencing.