Grant will fund building supplies for the innovative and impactful housing recovery program assisting residents impacted by Hurricane Francine in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes.
Bayou Community Foundation is pleased to announce a new $500,000 grant from the American Red Cross to fund the Foundation’s Rebuild the Bayou Program, which builds and repairs homes for low-income residents in Lafourche Parish and Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, impacted by Hurricane Francine.
This partnership expands the hugely impactful Rebuild the Bayou program into its fifth building season, with a goal of building up to five new homes and repairing up to 20 homes for hurricane survivors in these under-served bayou communities in southeast Louisiana. Since Hurricane Ida in 2021, Bayou Community Foundation’s innovative housing recovery program fueled by philanthropy and volunteer groups from across the country has completed over 550 rebuild and home repair projects, including 54 new fortified homes built and over 100,000 volunteer hours contributed. In December 2025, volunteer building group Christian Aid Ministries will return to the area to work with the Foundation on this housing recovery effort for those impacted by Hurricane Francine, which made landfall here in September 2024. The American Red Cross grant will fund building supplies and other critical services to support this long-term recovery work.
“Bayou Community Foundation is immensely grateful for our ongoing partnership with American Red Cross and for this powerful new grant that allows us to continue our Rebuild the Bayou program into 2026. Residents with limited resources are the most vulnerable to natural disasters and, as we have witnessed, recovery is extremely challenging for them. With this new funding from American Red Cross, we will be able to assist up to 25 more households with home repairs and new home construction over the next six months. Together, we are rebuilding homes, lives and our community,” said Jennifer Armand, President & CEO of Bayou Community Foundation.
“The American Red Cross responded immediately following Hurricane Francine’s impact in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes and this additional long-term recovery grant to the Bayou Community Foundation that we are awarding more than 14 months later illustrates our resolve and commitment to standing with communities long after disasters have passed,” said Dr. Kenneth St. Charles, Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross of Louisiana. “We are only able to provide this type of financial assistance to nonprofit partners thanks to the generosity of local and national donors to the American Red Cross who depend on us to alleviate human suffering following disasters.”
This new partnership is part of the national Red Cross Long-Term Recovery Program, which supports individual and household recovery and addresses community-wide needs following a disaster.
About Bayou Community Foundation: Bayou Community Foundation envisions a vibrant and diverse Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle, LA community where all can thrive. To achieve this vision, Bayou Community Foundation actively addresses critical community needs; inspires generosity and grows charitable resources to make a lasting impact; and leads, convenes and collaborates with donors, partners and nonprofits to enrich our community through philanthropic leadership. For more information, visit BayouCF.org or follow us on social media.
About the American Red Cross: The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.
