By Julia van den Bergh, BBF Director of Strategic Initiatives

BBF’s disaster response begins with analytics, but is shaped, refined, and implemented through human connections.

During Hurricanes Helen and Milton, we mapped organizations in the anticipated path of disasters and created databases of potential partners on-the-ground such as foodbanks, nonprofit healthcare providers, and local community associations. As the disasters evolved, we connected with partners across the southeast, who painted a full picture of how and where our support was most needed.

On September 26th, Helene slammed into the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Food Banks from Tallahassee to Asheville reported an urgent need for food, water, and essential supplies. Food Banks such as the Second Harvest of the Big Bend (Tallahassee, FL) increased the capacity of their Mobile Food Pantries to deliver meals directly to the impacted areas. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) like Blue Ridge Community Health Services needed financial support to provide affordable emergency services (much of it free) in hard-hit North Carolina communities.

ABCCM Medical Ministry, a Free and Charitable Clinic in Asheville, faced multiple challenges. Miraculously, the ABCCM clinic came out of Helene unscathed, allowing them to open right after the storm passed and treat many patients who usually visited other medical centers. However, Helene completely wiped out the ABCCM Veterans Ministry quarters, leaving many veterans homeless. ABCCM has placed the veterans in local hotels and is still working to restore a clean water supply.

“I wish to express our sincere excitement and gratitude for your generosity in offering a grant to aid in our ministry’s disaster recovery efforts and to support the work of the free clinic in providing care for people in our area which was so devastated by the recent hurricane. These funds will be used toward the cost of replacing the medications lost during the storm, the extra pharmacy costs in supporting provision of medications to ineligible (insured) patients when all other pharmacy were closed or inaccessible, and for patients within the emergency shelters. It will also help us pay the costs of the emergency water resource to keep the clinic open and the rent of portable toilets as well as defray costs of a payment protection program for clinic staff during the first two weeks of the storm.” – Dr. Daniel Frayne, Director, ABCCM Doctors’ Medical Clinic

Another Asheville free clinic, The Free Clinic, survived Helene with limited damage. The clinic only closed for three days and has experienced a large increase in patients over the last month. The Free Clinic staff now treat patients of many of their medical neighbors who lost their practices during the storm as well as the local homeless population.

Just north of Asheville, the Hunger and Health Coalition in Boone, NC, is focusing on mobile pharmacy services and food delivery to people stranded in rural areas. Immediately after the disaster, the coalition sent food recovery vehicles across the countryside with cleaning supplies, recovery items, and emergency prescriptions such as insulin. The coalition spent $10,000 on EpiPens in the first month alone as the result of increased yellow jacket activity.

“For 42 years the Hunger and Health Coalition has been a beacon in western North Carolina; a spearhead for food and medicine access with the mission to transform our community’s hunger into health. We never imagined the devastation that would hit our community and completely reimagine the needs of our neighbors on Friday, October 27th , 2024. Our distribution work and relief support reflect our organization’s guiding principles as we ensure dignified and equitable access. We are community-centered relief, boots on the ground, speaking directly to those who are impacted and the community leaders guiding rural assistance. Last year, our pharmacy distributed over $2 million in prescriptions at absolutely no cost to our community – now exacerbated by those finding themselves in new or worse financial burden. Our Food is Medicine initiative works in tandem with our free pharmacy to provide wrap-around holistic approaches to improving the health and lives of our community members. The need for medically tailored food and life-sustaining medications does not cease after a natural disaster. In the wake of long-term hurricane relief, funds would be spent on pharmacy operations providing direct relief, including medication purchasing; ensuring those in need have access to their prescriptions.”- Maura McClain, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Hunger and Health Coalition.

Hurricane Milton landed just south of Sarasota on October 5th, traveling east towards Melbourne. We Care Manatee, a free clinic located just north of Sarasota, reported that Free and Charitable Clinics held a state-wide meeting in the wake of the disasters. While some clinics across the state were damaged, not many were destroyed. Unfortunately, many of their clients on the west coast lost their homes and jobs due to flooding and high winds.

“Our community took a direct hit from Hurricane Milton causing extensive damage to homes and businesses. Recovery is still ongoing with many of our patients being impacted through loss of income, uninhabitable houses, repairs they can’t afford, and health issues. This grant will provide disaster recovery assistance to our patients that have been directly impacted. We expect this to include things such as helping directly with food, shelter, and repairs, as well as medical issues that may arise due to the hurricane and the aftermath. We have an established intake process that will vet and confirm the needs of our patients that will allow us to easily distribute this to those most in need. We are so grateful for this opportunity to be able to impact our patients lives through your generosity.” – Shannon Hoyt, Executive Director, We Care Manatee

Our contacts across western and central Florida directed us to the southeast, an area hit especially hard by Milton’s tornadoes. Underserved populations in this area receive medical care from Oceana Community Health, a Free Clinic located in Boynton Beach.

“This grant will be used to expand medical access to the Spanish Lakes community that was eviscerated by the Hurricane Milton tornadoes. Oceana Community Health is currently leading an emergency medical response and disaster relief initiative, which provides acute care/triage and resource distribution, respectively, in these impacted communities. The generous contribution from BBF will allow us to continue these efforts and work towards implementing a more sustainable solution for this community’s rehabilitation. Most importantly, thank you for your recognition and unwavering support. Oceana prides itself on being a center to turn to when patients have nowhere else to rely, and BBF’s generosity helps advance this mission and further our cause. I sincerely appreciate your generosity and kindheartedness.” – Dr. Usef Motti, Executive Director, Oceana Community Health.

While it was incredibly hard to see hurricanes and tornadoes tear through the southeast, updates from the field remind us of how many driven people and inspiring organizations are working hand-in-hand to support impacted individuals.

None of this could have happened without the generosity of the Pittsburgh community. Thank you so much for your support.