When Hurricane Helene struck in September 2024, we activated immediately. One week later, Hurricane Milton hit — and we were still there.
What we witnessed in the months that followed wasn’t just physical damage. It was housing insecurity, job loss, isolation, and gaps in systems that simply weren’t built to absorb back-to-back crises. Families who had already lost so much found themselves navigating a recovery process that was slow, fragmented, and exhausting. Nonprofits stretched thin by one storm were asked to do more in the wake of a second.
That experience changed how we think about hurricane season. It changed what we believe our responsibility is — not just as a foundation, but as neighbors.
Preparedness Is Not Optional
June 1 marks the official start of hurricane season. For those of us in Pinellas County, it carries real weight. It’s not an abstract date on a meteorologist’s calendar — it’s a reminder of flooded streets, displaced families, and the particular kind of fear that comes from not knowing whether help is on the way.
The hard truth is that disaster response only works if the infrastructure is already in place. When a storm makes landfall, there is no time to build networks, establish partnerships, or move resources through slow administrative channels. The organizations that are able to help immediately are the ones that were already funded, already connected, and already positioned to act.
That is exactly what the Tampa Bay Resiliency Fund is designed to make possible.
What the Fund Is — and How It Works
The Tampa Bay Resiliency Fund is a collaborative, standing resource led by Pinellas Community Foundation in partnership with United Way Suncoast, Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, and Allegany Franciscan Ministries. It exists to ensure that when disaster strikes, our region’s most vulnerable residents do not face it alone — and that the nonprofits serving them have what they need to respond without delay.
This is not a fund that activates after a disaster makes headlines. It is continuously resourced, so that when the moment comes, the answer is already yes.
What Your Support Made Possible in 2024
Because donors had already invested in the Tampa Bay Resiliency Fund before the 2024 hurricane season began, we were ready to move when it mattered most. In the aftermath of Helene and Milton, the fund granted $998,332 to 34 nonprofit organizations across Tampa Bay — reaching communities in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto Counties.
Here is what that response looked like on the ground:
- More than 2,200 individuals received food assistance, including grocery gift cards and mobile food delivery for residents with disabilities who could not leave their homes.
- More than 2,500 disaster preparedness kits were distributed to families with young children.
- Nonprofits received generators, facility repairs, and emergency staffing support that allowed them to keep serving their communities through extended outages and the difficult weeks that followed.
- Hundreds of displaced residents were connected to case managers, rental assistance, and temporary shelter — the kind of wraparound support that makes the difference between recovery and ongoing crisis.
These outcomes were not the result of a rapid scramble to find funding after the storms passed. They were the result of preparation — of donors choosing to give before the need was visible, and of a fund designed to move quickly when it was.
Why It Matters to Give Before the Season Begins
Every dollar given to the Tampa Bay Resiliency Fund before hurricane season begins is a dollar that is already in place when the next storm arrives. That is not a figure of speech. That is precisely how this fund operates — and why the timing of community investment matters.
Preparedness is a community act. It requires people who are willing to contribute to a shared resource before they know whether they will need it — because they understand that their neighbors might, and that being ready is the only way to truly help.
We are asking Pinellas County to be ready. Not to react, but to prepare. Not to wait for the storm, but to show up before it forms.
Learn More and Get Involved
If you’d like to learn more about the Tampa Bay Resiliency Fund — how it works, who it supports, and how your contribution makes an impact — we encourage you to read the full impact report from the 2024 hurricane season response.
And if you are moved to contribute, know that a gift today is a gift that will be ready to move the moment it is needed most.
Learn more about the Tampa Bay Resiliency Fund and how you can support this vital work.
