Dear Friend,

Nine months have passed since hurricanes devastated the Gulf Coast of the U.S., changing hundreds of thousands of lives forever. Men, women, and children of the Gulf Coast were displaced from their homes and the physical infrastructure and economic vitality of the region was all but vanquished.

Despite the inestimable destruction, United Way has been, is, and will continue to be on the ground serving the affected communities and offering long-term support to those in need. You may be surprised that United Way is playing such a hands-on role in responding to these devastating hurricanes. However, this is plainly reflective of our organization’s shift in recent years from serving merely as a fund raiser to one that works with area leaders to have a long-term, positive impact on their communities.

Let me tell you about some of the ways United Way is rebuilding the Gulf Coast and the lives of the people who make their homes there.

Storm Corps

Following a discussion at the White House between President George Bush, me and numerous non-profit and faith-based leaders, United Way partnered with MTV to harness the energy and enthusiasm of young Americans to rebuild the Gulf Coast. Both organizations were hoping to mobilize a generation of youth leaders, not only to rebuild the Gulf Coast, but to address critical issues in communities across the country.

Our first collaboration, which was completed on March 18, was to sponsor an alternative Spring Break for young people aged 18-24 called Storm Corps. Storm Corps recruited participants from diverse backgrounds and areas of the United States to spend a week in the Gulf Coast. Supported by FedEx and The Home Depot® Foundation’s Rebuilding Hope and Homes program, Storm Corps teams worked in Biloxi, Mississippi, and Foley, Alabama, to assist in the rebuilding efforts by completing projects such as removing debris from yards, repairing homes, repairing a childcare center and rebuilding a youth recreation center. For many, the experience of being in the hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast and contributing to the rebuilding efforts was genuinely profound. With the help of MTV, we plan to continue to engage these and other young people not just to rebuild the Gulf Coast, but to improve their own communities.

Leadership 18 Gulf Coast Initiative

Much has been said about the need to rebuild homes and businesses in the Gulf Coast area, but far less focus has been given to addressing the long-term human needs such as job retraining, quality daycare and mental health issues. United Way makes a difference here as well. We understand the magnitude of rebuilding the Gulf Coast and view this as an opportunity to influence change, particularly as it relates to the development of a better state of human existence. Inasmuch, United Way has been instrumental in mobilizing a group known as LEADERSHIP 18 to focus on the human side of rebuilding lives in the Gulf Coast area.

LEADERSHIP 18 is a coalition of this country's largest and most well respected non-profit organizations. On January 6, 2006, 14 of these organizations gathered in New Orleans to reaffirm our collective commitment to focusing on the human side of rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Specifically, the organizations announced our collective commitment in four key focus areas:

• Ensuring the viability of neighborhoods
• Providing for the development and education of children
• Encouraging the self-sufficiency of the citizens of the area
• Empowering local leadership and involving the community

Furthermore, these organizations have called upon the Administration and Congress to approve $10 billion over the next five years for rebuilding strategies that emphasize human needs. Each of these organizations individually has already devoted substantial resources to address the human needs of those affected in the aftermath of the 2005 hurricane destruction—and will continue to do so—but the scope of need requires that government at all levels be a critical partner.

In order to keep the focus on human needs during the long Gulf Coast recovery and rebuilding process, the group will undertake a listening initiative to aggressively engage people, understand their needs and take those messages to those who can most effect change. This effort will begin in the second quarter of 2006 and include visits to communities throughout the affected areas.

United Way Hurricane Response and Recovery Fund

United Way’s long-term commitment to rebuilding the Gulf Coast is unwavering. As the nation’s largest privately funded charitable organization, United Way’s mission is to mobilize the caring power of communities—not just those affected by crisis—and to address long-term community needs. Of course, we recognize that rebuilding the Gulf Coast will require more than desire and hard work. An effort of such profound scope will also require billions of dollars from many sources. At United Way, we are doing our part.

The United Way Hurricane Response and Recovery Fund (HRRF) was established on August 29, 2005. All funds contributed to the HRRF are being directed back through local United Ways to meet ongoing housing needs, healthcare services, education programs, job training, and community assistance in the affected areas as well as assisting evacuees with a multitude of services from mental health counseling to job retraining and childcare programs.

To date, two phases of grants have been made from the HRRF. Thirty-five grants totaling over $5.1 million were awarded on October 18, 2005, and more than $15.3 million in grants was awarded to local and state United Ways and for other hurricane-related projects on December 12, 2005. Grants were determined by a committee of volunteers and staff led by United Way of America Trustee Rodney Slater, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

United Way, along with its staff, volunteers, donors and partners, will continue to play a vital role in returning the Gulf Coast to the diverse, exciting, vibrant place it once was and ensuring the current residents of the area—and those who will return—a prosperous future. After all, ours is an organization that measures its ultimate value in terms of the positive, lasting impact we have on the communities we serve.

Sincerely,