Dear friends,

Hope is a familiar word, yet it often evokes many different images and emotions, particularly in the context of reflecting on disaster philanthropy. Hope can feel fleeting and hard to grasp, especially in the face of disasters, making it all the more important to lift it up whenever and wherever we find it.

2025 has been marked by loss in many corners of the world. Devastating wildfires swept across Southern California, showing how quickly disasters can upend lives. Flooding then inundated communities in South Africa and Texas, followed by relentless monsoon and typhoon rains that overwhelmed parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Hurricane Melissa battered Jamaica and other Caribbean islands, leaving thousands of families in need of support as they rebuild. Further reflecting on disaster philanthropy, an earthquake struck Afghanistan, a deadly landslide claimed lives in Sudan, and most recently, Cyclone Ditwah brought new hardship to communities in Sri Lanka.

Amid the devastation and trauma that disasters wreak, hope can quickly become another casualty. Yet through our work educating funders, advising partners and supporting long-term equitable recovery, we see every day how critical it is to nurture and protect hope. It sustains communities, guides philanthropy and fuels progress.

This year, our sense of hope has been tested many times, yet it remains steady and unshaken.

We’ve seen it when reflecting on disaster philanthropy in Western North Carolina, where one year after Hurricane Helene, residents are not simply rebuilding structures, they are building lasting ecosystems of support. Communities are collaborating to share resources and to create centers that offer a range of services from a food pantry to rental assistance to childcare. In Bangladesh, we learned about the development of salt-tolerant crops that allow farmers to grow crops in fields damaged by salinization.

In Southside Chicago, youth and young adults are being trained to provide basic emergency response in their neighborhoods and connect with older adults to clean and restore flood-damaged homes, developing workforce and leadership skills as well as civic engagement and belonging that spans generations and meets critical needs. And in Poland, we saw Ukrainian refugees bolstered by support groups, learning Polish to navigate life in their country of asylum, while still finding space to honor their heritage, traditions and connection to home.

Read the full article about reflecting on disaster philanthropy by Tiffany Benjamin and Patricia McIlreavy at Center for Disaster Philanthropy.