Hope, Light, and Safe Housing: Meet SBP Fellow Elizabeth Daigle

SBP created its Resilience Fellows Program to strengthen the capacity of small- to medium-sized communities on the front lines of disasters to secure appropriate federal disaster assistance.

Our locally based Fellows collaborate with community leaders and networks to secure the recovery assistance they need when disasters strike. They also empower communities to mitigate risks and strengthen their resilience to future disasters.  

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Getting People Housed in the Wake of Hurricane Ida

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Terrebonne Parish and neighboring Lafourche Parish were already facing an acute housing crisis. Without enough available affordable housing, low-income residents struggled to make ends meet, putting an average of 40 percent of their income toward rent. Then, in late August 2021—as the housing shortage was nearing a tipping point—Hurricane Ida made landfall in Lower Lafourche Parish. Packing 150 mph winds, Ida wrought catastrophic damage on Southeast Louisiana’s coastal communities. Ida’s utter devastation of buildings and critical infrastructure pushed the housing crisis over the edge.

Elizabeth Daigle, one of SBP’s first Resilience Fellows, didn’t require external context to understand the storm’s impact. Ida hit her home directly, causing damage so severe her family had to move out. This would be the story of countless local residents whose homes were too damaged to inhabit. With no help in sight, they were suddenly—and indefinitely—displaced. For Daigle, the need to secure safe, affordable housing for those in need felt not only urgent, but also personal. 

When she began her tenure as an SBP Resilience and Recovery Fellow in 2023, Daigle was thrilled to contribute her skills and experience in disaster response to help her own community.  A career social worker, behavioral health counselor, and crisis counselor, Daigle had already supported residents through multiple disasters, starting with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. 

The first priority on Daigle’s to-do list was getting people housed. Fast.

Hurricane Ida rendered 571 affordable housing units in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes uninhabitable—which constituted a staggering 90 percent of public and affordable housing units in the area. More than two years after CDBG-DR funding was approved by Congress, the community was still waiting for it to arrive. 

Daigle partnered with local nonprofit organizations such as the Bayou Community Foundation (BCF).  Together they worked around the clock to get people into safe, sanitary housing and explore options for additional funding. Daigle explained: “While we wait for federal assistance to arrive, we’re doing everything we can to get people housed. When people don’t have a safe place to lay their heads at night, their emotional health is going to suffer. And that has consequences.”

As a Resilience Fellow, Elizabeth played a key role in assisting with the development and implementation of a comprehensive disaster case management program for BCF. Her responsibilities included managing cases, vetting applicants for eligibility, and gathering critical data to secure ongoing funding. She also contributed to successful grant writing efforts, including securing support for the Fortified Roof Program through the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas, as well as grants from organizations like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Thanks to these efforts, BCF recently received additional funding to support rebuilding projects in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes through 2025.

While we wait for federal assistance to arrive, we’re doing everything we can to get people housed. When people don’t have a safe place to lay their heads at night, their emotional health is going to suffer. And that has consequences.

— Elizabeth Daigle, SBP Resilience Fellow

Focus on mental health: “We have to take care of the roots of the tree first”

In addition to securing and influencing recovery funding for residents—$145 million to date with $21 million still pending—Daigle was involved in community outreach so she could learn directly from residents what they needed most. While attending public hearings throughout Terrebonne Parish, Daigle noted that attendees repeatedly referenced mental health concerns. Residents shared that, since Hurricane Ida, they have witnessed increased instability and substance abuse among their families, friends, and neighbors.   

Daigle decided to investigate further and gather data. She helped develop a Community Needs Assessment through a local nonprofit and attended multiple focus group meetings.  Each time, the top concerns residents named were the same: mental health, followed by housing. 

“I started thinking again about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. People’s basic needs for food, water, and shelter need to be met before their higher-order needs like belonging can be fulfilled. When the needs at the bottom of the pyramid aren’t being met, everything else suffers.” Through her previous professional experience in both disaster recovery and behavioral health, Daigle has witnessed the harmful psychological effects that housing insecurity can cause. “We cannot take care of the mental health crisis until we meet people’s needs for housing and food security. We have to take care of the roots of the tree first.” 

With this in mind, Daigle continued to work to get people into safe housing. She also helped secure funding for initiatives like House in a Box, a program that provides disaster-impacted individuals and families with furniture and furnishings, as well as a community center repair program. 

“These small improvements give people a boost while we work on addressing the underlying cause—housing insecurity. But people need some hope and light in the meantime,” Daigle said.

Centering community voices 

Daigle’s role involved identifying projects to build community resilience to future disasters. A crucial first step was gathering community input—as much as possible “so they can get exactly what they need.”

Daigle attended planning meetings and promoted public hearings to raise awareness among residents about the available HUD Disaster Recovery funding and the community projects it could fund. She worked hard to get community members into the room; she advocated for projects in underserved communities and encouraged parish government agencies to better communicate with one another and cross-promote recovery-focused public events, all with the shared goal of getting input and buy-in from residents.

Throughout her Fellowship, Daigle worked through any channel available to influence CDBG-DR funding, allocated to the State Office of Recovery by HUD, following Hurricane Ida. CDBG-DR funds flowing into Terrebonne and surrounding communities total upwards of $160 million, with funding available for housing, economic development, infrastructure, and other resilient upgrades. She advised Terrebonne Parish council members and the Parish’s consulting group on ways to spend the funding following HUD guidelines while advocating for projects in the region’s most underserved communities.

Poised at the intersection of immediate needs, long-term resilience, and risk mitigation, Elizabeth has been a transformative force for her beloved Bayou community as an SBP Resilience Fellow. 

Recognizing her extraordinary impact, the Bayou Community Foundation has offered Elizabeth a full-time role as Program Manager. In this position, she will continue managing housing recovery programs, overseeing the EPA Environmental Justice Grant, and securing additional funding opportunities—solidifying her lasting role in the Bayou’s recovery and resilience.