Rebuild RS Fund – Campaign for Life | Extreme Weather Events Program

In the face of recurrent Extreme Weather Events across Brazil, Casa Fund created a special program to deal with the new demand. We will be organizing direct support for communities to regain their bearings and rebuild their lives in manners that also strengthen their resilience and adaptive capacity to deal with the progression of  climate change impacts in their territories.  Through this Program, Casa Fund will support local communities and traditional populations, including quilombolas, indigenous peoples, and family farmers impacted by extreme weather events, as well as the most affected groups in urban peripheries to the extent possible. 

Though Casa Fund has already been making grants to groups affected by Extreme Weather Events, this situation in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state, requires a more concerted effort.  Thus, Casa Fund is launching a Campaign for Life to collect immediate resources for its Rebuild RS Fund.  As we have learned from other tragedies, the country is capable of responding well to urgent humanitarian aid and millions of tons of food, water and other support is already arriving in the state.  Once the moment passes, the reconstruction takes 2 to 3 years to accomplish. We need to be there for the population now, and also along the rest of this time in a very focused way. The Rebuild RS Fund, therefore, has to have both a short and medium term perspective. We plan to make grants to communities directly affected by this tragedy, contributing to the reconstruction of their means of livelihood, homes and territories through investments in the following areas:

• Community Initiatives: Flexible support for community economic and livelihood recovery initiatives proposed by local flood-affected groups
• Family agriculture and agroecology: investments to speed  the restoration of food production systems
• Improve community infrastructure: Support the improvement of basic infrastructure related to well-being and livelihood
• Psychosocial and Mental Health Support: Actions that provide psychological and mental health support for communities to move forward and rebuild their emotional well-being, and capacity to cope and rebuild their lives

Casa Fund will accept direct donations here or via our partnership with Myriad USA, here

Current Context

According to the G1 news portal from Rio Grande do Sul, since April 29th, 100 people have died and 128 are missing due to severe weather. 401 out of 497 municipalities have been partially or fully damaged.  Estimates indicate that 1,500 million people have been affected by this tragedy.

The greater area of Porto Alegre, the capital, is flooded by the waters of the Guaíba River. The airport and bus station are not operating. Highways are blocked, except one single route. Banks, hospitals and basic services are either closed or operating under reduced capacity. 

At least 100,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged, with estimated losses of R$ 4.6 billion according to municipalities in the state.

The forecast for the next few days calls for more rain and cold, with winds potentially reaching 100 kilometers per hour, while the temperature is expected to drop considerably.

The floods have already affected more than 80 indigenous communities and territories in Rio Grande do Sul, according to Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI).

In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, there are more than 7,000 Quilombola families, 344 Romani (Gipsy) families, and about 1,300 traditional Afro-descendant communities, according to the Ministry of Racial Equality (MIR). Currently, many of these communities are isolated, with no access to water, food, or electricity.

This will be a long trail to recovery, and we need to start now!  Thank you for your support!