Futureproof: Mr. Grant Money & the Resilience Innovation Labs in New Orleans

🎩 Summary Notes

New Orleans has resilience in its DNA, but resilience alone is exhausting. After decades of rebuilding from storms, residents and grassroots leaders wanted something more than bounce-back survival—they wanted forward-facing innovation. Enter Resilience Innovation Labs, a network of neighborhood hubs co-designed by residents, churches, and universities to pilot green infrastructure, microgrids, and climate-tech apprenticeships. With Mr. Grant Money’s funding blueprint, this vision landed over $8 million in grants and matches, transforming makeshift solutions into a permanent resilience R&D engine for the Gulf Coast.

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⚜️ Key Themes

🔹 Resilience Fatigue → Resilience Infrastructure
✅ Drainage and power systems overstressed
❌ Short-term, fragmented funding cycles
💡 Solution: Build permanent neighborhood labs for resilience innovation

🔹 Community-Rooted Innovation
📌 Bayou Futures led by Katrina Jones
📌 Tulane & Xavier researchers
📌 Faith and youth leaders
📌 Block captains + apprentices

🔹 Funding Ecosystem Built to Last
🏛 FEMA BRIC – $4.2M for infrastructure
🚀 NSF Civic Innovation – $1.3M
🏠 DOE + HUD – $2M
🌱 Local universities, utilities & labor – $1.1M match

🔹 What Got Built
🌐 5 planned hubs (3 live by Year One)
🔋 Solar shelters + microgrids
🌳 Rain gardens + flood modeling tech
👩‍🏭 170+ youth apprentices certified
💡 First pilot microgrid saved $38,000 during blackout

⚜️ Discussion Questions

💬 How do we shift from “bouncing back” to “building forward” in climate resilience?
💬 Who should lead resilience labs in your city—universities, grassroots groups, or government?
💬 What small-scale community innovations (like rain gardens or DIY microgrids) deserve bigger funding?
💬 How can we ensure resilience funding reaches the frontlines, not just the best-prepared?
💬 Would your neighborhood benefit from a resilience hub? What would it include?

⚜️ Action Steps for Communities

✅ Frame resilience as infrastructure, not charity
✅ Stack grants across innovation + workforce + infrastructure
✅ Elevate lived experience as core data in applications
✅ Train residents—not just contractors—in resilience tech
✅ Turn pilot projects into replicable models for other cities

⚜️ Reflection

New Orleans reminded us that resilience is not a buzzword—it’s a battleground. If communities aren’t funded to innovate before the next disaster, they’re forced to survive it alone. The Resilience Innovation Labs show that equity, memory, and creativity belong at the heart of climate adaptation. Because the next breakthrough may not come from a corporate lab—it may already be growing in a church basement or a neighborhood classroom.

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