Over the weekend, Hurricane Helene left countless families and small businesses across the southeastern United States struggling to meet their immediate needs and in urgent need of assistance. The devastation spanned from Florida to Tennessee and left millions of people without access to electricity, cell service, and water. In some areas, these critical infrastructures are estimated to take weeks to repair.
We know that natural disasters can carry an even more devastating impact on rural communities, families with low incomes, and historically excluded populations. Systemic inequities can make it even harder for people to focus on rebuilding their livelihoods following a disaster. This is especially true when the small businesses that serve these communities are impacted.
For these families, businesses, and communities, even a brief delay in disaster relief assistance can lead to additional challenges to accessing food, medicine, gas, and other basic needs. This creates a compounding effect that makes it more difficult for them to regain financial footing and move forward with rebuilding their lives. In these critical moments, rapid access to emergency assistance programs can be a lifeline.
The crux of our work at Beam is driven by a deep commitment to showing up and helping others. Since our inception, we’ve been a critical partner in the delivery of emergency relief programs, enabling organizations to quickly respond in times of crisis and distribute cash into the hands of those who need it most. In times like these, we're committed to doing what it takes to help communities recover faster and stronger.
Supporting the essential role of state and local organizations in emergency response
Recovery shouldn’t have to wait for bureaucracy. Large federal disaster relief funding can take months or years to make its way to the hardest hit areas. Immediately following a disaster, local municipalities, communities, and states are often called upon to bridge the gaps in emergency aid distribution.
It’s with this understanding that we offer our support to the government, nonprofit, and community organizations that have been working around the clock to help families and small businesses impacted by Hurricane Helene’s destruction. We’re here to waive costs in this time of emergency to ensure you can leverage our platform to get emergency relief dollars flowing into your community immediately.
Enabling faster recovery with flexible distribution of emergency assistance payments
Our ability to quickly deliver emergency cash assistance to impacted families and small businesses—in a matter of hours or days—ensures that help arrives when it's needed most.
In just a few days, Beam can help emergency assistance programs establish applications, case management, and secure payment disbursement that distribute funds to anyone in need—whether it’s families, small businesses, or local organizations.
This immediate, flexible distribution of emergency assistance minimizes the impact of disasters and gives communities the tools to recover faster and stronger. To date, we’ve supported more than 80 partners in the delivery of emergency relief programs.
If you're a community or national foundation, a local organization, nonprofit, or government agency working to identify how to get critical assistance out to those affected by Hurricane Helene quickly, please get in touch as we'd love to help.
Image credit: North Carolina Department of Transportation
