For vulnerable families, disaster isn’t always a cyclone or pandemic—it’s the daily shocks of illness, debt, or exclusion.
Across India and beyond, small and marginal farmers, fisherfolk, factory workers, street vendors, migrants, sex workers, and tribal communities live on the edge of poverty—where a single hospital bill, denied employment, or missed entitlement can trap families in cycles of vulnerability.
Yet too often, aid and development programmes treat these risks in isolation—health here, livelihood there—while families experience them all at once. The result? Fragmented responses that don’t match lived realities.
Breaking this cycle calls for innovative solutions that provide affordable safety nets while enabling households to move from vulnerability to stability. It means reshaping the relationship—from provider–recipient to partner–changemaker—where communities take ownership of building resilience.
Resilience is not just about “bouncing back”; it’s about building the capacity to anticipate, adapt, and thrive in the face of everyday disruptions.
That’s why the Resilience Coalition, anchored by Community Action Collab, is shifting the story.
The core of our approach to building community resilience is the tool we have developed and continue to refine: Know Your Resilience (KYR)™ — a simple, practical tool that acts as both a mirror and a map, helping households see where they stand and chart their own journeys.
The KYR™ process begins by helping families recall the disasters they have faced in the past—their impacts, how they responded, and how prepared they would be if the same disaster struck again, as it so often does. This reflection becomes the foundation for a deeper inquiry: What is the problem? Why does it exist? And how can we solve it, drawing on the resources we already have? Families are encouraged to look at their assets (what they own and can mobilize), skills (what they know and can do), and social connections (the networks of trust and support they can rely on), and then explore how these can be strengthened and used together with their wider community. In asking these questions, the power to define and drive resilience shifts from outside actors to the community itself. Families and communities step forward not as passive “beneficiaries,” but as leaders of change, shaping solutions that reflect their lived realities and aspirations. External actors play a different role: walking alongside as facilitators, connectors, and capacity builders. Through this approach, communities gain not only the tools to see and understand their resilience but also the confidence and capacity to act, engage with larger systems, and share their wisdom—sparking wider learning and collective progress.
Families then co-create practical plans tailored to their lives, whether that means gaining new skills, diversifying livelihoods, accessing health and education services, securing social entitlements, or refinancing debt.
And it’s working. In six pilot locations, 6,000+ vulnerable families are already designing their own resilience strategies, turning uncertainty into opportunity. These journeys reveal not just what households can achieve on their own, but also the systemic barriers that need collective solutions.
“KYR helped me see my vulnerabilities clearly. Just like I plan ahead for festivals, I can now anticipate the problems my family might face, prepare for them, and deal with them—without compromising our daily wellbeing.” — Women Federation Member, Andhra Pradesh
“The Resilience Movement taught me to adapt rather than give up. Fish-selling demands strong legs. At present, my legs are not that strong, but my hands are—I can use them.” — Fisherwoman, Pentakota (Orissa)
“They just gave us loans and took repayments. No one helped us build skills or connect with buyers. We were stuck paying interest for years. KYR helped me to sense this and develop my own plan.” — Small Farmer, Karnataka
Alongside this, the coalition has made significant strides:
- A simplified KYR tool™ and community manuals ready for wider rollout
- A Resilience Index that makes resilience visible and measurable
- Partnerships with grassroots CSOs—including Gopabandu Seve Parisad (Orissa), SEARCH (Andhra Pradesh), Head Held High Foundation, Green Foundation, and Sri Padmavathi Mahila Abhivruddi Sangham (Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh)—opening new pathways to scale
Our vision
We aim to empower 100 million people over the next decade to move beyond survival—to build lives full of dignity, hope, and real security.
This is more than a project. It’s a movement, a shift in power, putting families at the heart of their own future.
Curious to see resilience in action? Ready to join this transformation? Resilience is not built in isolation, it thrives through collaboration. To create lasting impact, diverse actors must come together, each bringing their unique strengths and roles:
- Civil society partners can take Know Your Resilience (KYR) directly into communities, ensuring households are empowered and supported.
- Governments have the opportunity to weave resilience into public programmes and entitlements, turning policy into everyday protection.
Funders and investors can accelerate impact by backing scalable, community-led solutions that ensure long-term transformation.An upcoming Resilience Conclave, bringing coalition members together to deepen and embed resilience practices
Connect with Kallana Gowda at [email protected]. Let’s spark the change together.
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