Many women’s groups are springing up to lead recovery efforts to help the Gulf Coast recover from Hurricane Katrina, The Financial Times reports.

Low-income women and the elderly were the hardest hit by the storm, the newspaper says. When the time came to marshal resources for the recovery, however, many women took charge, says Avis Jones-DeWeever, director of poverty, education and social-justice programs at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

“Women are the community organizers trying to pull together and make things happen when government aid falls short,” she says. “It is interesting that despite all the challenges they face they haven’t given up.”

Read The Chronicle’s most recent report about efforts to help the Gulf Coast recover from Hurricane Katrina.