Recovery is a slow process, much slower than recovery funding and the political cycles that drive them. This mismatch undermines recovery and ultimately resilience. Communities are still rebuilding in a myriad of ways long after financial support dries up, leaving resource gaps that weaken recovery and undermine long term resilience. A better strategy is to align funding with real human recovery timelines, using community foundations and other local mechanisms to take a long-term funding role after the initial agency delivered programs. It recognises that healing and rebuilding move slower than political or budget cycles. Resilience grows when recovery is supported for the time it truly takes.