We were lucky to catch up with Margaret Babyak recently and have shared our conversation below.

Margaret, appreciate you joining us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

Our work is rooted in serving an often-overlooked and deeply underserved community: disaster survivors. More than 70% of our clients live in poverty, and when disaster strikes—whether it’s a house fire or a large-scale event—they are hit hardest and have the fewest resources to recover.
One client’s story captures this perfectly. A single mother of three lost her home in a fire. She didn’t have renters insurance. She had no savings. Within hours, she went from housed to homeless, trying to manage trauma, find shelter, and care for her children—while navigating systems that weren’t built for people in her situation. Emergency services helped briefly, but within days, she was left on her own. That’s where Our Front Porch stepped in. We provided immediate emotional support and long-term case management, helped her access temporary housing, advocated for her through the complex social service systems, and eventually helped her find and furnish a new home. Just as importantly, she received trauma-informed therapy to process what she had experienced—something rarely offered to disaster survivors, especially those in poverty.

Margaret, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I co-founded Our Front Porch with Heather Korth, an organization dedicated to long-term disaster recovery. We met in 2010 during a disaster response training in New Orleans and quickly discovered a shared passion for humanitarian work. I am a licensed therapist with a deep commitment to trauma recovery, and Heather is an architect focused on creating safe, stable housing for people in crisis. Before founding Our Front Porch, we both worked separately in disaster recovery and kept encountering the same painful reality: the system focuses heavily on short-term response but offers little long-term support. We began asking the tough questions: “What happens when the cameras leave? What happens to someone who loses their home in a fire and has no support?” We realized that whether it’s a large-scale disaster or a single-family house fire, the impact is the same—people go from housed to homeless in a matter of hours, left to navigate trauma, insurance battles, and housing instability on their own. Our Front Porch was born to address that gap. We focus on long-term disaster recovery—helping people rebuild their lives, not just their homes, long after the immediate crisis has passed.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Heather and I met in New Orleans in 2010 during an intensive two-week disaster recovery training. Surrounded by others passionate about crisis response, we connected immediately over a shared commitment to humanitarian work and helping people through moments of profound loss. That initial connection sparked a friendship—and eventually, a powerful working partnership. What makes our collaboration unique is the way we approach disaster recovery from two distinct but complementary perspectives. I am a licensed therapist, focusing on emotional and psychological healing, using trauma-informed methods like EMDR to help clients process the impact of disaster. Heather, an architect, is passionate about creating safe, stable spaces and helps clients navigate rebuilding, from insurance claims to construction contracts. Together, we built a holistic program rooted in long-term disaster recovery—because we believe true recovery means rebuilding both the home and the person.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Our reputation was built on a commitment to long-term disaster recovery—something that’s often overlooked in traditional response models. While many organizations focus on immediate relief, we stay with our clients long after the headlines fade. People know us because we walk alongside them through the hardest part: the long, complicated, and emotional journey of rebuilding their lives.

What sets us apart is our holistic approach. We don’t just help people find housing or process paperwork—we support them emotionally, structurally, and logistically through every stage of recovery. That consistency, compassion, and depth of care has built trust in our community and positioned us as a reliable, long-term partner in the disaster recovery space.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ourfrontporchco.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourfrontporchco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OurFrontPorchCO

Image Credits

Taken by Heather or Maggie