Foundation grants remaining funds for the North Complex Fire
The North Valley Community Foundation has granted all of the money left in its North Complex Fire Grant Program, $410,562, to a fund that will provide recovery resources to fire survivors.
All told, NVCF issued $1,167,940 in grants for Bear/North Complex Fire survivors.
The final $410,562 grant will help fund the North Complex Fire Unmet Needs Roundtable, which will be set up by the North Complex/Bear Fire Long Term Recovery Group. Other funders will join NVCF at the Unmet Needs Roundtable, which will provide resources for case managers working with fire victims.
The Unmet Needs Roundtable is modeled after a similar program for Camp Fire survivors.
Northern Valley Catholic Social Service and St. Vincent de Paul employ case managers who are working on 311 North Complex Fire cases. There are 736 on a waiting list, with more likely to be added from a list kept by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There have been 178 cases closed.
“We learned in our recovery efforts with the Camp Fire that fire survivors face extraordinary obstacles to stable, long-term housing. Our citizens committee recognized that the most effective way to address this pressing need was to make a significant contribution to the Unmet Needs Roundtable to directly help people whose lives were turned upside down by the North Complex Fire,” said Jovanni Tricerri, vice president of regional recovery and partnerships for NVCF. “This grant represents our commitment in making significant investments in housing and direct assistance.”
The Unmet Needs Roundtable will provide another outlet for resources to help case managers and their clients reach recovery goals. Survivors who have exhausted all other funding options and still have an unmet recovery need can turn to the fund for various necessities, such as relocation costs, rebuilding and permitting steps, furniture and household goods, emergency items, temporary housing situations and more.
Case managers make requests on behalf of clients at the Unmet Needs Roundtable. North Valley Catholic Social Service will provide staffing for the process. Funding approved by a committee would be paid by United Way of Northern California directly to vendors, businesses, landlords and so forth on behalf of the client.
The Unmet Needs Roundtable expects to be operational by January.
Other recent grants from the North Complex Fire Grant Program included:
$25,565 to the Mountain Springs Grange to help rebuild and enhance an outdoor gathering space at the grange property in Feather Falls. The loss of the Grange Hall in the fire left Feather Falls with no community meeting center. The Grange will purchase tables, lighting and other items that will allow the Grange grounds to be utilized as a meeting area. The Grange hopes to re-establish events such as potluck dinners, breakfasts, concerts in the park and other community activities in an outdoor parklike setting.
$4,000 to Help Central (Butte-Glenn 211) to provide tarps, dehumidifiers and winter supplies for survivors in need.
$2,000 to the Oroville Southside Community Improvement Association to purchase meals for Bear Fire survivors for the organization’s drive-through Thanksgiving dinner giveaway.
$5,000 to Northern Valley Catholic Social Service for gift cards that encouraged Bear Fire survivors to sign up for disaster case management services at two Resource Round Up events.
$5,000 to Northern Valley Catholic Social Service to provide gift cards for fire victims attending the Bear Fire Remembrance event at Lakeside Plaza.
$5,000 to Berry Creek Community Council to provide food and gas cards for basic needs in winter.
Tricerri thanked the members of the grant approval committee for their work the past year. The committee included three community leaders from the Bear Fire area (Sandy Bourasa, Will Cotter and Patsy Oxford) and four NVCF board members (Sherry Holbrook, Earl Jessee, Deborah Rossi and Janet Wietbrock). “They consistently helped inform our work and guided us to make the right funding decisions,” said Tricerri.
Bear/North Complex Fire survivors who need help can contact disaster case management toll free at 833-755-3267.
