Santa Cruz Strong

August 29, 2020

In the words of the late, great John Lewis, “We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.”

2020 has been both a time and a test of our personal and collective adaptability and resilience. The pandemic has created immense loss and uncertainty for everyone that we are all still navigating through as best we can. On top of that, our Golden state and many beloved areas have been unprecedentedly burning at an alarming rate. Although fire is a cyclical part of life that plays a crucial part in the health and regrowth of ecosystems, it is clear that decades of fire suppression coupled with climate change have us in a collective state of imbalance and harm.

Again, adaptability, resiliency and community are the themes guiding us through. The silver lining to the immense loss being experienced in our city and state at large is the strong community support coming through. We are proving that no matter what happens; natural disasters, system collapse, plagues, we can and we will take care of each other. 

We have compiled some resources to help those displaced by the LNU, SCU and CZU Lightning Complex Fires, the largest in the state currently and some of the worst historically for California. Please feel free to share. 

MONETARY DONATIONS

• The Community Foundation Santa Cruz County has a Fire Response Fund at https://www.cfscc.org/updates/fire-response-fund.
• World Central Kitchen is a non-profit working with local restaurants and shelters to provide meals for evacuees and firefighters:  https://wck.org/
• Santa Cruz SPCA: https://spcasc.org/czu-fire-update/
• Latino Community Foundation Wildfire Fund:  https://latinocf.org/norcal-wildfire-relief-fund/
• The Napa Valley Community Foundation: https://www.napavalleycf.org/donate/
• The North Valley Community Foundation: https://www.nvcf.org/donate
• Monterey Community Resilience Fund: https://www.cfmco.org/
• Big Sur Fire Brigade: https://bigsurfire.org/
• Redwood Credit Union Community Fund: https://www.redwoodcu.org/community/community-fund
• The American Red Cross, which is paying to house people in motels this year instead of in traditional shelters due to the pandemic, is calling for cash donations. Its website provides numerous ways to donate.
• The Diocese of Sacramento Fire Assistance Fund:  www.scd.org/donate. Click “Fire Assistance Fund.” 

PHYSICAL DONATIONS

• The Emeline County Building is the hub for supply donations for Santa Cruz County that are being dispersed to evacuation centers. For a list of currently needed (NEW) items check here. They are also always in need of volunteers to help with organizing and sorting. 

VOLUNTEERS 

• Donation Centers for Fire Relief: Santa Cruz and Watsonville
• CAL Fire Call Center on Ocean St.  
• Second Harvest Food Bank 

EVACUEE SUPPORT INFO

• Food Pantries, Fresh Meals, Wellness support being offered: 

Restaurants Providing Meals

Food Pantries and Restaurant Meals

Wellness Support

 

• Shelter:

SC County Shelter Map

Airbnb Open Homes 

CZU Fire: Hotels Offering Accommodations 

 

• Mental Health:

Optum Emotional Support Help Line at 1-866-342-6892 is free and available to anyone, so you can share it with family and friends. Caring professionals will connect callers to resources 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Shine a Light Counseling Center in Santa Cruz is offering reduced fee and some pro bono trauma therapy sessions for anyone that has been impacted by the California Wildfires. You do not need to have lost your home in order to qualify. They also offer on-going sliding scale counseling. 

Additionally Synergy is donating 20% of all sales for the time being to fire relief efforts. We have also donated 500 pieces of Synergy Clothing to the Emeline Building, and anyone in the community who has recently lost their home is welcome to stop by our Labor Day Tent Sale, September 4-7th, at the Synergy Organic Clothing Warehouse. 

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