Residents who lost their homes and belongings in the Beachie Creek and Lionshead fires are getting a helping hand from their neighbors via the Santiam Canyon Wildfire Relief Fund, which topped $1,173,884 in its second week.
Service Integration Team volunteer Deana Freres believes the team’s message of “pivoting the story of the Santiam Fire into the story of Santiam Canyon resilience” is resonating strongly with people all over the United States, and especially here in Oregon.
“Rural communities such as ours are a beacon of hope, determination, and the strength that comes from living and working closely with our state’s most precious natural resource, the forest,” said Freres. She credits Gates residents Bryan and Cindy Chauran as the catalyst for the fund’s creation.
“While standing amidst the burned rubble that was their home, they made a decision to use the money that their family had begun collecting for them to make a long-term impact on the Canyon,” she said. “They began to focus on the rebuild.”
The newly formed relief fund raised $151,000 in mere days, Freres said.
“We’ve had so many local contributions!” she said. “The whopper that surprised us all was the delivery of a $30,000 check along with much needed supplies from Saalfeld Griggs, an Oregon legal firm headquartered in Salem.”
By Sept. 23, Melissa Baurer, coordinator for the Santiam Hospital Service Integration Teams, reported a significant climb to $893,411, with more donations pouring in.
United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley, a SIT member since its start in 2017, informed Baurer of a $25,000 donation it was planning for the fund. Foothills Church donated $10,000, and Maps Credit Union, another SIT member, donated $2,500.
With help from SIT partners such as Oregon’s Department of Human Services, Family Building Blocks, Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency and others, Baurer said the funds will help with long-term needs.
“The goal is for us to connect families to resources and financial support to help them through this very challenging time and to provide the long term support that will be needed for many of our community members,” Baurer said.
“Service Integration Teams have been formed and are linking family needs to people and organizations who can fulfill those needs. We are now taking those relationships we have formed and building upon them in order to begin helping families restore hope and rebuild.”
Team member Todd Miller, superintendent of the Santiam Canyon School District, noted how quickly it became apparent there was a need to support Santiam Canyon residents impacted by the fires.
“We had people wanting to give and we needed a mechanism to get that incoming support for our families, quickly and efficiently,” said Miller. “We also wanted to ensure that all donations stayed local and that all of it would go to families in crisis in the Canyon.”
Baurer credited SIT members for “jumping right in” to help those impacted.
“They are completing drives for the immediate needs, volunteering at our distributions sites, volunteering to drive supplies to those evacuated outside of the area, and stepping in to help financially,” she said.
“The Department of Human Services is stationing two workers at our SIT Mobile office in Sublimity to field phone calls, sign families up for benefits, and create action follow-up plans with families.”
According to Baurer, SIT has connected with 408 unduplicated households from Santiam Canyon.
“Our new Gates Community Church location opened up this last Monday,” Baurer said on Sept. 23. “They are
serving 400 meals a day and seeing 100 households a day coming through the ‘store.’”
SIT is also working closely with Linn County and Marion County commissioners to have the Federal Emergency Management Agency onsite completing registration with families.
“Marion County Health and Human Services will be onsite as well,” Baurer said. “The MWVCAA-SOCC office has committed employee, Amanda Hardin, to the Gates site. Linn Benton Lincoln ESD has committed their staff to completing evacuee forms remotely.”
According to Baurer, Pastor Troy Gulstrom with Mehama Community Church and Pastor Mike Cline with Mountain View Church have joined the relief team, as has Ed Diehl, a member of the Santiam Hospital board, SIT and Knights of Columbus.
“Knights of Columbus quickly got Anthony Hall up and running for us,” Baurer said. “They have found shelving for the hall as well as donated pods and storage trailers. I am very proud of our SIT members and appreciate them so very much!”
Other relief SIT members include: Todd Reeser and Alex Nalivaiko, Santiam Canyon School District; Rhonda Wolfe of United Way of Mid-Willamette Valley; Nicole McIntyre, Columbia Bank; Christina Hoeckle, Linn Benton Lincoln Education Service District; and Colleen Bradford, Department of Human Services as well as Freres, Baurer, Miller, Diehl, Cline, Chauran and Gulstrom.
Distribution of funds will be overseen by a collaborative group of community members already vested in the SIT network.
Monies raised will be used in three phases: getting people into safe shelter, making sure their basic needs are met; assisting people with cleanup needs from the fire; and rebuilding the affected communities. Gulstrom called the fund “a great model to help people who need help and leverage dollars donated to get the biggest ‘bang for the buck.’”
Established in 2017, the SIT program serves as a safety net by facilitating resources and information for individuals and families in the Santiam Canyon region. SIT also coordinates community providers and services to identify needs, find solutions and avoid duplication of services.
Team members fielding calls have heard many heart-rending stories of families who have lost everything to the Santiam Fire, Baurer said.
“Families have been appreciative, hopeful, and optimistic in the future,” she said. “Many have asked how they can help their fellow neighbors. They have empathy for each other and the love for one another in this community is apparent.”
Baurer credited Miller for saying it best, “the Santiam Canyon communities ‘stand together.’”
Miller claimed the fire may have changed the landscape of the Canyon, but “it will not break our will.”
“The support of others is critical in the rebuilding of the homes and communities,” he said. “I am so saddened to see the destruction, yet feel so fortunate to know that so many are rooting for us and willing to help in this time of need.”
Out-of-the-area help is also arriving for Santiam Canyon families. Recently a “nightly nod of thanks” on the new SCWR Fund Facebook page went to Aaron and Trina from St. Helens, Oregon, who coordinated with their community to secure much-needed items for victims of the Santiam Fire.
The couple filled their horse trailer to the brim with dozens of boxes of paper goods, bedding, and flats of water. After unloading, they connected with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to offer the horse trailer for animal transport needs in the area.
“This was amazing!” Baurer said on the post, “Right after they left, we had a family of nine who needed pillows. So grateful Aaron and Trina made their way from St. Helens to us just in time to provide this family with some comfort.”
Another shout out went to Slick Licks Ice Cream in Salem which gave $1 from every item sold to the relief fund. Bentley’s Coffee on Mission Street in Salem opened Sunday, Sept. 13 with voluntary staffers just to donate $1 from every drink sold to the fund.
Other businesses have held fundraisers, giving a portion of profits raised, and some are helping to collect items such as toiletries and clean clothing for those affected by the fire.
The Willamette Valley Corvettes and Willlamette Valley Street Rods held a Cruise In that raised more than $20,000 for the fund.
“It is really encouraging to see the outpouring of generosity of people,” Gulstrom said. “It has been a rough year for so many and these fires add yet another layer of stress and uncertainty. But we are strong people and through God’s grace we will come out of this stronger and a tighter community.”
In-kind donation sites were set up at SIT Mobile in Sublimity, Immaculate Conception Church in Stayton, Cascade School District in Turner, and 13th Street Nursery in Salem.
All monetary donations made directly to the Santiam Canyon Wildfire Relief Fund are tax-deductible, as the fund is established with 501(c)3 status and held in a local account at Columbia Bank. Organizers have committed that 100 percent of monies contributed to the Santiam Canyon Wildfire Relief Fund will be distributed specifically to meet the needs of Santiam Canyon residents.
Donated resources will be coordinated through the Facebook page Santiam Canyon Wildfire Relief Fund. The resources will be matched to individuals and families whose needs will be presented to SIT via the extensive network of local service providers already established in the region.
Monetary donations can be made to paypal.me/santiamhospital or mailed to Santiam SIT of Santiam Hospital, 1401 North 10th Ave., Stayton, OR 97383. Individuals or families in need of financial, material or service support can contact SIT directly. Call or text 503-409-3652, or email [email protected].
Santiam SIT/Wildfire Relief meetings are open to the community, Baurer said.
