Napa Valley Register
Napa Valley Community Foundation has launched a pop-up recovery center to help individuals and families affected by the Napa wildfires in October.
The Napa Fire Recovery Center is help for those who were made homeless as a result of the wildfires, predominantly uninsured renters, find housing.
It also will provide financial assistance to people who may not have lost their homes, but have nonetheless encountered economic hardship because of the temporary slow-down of the viticulture and hospitality economy in the region.
Help for finding housing and financial assistance are available to individuals who live or work in Napa County; earn up to 120 percent of area median income; and have not received sufficient support from private insurance, government aid programs or other sources, the foundation said.
The area median income is $63,700 for a single person. For a four-person household, it’s $91,000.
To qualify for help, people will be asked to provide documents to substantiate their fire-related losses, such as proof of residency at a home or apartment that appears on the county’s list of red-tagged properties.
The Napa Fire Recovery Center – at 3299 Claremont Way, Suite 8, in Napa – is funded by 20,000 donors across the country, each of whom has contributed to the Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund managed by NVCF in recent months, the foundation said in a news release.
The center is staffed by three nonprofit organizations with expertise in offering housing, case management and individual assistance programs. Abode Services and On the Move are housed in the Claremont Way location, and Up Valley Family Centers is operating a satellite branch of the center at its established sites in Calistoga and St. Helena.
Fire survivors in need of assistance can schedule an appointment by calling (707) 363-8390, or by sending an email to info@napaefa.org. The Napa Fire Recovery Center is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will operate until June 30, unless changing circumstances warrant otherwise.
“This is a storefront operation I wish our community didn’t need, but the fact is, we need it,” said NVCF President Terence Mulligan. “In Napa Valley, too many people are still struggling to find their way back to some semblance of normalcy, post-fires – even though the last flames were doused three months ago.”