The After-the-Fires 2007 Fund

Last Monday, October 22, the San Diego Regional Disaster Fund (SDRDF), a supporting organization of The Foundation, opened the After-the-Fires Fund 2007 in preparation for the immense recovery and rebuilding efforts our community will face. As in the 2003 fire relief, the primary focus will be ongoing recovery and rebuilding throughout the San Diego region. The SDRDF played a major role in The San Diego Foundation’s fire relief efforts in the years following the 2003 fires.

This Monday, October 29, The Foundation is proud to announce that in just one week, we have received commitments topping $3 million in contributions to the After-the-Fires Fund 2007.  We offer a multitude of thanks to our many donors who contributed to the fund. In addition to the generosity of our local donors, donations have come in from all across the nation and even internationally. Among the many corporations and foundations that have committed funds to the After-the-Fires effort are The Alex Spanos Family, the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, The Home Depot Foundation, the National Football League, The Amgen Foundation, Washington Mutual, Inc., Cardinal Health Care Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, Bank of the West, the Lilly Foundation, Valley View Casino, Accredited Home Lenders, Moss Adams LLP, and the Cox Kids Foundation.

We expect to announce the first grants from this fund on Friday, November 2nd. Initial grantmaking priorities will focus on supporting the fire rescue teams and replenishing their emergency preparedness capability.

Community Needs Assessment: Response

Last week, numerous staff members visited evacuation centers including Qualcomm Stadium, Chula Vista & Mira Mesa High Schools, the Del Mar Race Track, Fiesta Island, the north county tribal communities and more to begin assessments of community need. This Monday and Tuesday, teams of staff and volunteers are out again in the fire-affected communities, observing conditions and speaking with government representatives, business and community leaders, service providers and others to survey the damage and research ways to help. As you may recall, in 2003 The Foundation produced an “After-The-Fire Community Needs Assessment Report.” This year, as before, we will compile our data and research into a report that will guide The Foundation, other grantmakers and community leaders as immediate response efforts wrap up and continuing recovery
efforts unfold. The report is expected to be completed within 30 days for release in
early December.

Our Community Partnerships staff, lead by Mariano Diaz, are focusing their efforts in several key areas, including:

• Health & Human Services: Mariano Diaz
         - Shelter 
         - Food & water
         - Medical care, counseling, human-to-human needs

• Animal Welfare: Sedra Shapiro
         - Shelter 
         - Transportation
         - Food & water
         - Medical care, special needs

• Environment: Emily Young
         - Fire tracking & information exchange
         - Air quality & airborne pollutants
         - Water contamination
         - Erosion prevention

• Vulnerable Populations:
    • Youth & Education: Arzo Mansury
         - Impacts to school system
         - Recreation
         - Counseling
         - Scholarships for fire-affected students to attend college
    • Seniors: Felicia Shaw
         - Special housing needs
         - Medical care 
    • Tribal Communities: Paula Stigler
         - Emergency services, including provision of food, water, shelter, clothing, etc
         - Liasions with county services
         - Ongoing support

• Special Project:
         – Art & Cultural Assets: Felicia Shaw

• Community Assessment and Civic Engagement for Recovery: Cheryl Alethia Phelps
         - Region-wide assessment of the resources, needs, strengths,
            leadership of fire-impacted communities.
         - Liaisons with elected officials and staff
         - Deployment of Civilian Recovery Teams

In-depth subject area assessments will overlap with assessments of community resources to create a composite understanding of what each community needs to come together to recover and rebuild.

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