By Tom Roth,
Redwood Chapter Conservation Chair
In October 2017 disastrous wildfires roared through Sonoma, Napa, Lake and Mendocino Counties, burning over 200,000 acres, destroying more than 7,000 homes, displacing thousands of people and killing more than two dozen. It was the largest wildfire disaster ever to hit California.
In response to this massive catastrophe, the Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club joined with an alliance of community organizations, the Another World is Possible Coalition, to establish the Just and Resilient Future Fund (JRFF). The goals of the fund are twofold: First, provide funding for immediate recovery initiatives for the most vulnerable fire victims, and second, (perhaps uniquely) support longer term projects that build more healthy and resilient communities to better prepare us for future disasters.
Implementation of the first goal was kicked off with a $50,000 grant to the Farmers’ Alliance – Community Alliance with Family Farmers’ program to assist family farmers who suffered losses in the fire and $25,000 to the Undocufund which provides assistance to undocumented workers who may not qualify or apply for traditional relief programs. Half of the funds that went to Undocufund helped pay for a much needed case worker to manage individual grants. JRFF does not provide for individual assistance grants, but it funds non-profits who do.
The Coalition is currently preparing guidelines for projects that achieve the fund’s second goal, building community resilience. The Coalition has discussed possible grants for fire resistance and prevention education, innovative construction and landscaping projects, and improved warning systems among others.
The Redwood Chapter’s coalition partners include: The Arlene Francis Center for Spirit, Art and Politics, the Farmers Guild and California Alliance with Family Farmers, Sonoma County Conservation Action, North Bay Organizing Project, Daily Acts, the Sebastopol Grange, the Schoolbox Project and the Unitarian Universalists Congregation of Santa Rosa. JRFF’s fiscal sponsor is the Rose Foundation, for Communities and the Environment. For more information about the Coalition, the JRFF, and to donate go to awipcoalition.org