The Rebuild Program of the Okanogan County Long Term Recovery was in full operation for a decade, starting Spring 2015. The program replaced dozens of homes with 100% donated funds, volunteers, and partnership grants and donations. No government funding or government grants were available. 100% of the clients that fit the criteria for the Rebuild Program and wanted a replacement home received a home for the 2014, 2015 and 2020 wildfire FEMA disaster declarations.
In addition to the Rebuild Program, many survivors were supported from the Unmet Needs Roundtable funders to rebuild their own homes or find housing replacements. The Unmet Needs Roundtable funders paid for down payments, materials, permitting, dirt work, infrastructure replacement, and more. All of the funded cases were brought forth and vetted by disaster case managers (DCMs) in an anonymous, confidential process. The Rebuild Program participants would later sign a release to allow their identities to be shared, however their DCM’s job was always to buffer them from undo exposure.
Home dedications, celebrations, and blessings were shared once the client received the Certificate of Occupancy. Volunteers and funders were invited back to share and celebrate their moving in. Rebuilding with volunteers was a huge challenge and was coordinated by a professional contractor, the “reconstruction project manager”, to make sure the projects went smoothly. An additional challenge was that many of the homes were “off grid”, requiring solar, wind, and propane electrical systems. It was an amazing, complicated and rewarding program.
Resources:
Federal Assistance for Rebuilding Homes Factsheet
After the Fire WA Homeowners Resource Library
