Thomas, Hill and Woolsey Wildfire Recovery Funds

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Thomas, Hill and Woolsey
Wildfire Recovery Funds

Five years have passed since the Thomas Fire changed the face of Ventura County, and four years since the Hill and Woolsey Fires blazed across Ventura and Los Angeles counties. We have learned firsthand how disaster recovery continues long after the initial intense focus on meeting the most acute needs for emergency housing, medical support, and much more. Long-term recovery funding enables fire victims to receive targeted, personalized support for their particular needs.

In this mid- and long-term phase of recovery, we have hundreds of residents who are working through rebuilding, rehoming, and managing debts that accumulated due to fire-related unemployment and/or recovery expenses. It is also the nature of certain post-traumatic mental and health issues that they arise only after a period of time, and we continue to see fire victims who have been struggling on their own and are now stepping forward for the first time to ask for support. Many other individuals have illnesses and injuries that were caused or exacerbated by the wildfires, which have now transitioned into chronic issues and must be addressed differently.

Thousands of people have received assistance with health care, post-traumatic counseling, housing, wage replacement, child care, debt relief, food security, the replacement of essential household items, and the replacement of equipment and transportation for those who are self-employed.

One-hundred percent of these contributions are going to support our community nonprofit organizations who are serving individuals are still recovering from these disasters. VCCF is not taking any administrative fees on these donations allowing the community to give to one trusted fund and to reduce duplication of efforts.

To Donate

Any contributions are still appreciated as Ventura County citizens continue their recovery process.
Click below to donate to the Thomas Fire or the Hill and Woolsey Mid- to Long-Term Recovery Fund.

DONATE NOW

News & Updates

Grants Awarded

Disaster relief is complex, and we have found that granting to many organizations, varied in size, constituency, and areas of focus, is the best way to ensure that all community members receive the integrated recovery care they need. The Ventura County Long-Term Disaster Recovery Group is a coalition of local service providers that works closely with VCCF, and this group manages an integrated case management protocol. Additionally, grantee organizations track their work in ways that are most appropriate to their services and constituencies and report back to VCCF. VCCF also meets regularly with grantees regarding disaster relief as well as capacity-building and resiliency efforts to learn more about these actions.

Long-term disaster philanthropy offers a special type of support to the community — as months and years pass from the disaster event itself, and long after attention has turned to the next most-pressing needs, our community members need to know that they are not forgotten. The year 2020 showed strikingly how a global pandemic and political unrest simultaneously exacerbated the struggles of wildfire survivors while simultaneously commanding the attention of philanthropic organizations. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Thomas Fire Sudden and Urgent Needs Effort

  • $20,000 to Help of Ojai for basic needs of Ojai families in crisis due to the fire.
    $5,000 to MICOP for their radio antenna replacement and an additional $5,000 for health outreach for farmworkers.
  • $5,000 to Habitat for Humanity for housing assistance for those affected by the fire and $612.34 for housing assistance for those affected by the fire.
  • $30,000 to Interface Children and Family Services for the purchase of a permanent generator for 2-1-1 and $60,000 to support their emergency 2-1-1 call center and $27,000 in additional funding to support the cost of a Facilitator for the Ventura County Thomas Fire Long Term Recovery Group (LTRG).
  • $5,000 to FOOD Share for transportation and food sorting for shelters.
  • $20,000 to Salvation Army for basic services and emergency relief for families who have lost homes.
  • $3,000 to ThomasFireHelp.com for their technology design, development, and server space. (This service helped facilitate needs caused by the disaster for 51,000 individuals to-date).
  • $4,950 to Ventura College Foundation for support of single parents who were victims of the Thomas Fire.
  • $6,755.50 to Rubicon Theatre to cover the costs of mandatory cleaning in response to the Thomas Fire.
  • $7,700 to Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme to cover the increased costs of childcare due to school closure as a result of the Thomas Fire air quality.
  • $2,500 to Center for Nonprofit Leadership at Cal Lutheran to cover the costs of convening nonprofit organizations during the recovery period. We want to thank Dena Jensen for her leadership and immediate response efforts during this time.
  • $65,567.77 to Humane Society of Ventura County to cover vet bills and staff supplies as a result of the Thomas Fire.
  • $65,000 to National Disaster Search Dog Foundation to cover dog boarding expenses and clean-up efforts from the Thomas Fire.
  • $5,000 to YMCA – Southeast Ventura County for gift cards for families who have lost homes, membership to facilities for families who have lost homes, childcare
    program costs for affected families.
  • $6,600 to Boys & Girls Club Camarillo to help cover the staffing and utility costs of the 6 days of day camp being open in response to school closing due to air quality issues.
  • $600 to CAUSE for masks for farmworkers.
  • $5,000 to Ventura Botanic Gardens for the partial cost of Earthguard to protect against erosion.
  • $14,300 to Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura to help cover staffing and costs for days schools closed due to the fire.
  • $1,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Moorpark for the deductible for their insurance company to fix their damaged roof caused by the extreme winds during the fire.
  • $8,042.22 to the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley to cover costs associated with school closures during the fire – they are serving families in three communities (Santa Paula, Fillmore, and Piru) within our county.
  • $7,200 to the Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center (SPARC) to cover boarding fees, overtime pay, mileage, transportation costs, and adoption fees as a result of the fire.
  • $12,500 to 805Help to provide general operating support.
  • $15,000 to Los Padres Forest Association to partially cover consultant expenses for the development of the fundraising plan.
  • $5,000 to CLEAN International to replace supplies lost in the Thomas Fire.

Hill Fire/ Woolsey Fire Sudden and Urgent Needs Effort Update

  • $146,250 to the American Red Cross of Ventura County for General Operations Support.
  • $1,394 to Ride On Therapeutic Horsemanship for Evacuation expenses for horses, additional staffing, fuel for trailers, stall cleaning.
  • $10,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Conejo Valley for expenses related to serving children during school closures, club clean-up, and counseling services.
  • $30,000 total to KCLU Public Radio (California Lutheran University) with $20,000 to replace damaged main transmitter and supporting equipment and an additional $10,000 for matching funds for the campaign to replace equipment, which they met.
  • $15,000 to Senior Concerns for adult daycare, meals and support for our community’s seniors who were evacuated and need care.
  • $5,350 to Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association to help cover costs associated with evacuations of those on hospice.
  • $7,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Camarillo to cover costs associated with emergency childcare needs due to school closures.
  • $783,600 to the Southeast Ventura County YMCA with the first $445,000 going to provide individual assistance to families affected by the fires, $9,500 to cover costs associated with emergency childcare needs due to school closures, and the latest $329,100 to provide direct financial assistance for housing and other basic needs for 47 applicants; HOA fees for 16 mobile home residents; and Y memberships for 25 fire-impacted families.
  • $1,827 to Mark Watring Stables for the evacuation of 43 horses, hauling of feed and water supplies, and overtime.
  • $25,000 to the Economic Development Collaborative for general operations support as they serve business owners impacted by the fires.
  • $21,500 to Cal State Channel Islands Foundation to feed and house students evacuated by the fires.
  • $500 to California Lutheran University’s Center for Nonprofit Leadership to sponsor a free webinar entitled “Fundraising in Response to a Community Crisis”.
  • $6,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard & Port Hueneme to help cover expenses related to serving children during school closures.
  • $5,000 to Fly-Hope Dream to cover flights for fire survivors.
  • $10,000 to Little Angels Project to cover costs of veterinary care for injured animals.
  • $16,000 to Lockwood Animal Rescue Center to provide lodging and basic needs for people and animals.
  • $1,167,182.69 to The Salvation Army – California South Division with $1,099,882.69 to provide mid- to long-term direct financial assistance for 800 individuals and families for housing, food, utility assistance and staffing to support case managers and additional basic needs support to those impacted and $67,300 to support a Rebuild Navigator to assist residents in the early stages of the building process.
  • $155,560 to Totally Local VC Agricultural Education Foundation (Local Love Project) to provide direct financial assistance and case management to 131 individuals and families for housing, food, household expenses and staffing to support case management.
  • $2,500 to LIFE Animal Rescue to replace fencing and lighting for the animal shelter.
  • $70,200 to United Policyholders for a fire recovery coordinator position and disaster recovery toolkit and online resource.
  • $20,000 to Upper Ojai Relief for trailer and materials expense.
  • $5,000 to Casa Pacifica for evacuation expenses related to the fire.
  • $7,500 to Conejo Hospice for support groups for fire survivors.
  • $130,328 to Interface Children and Family Services for long-term disaster recovery group infrastructure, facilitator, data systems coordinator, and overhead.
  • $20,000 to Oakbrook Park Chumash Indian Corporation for a utility vehicle to assist with rebuilding efforts.
  • $20,000 to Santa Monica Mountains Fund for rebuilding bridges on Backbone Trail.
  • $25,000 to Westminster Free Clinic for bilingual mental health services and basic needs assistance.
  • $55,000 to 805 Help with $5,000 to support their immediate response to bring online access to our community during the fires and $50,000 for the ongoing efforts to connect fire survivors with community disaster response and management of donations and distributions.
  • $70,000 to YMCA – Southeast Ventura County to support forty (40) one-year memberships at the YMCA for fire-impacted individuals and families.
  • $100,000 to FOOD Share Inc. to support administrative capacity for food distribution for two years for those affected by the fires.
  • $15,000 to Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council Inc. to purchase supplies lost in the Hill and Woolsey fires.

Thomas Fire Mid- to Long-Term Recovery Effort

  • $7,000 to the Center for Nonprofit Leadership to cover training of our region’s nonprofit sector by bringing in an expert consultant to train local organizations on how to fundraise during and after a period of a disaster.
  • $326,000 to Interface Children Family Services with $50,000 to cover the cost of translating 2-1-1 Ventura County data and terms into Spanish ensuring that all community members have equal access to resources that support their health and well-being and to help keep them safe in times of crisis, $10,000 to cover staff time to manage outreach and case management for direct financial assistance to Thomas Fire survivors, $201,000 for financial assistance to families to bridge the gap in rent payments, finding rentals in appropriate price range, rebuilding, and home repairs, moving costs, replacement of furniture, $60,000 for funding for facilitation of Long-Term Disaster Recovery Group, and $5,000 for administrative expenses to distribute funding to households impacted by the Thomas Fire.
  • $50,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County to be used for repairing homes in the Ventura community that were made uninhabitable by the Thomas Fire.
  • $25,000 to Boys & Girls Club of Ventura to be used for a teen leadership program that will focus on disaster relief efforts and leadership opportunities, using the tragedy of the fires to build on their training of teens to volunteer and be involved in the community.
  • $2,279.77 to Downtown Ventura Organization for Thomas Fire relief.
    $500,000 to Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project for the 805 UndocuFund.
  • $18,500 to California-Pacific Annual Conference, UMC, Justice & Compass with $8,500 to support the Camp Noah Program and its presentation to 50 children who were impacted by the Thomas Fire and $10,000 to support half the cost of the purchase of a used trailer and truck for a victim of the Thomas Fire. The other half of purchase will be supported by the Salvation Army.
  • $10,000 to Ventura County Civic Alliance with $5,000 to support the State of the Region Report for Ventura County and $5,000 to support two “Making It Forum” series events to assess current and long-term needs of the artist community related to the Thomas Fire; activities include information sharing and data gathering as well as engagement of the arts community with long-term recovery efforts.
  • $37,640 to Jewish Federation of Ventura County for Jewish Family Services to provide mental health counseling and disaster case management for fifteen (15) Thomas Fire survivors for one year.
  • $183,700 to Give An Hour, California for the Ventura County Stronger Together program.
  • $40,000 to Economic Development Collaborative of Ventura County with $5,000 for project management and oversight for convening the CEDS Committee, support in outreach and convening stakeholders, relationship management with EDA and funders, and for getting the project filed and accepted by EDA, and $35,000 as reimbursement for commissioned work by VCCCD, for scope of work in developing the content of the report, plus the development of a 16 page “Executive Summary.”
  • $80,000 to Ventura County Arts Council to assist artists impacted by the Thomas Fire.
  • $49,000 to Totally Local VC Agricultural Education Foundation for financial assistance to families to bridge the gap in rent payments, finding rentals in appropriate price range, rebuilding and home repairs, moving costs, replacement of furniture.
  • $270,000 to the American Red Cross of Ventura County (Red Cross) with $150,000 for an Emergency Response Vehicle, $115,000 for Ventura County Recovery Coordination, and $5,000 for administrative expenses to distribute funding to households impacted by the Thomas Fire.
  • $25,000 to 911 At Ease International in support of funding operations and direct services to first responders.
  • $20,000 to support the 805 UndocuFund
  • $140,917.46 in direct assistance to those impacted by the Thomas Fire.

Hill and Woolsey Wildfire Mid- to Long-Term Recovery Fund

  • $1,524 to Give-An-Hour to cover costs associated with the Long-Term Recovery Wellness Planning Meeting.
  • $304,800 to Totally Local VC Agricultural Education Foundation (Local Love Project) with $260,000 for financial assistance to families to bridge the gap in rent payments, finding rentals in apropos price range, rebuilding and home repairs, moving costs, replacement of furniture. Includes repayment of debt incurred due to loss of a home-based business and $44,800 to provide case management and resources to fire victims.
  • $25,000 to Institute for Collective Trauma and Growth for organizational support to sustain long-term recovery responders of the Hill and Woolsey fires.
  • $165,600 to YMCA – Southeast Ventura County for second year scholarships to the Y for 92 families who lost homes in the fire.
  • $82,700 to the Los Angeles County Long-Term Disaster Recovery Group to provide a Construction Navigator to provide construction expertise to case managers and their clients (100% LA County); funds will be used by the Los Angeles County Long-term Disaster Recovery group (LARCRO).
  • $58,373 to Interface Children and Family Services for staffing and infrastructure for disaster recovery data and case management for long-term recovery efforts related to the Hill-Woolsey Fire.
  • $41,400 to Catholic Charities, Ventura County for recovery and rebuilding assistance for eight Hill-Woolsey fire cases.
  • $30,312 to individual assistance for those personally affected by the Hill and Woolsey Fires.
  • $50,00 to 911 At Ease International to support funding operations and direct services to first responders in Ventura County who are serving the frontlines.

Additionally, VCCF awarded $875,000 to support survivors of the Thomas, Hill, and Woolsey Fires with housing assistance. We partnered with local organizations, Totally Local VC Agricultural Education Foundation, YMCA – Southeast Ventura County, and Interface Children and Family Services, who will distribute this direct support to 250 very low-income families. Distributions were as follows:

  • $125,000 to provide $2,500 to 50 Thomas Fire survivor households,
  • $125,000 to provide $2,500 to 50 Woolsey Fire survivor households in Ventura County,
  • $125,000 to provide $2,500 to 50 Woolsey Fire survivor households in Los Angeles County, and
  • $500,000 to provide $5,000 to 100 Woolsey Fire households in Ventura or Los Angeles Counties.

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