THE GORGE — It is disconcerting, with Christmas here, to realize that it’s been more than six months since the Rowena Fire began on June 11, followed by the Burdoin Fire a week later on the 18. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $350,000 in donations have poured in to help the victims, but not one cent of that has yet been distributed.
For answers on why that might be so, Columbia Gorge News contacted Caroline Grew, head of United Way of the Gorge. She, in turn, directed the inquiry to Andrew Danies, deputy director for economic development for Mid-Columbia Economic Development District (MCEDD). He said there hadn’t been a final accounting from multiple fundraiser and donation streams, but the total was “in the general range” of $350,000, with the majority of that held by United Way of the Gorge.
“All donated funds raised from community members are intended solely for fire-impacted residents,” he wrote. “None of these donations will go to MCEDD, MCCAC (Mid-Columbia Community Action Council), or any other agency for administrative or operating costs. The full amount of donated funds is reserved for survivor assistance.”
That was the ethic adopted by the Rowena Long-Term Recovery Group (LTRG), “a locally led, community-based effort formed in response to the Rowena Fire to coordinate long-term recovery for impacted residents,” he said.
And the delay?
“That timing is not unusual in disaster recovery,” he wrote. “The Rowena LTRG will begin convening Unmet Needs Roundtable meetings starting next week [Dec. 22], which is the forum where verified survivor needs are reviewed and assistance decisions are made. Before funds are released, survivors must be connected with disaster case management, needs must be verified, and clear distribution criteria must be applied. This process helps ensure assistance goes to those with the highest unmet needs and avoids duplication with insurance or other aid sources.”
That is not to say victims have received no assistance. MCCAC said they’d been able to find rental housing for 25 victim families, and other humanitarian agencies have been helping with food, clothing and necessities.
In order to apply for some of those funds, Danies wrote, “Survivors can access assistance by engaging with recovery coordination via MCCAC, which is working with the Rowena LTRG. Recovery coordinators help households document losses, assess unmet needs, and bring requests forward to the Unmet Needs Roundtable for review.”
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