Community Foundation Sonoma County (CFSC) announces $475,000 in emergency recovery grants to help support people affected by the Kincade fire and evacuations. These grants were made through our Sonoma County Resilience Fund, a long-term fire recovery fund first established after the 2017 North Bay Firestorm.

The Kincade Fire started on October 23 and burned over 77,000 acres over two weeks; destroying 374 structures, including 174 homes and 11 businesses. While over 5,245 firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze, the nonprofit organizations that work as second responders to disaster launched into action to support the nearly 200,000 Sonoma County residents who were forced to evacuate from their homes, many turning to emergency shelters for aid.

“The financial and emotional hardships of the Kincade Fire have taken a toll on our community, and the suffering is widespread, from our neighbors who directly lost homes, to those who had to miss critical shifts at work while their businesses were closed, or who lost the contents of their refrigerators after being evacuated and without power. Knowing that support would be needed, we immediately re-activated our emergency grantmaking and have made grants to ensure that financially vulnerable people impacted by the fires are able to heal, rebuild, and thrive.” Said Elizabeth Brown, President and CEO.

Thanks to donors who supported the Resilience Fund’s efforts, including Facebook, JPMorgan Chase, United Airlines and more, CFSC was able to immediately make grants to support relief efforts. Emergency grants from the Resilience Fund made to support the Kincade Fire response now total $475,000, and overall grants from the Resilience Fund top over $6 million.

Emergency grants to support relief efforts for the Kincade Fire include grants of $50,000-$100,000 to:

• Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa—to support the rental assistance needs of individuals and families impacted by the Kincade fires
• Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County—to purchase gift cards to distribute to families affected by the Kincade fire
• Corazón Healdsburg—to support Corazón to offer immediate disaster relief and financial assistance to economically vulnerable families impacted by the Kincade fire
• Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation (SCGGF)—to support SCGGF to distribute resources to farmworkers impacted by the Kincade fire.
• UndocuFund— to support UndocuFund to distribute resources to farmworkers impacted by the Kincade fire.

Smaller grants of $25,000 or under include:

• Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds—to support the costs from hosting over 300 firefighters at their camp and provided housing, meals and support while they did their critical work to save homes.
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin—to support the costs of opening two-day camps in north county at no cost to members to create a safe space for youth while schools remained closed and parents returned to work.
• Food for Thought—to support clients who suffer from a wide range of illnesses, are low-income and home-bound, and in need of Food-For Thought’s services.
• Petaluma People Services Center—to support Petaluma People Services Center’s support at the Petaluma evacuation shelter in response to the Kincade fire
• Redwood Empire Food Bank—to support immediate food needs in response to the Kincade fire
• Sonoma Family Meal—to support their work in providing 8,000 meals to evacuees, first responders, and second responders during the Kincade fire.
• United Way of the Wine Country—to support relief needs for those impacted by the Kincade fire