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Butte Fire victims have until Saturday to ask for rebuilding help
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Calaveras County residents who lost homes in the Butte Fire have only a few more days to ask Calaveras Recovers to assist them in rebuilding homes.
The organization helps with new-home construction in cases where fire survivors find themselves underinsured or uninsured.
“Our trained case managers have worked with hundreds and hundreds of survivors since the fire and we believe we have identified all those we know of that need help with a new home,” said Allen Sender, the chairman of the Calaveras Recovers Board of Directors. “We don’t want anyone to fall through the cracks and are encouraging people we may have missed to contact us by the end of this year.”
The volunteer group is finalizing its list and budget of needed homes and wants all requests to be received by the group by Saturday, which is New Year’s Eve.
Calaveras Recovers will supplement a survivor’s funds from state and federal agencies and from any early Pacific Gas and Electric Co. payouts to purchase material and then will leverage that money with volunteer labor.
Volunteers from throughout North America are assisting with the effort. Members of the Mennonite Disaster Services have worked on two homes in the Mountain Ranch area. Other faith-based groups have pledged to come help build the dozens of homes needed for the uninsured. Those groups include United Methodist Committee on Relief, Lutheran Disaster Response and California Southern Baptist Disaster Service.
Fire survivors should call 754-4606 Tuesday through Thursday. Calaveras Recovers staff members will assist them to evaluate their short- and long-term needs including the possible construction of a modest home. Survivors still living in the area may visit the Calaveras Recovers office between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.Tuesdays through Thursdays at the Mountain Ranch Community Park.
Calaveras Recovers operates under the nonprofit organization sponsorship of the Amador Community Foundation. Donations are tax deductible.
Meanwhile, the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider accepting $300,000 in assistance for Butte Fire survivors from the Golden State Finance Authority. The board will hold a special meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday in its chambers, 891 Mountain Ranch Road, San Andreas.
County officials, in turn, will distribute the funds to individuals whose homes were destroyed or damaged in the Butte Fire. Each household can receive a maximum of $2,500 toward the cost of providing itself with safe and sanitary housing. Eligible households can have annual income of up to $80,500.
The grant funds can also be provided to organizations that provide safe and sanitary housing to individuals and families displaced by the fire.
