BUILDING BACK

We understand and share the frustration that recovery hasn’t reached everyone the way we would all want. Below are a few reasons that a fire survivor of the Gray and Oregon Road Fires may not have received support from Innovia:

1. Collaborative response

Not every fire survivor who received aid may know that Innovia dollars supported their recovery. In the early days of the crisis, Innovia worked in close partnership with nonprofit organizations like Feed Medical Lake, Medical Lake Community Outreach, Salvation Army of Spokane, New Hope Resource Center, and more to provide direct aid to individuals and families like food, clothing, gift cards, gas and laundry vouchers, and more. Although not every fire survivor was helped by these organizations, many benefitted from Innovia grantmaking through their efforts. See a full list of organization that received funding from Innovia below.

2. Case management process

As the community moved from emergency response into recovery, Innovia joined the Spokane Region Long Term Recovery Group (SRLTRG) and partnered with Salvation Army Disaster Case Managers. Trained case managers met one-on-one with impacted households, documented what assistance they’d already received (insurance, FEMA, other programs), and identified what unmet, fire-related needs remained. Those case summaries were brought to an Unmet Needs Roundtable, where Innovia and other funders reviewed each case for: how directly the need ties to the fire, whether other options were exhausted, household vulnerability (young children, seniors, disabilities), and whether the requested amount was reasonable. Funders then committed dollars on the spot to close verified gaps. This is why some individuals may not see themselves reflected in “who got money” — funding flowed through case managers and nonprofit partners, tied to documented, verified need, not as a general payout to everyone affected.  If you haven’t yet connected with a Disaster Case Manager through the Spokane Region Long Term Recovery Group or the Salvation Army, we’d like to help make that connection — please reach out to us directly at 509-624-2606 or [email protected].

Because Innovia worked in close collaboration with SRLTRG, the Salvation Army, and local contractors and service providers to facilitate meeting these needs, even those survivors who did receive partial or full funding from Innovia for an unmet need may not be aware of the funding source. Unmet needs funded by Innovia included home repairs, asbestos testing, well repair and installation, electrical hookup, RV winterization, and more. For privacy reasons, Innovia Foundation cannot release identifying information about any of the families or individuals who received aid. However, we have compiled a complete list of grants awarded from the fund below, including every partner that received funding to complete unmet needs work.

3. Limitations of charitable grantmaking

Our role as a community foundation can be complex, but it is what allows us to make a broader impact for our community. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community foundation, Innovia Foundation is subject to federal regulations that require charitable funds to be distributed through vetted nonprofit partners — rather than giving cash directly to individuals. We granted 100% of donated funds to reputable organizations that worked directly with affected families to verify need and distribute assistance. Vetting our partners protects donors and the public from scams and helps ensure that help reaches those who are truly impacted. For this reason, no individual fire survivor received cash or a check directly from Innovia, rather these resources flowed from the Foundation through the work of our community partners.

4. Finite resources

The generosity our community showed — more than $1.4 million from over 3,200 individual gifts — was extraordinary, but even a gift of that size cannot fully cover a disaster that destroyed 366 homes and displaced 5,000 people, the most destructive fire in Washington State history to date. However generous , that $1.4 million works out to a small fraction of what full rebuilding and recovery for hundreds of households actually costs. A single home rebuild alone runs well over $100,000 in materials and coordination even with volunteer labor. Our job has been to stretch those dollars as far and as fairly as possible. To do so, we worked with the SRLTRG and other partners to recruit volunteer-supported building teams, allowing for the construction of 13 homes with 7 more planned for just over $1 million. We want to be transparent about exactly how every dollar has been used, and we remain committed to the recovery process for those still working to rebuild. Please see below for a complete breakdown of how donations were used.