Summer is here and we at Heart Rising have been greatly relieved to have experienced a rainy season in June. As the precious water fell on our region, we couldn’t help but think back on the events of the last year and a half and the damage that resulted from the Almeda Fire. But it […]
Heart Rising receives several calls a week from fire survivors who are still trying to restabilize their lives, a year and a half after the Almeda Fire. The fire destroyed thousands of apartments and homes affecting thousands of individuals, couples, and families. Although the community has put some space between themselves by rebuilding and calling […]
Some of the more positive outcomes for Heart Rising that resulted from the Almeda fire have been the partnerships we have formed with other organizations aiding fire survivors. We have been blessed to be able to aid several populations since 2020, but the Hispanic community was particularly hard hit. That is why we are giving […]
One of the roles Heart Rising has taken on with the Almeda Fire recovery process is connecting families and individuals to Zone Captains and Disaster Case Managers (who have been hired through Catholic Charities and ODHS in Jackson County) throughout the state, to help resolve and bring closure to fire survivors’ cases. What this means […]
Heart Rising has now been working on behalf of fire survivors for 16 months, and in that time, we have watched various teams of volunteers show up for families in a number of different ways. One team meets regularly with their family and celebrates everything with them, from the children’s birthdays, to anniversaries, to holidays. […]
So as we move quickly into the New Year, I am happy to report new housing has been completed, or is going up, in the Talent-Phoenix area, mobile home parks are ready to re-open, and fire survivors are being resettled back into the southern Oregon community. According to representatives from the Jackson County Community Long […]
First, let me begin by wishing all the supporters of Heart Rising, our donors, community partners, fire survivors, grantors and especially the Thalden Foundation and our hard-working, selfless, generous, volunteer teams—a safe, fulfilling, Happy New Year. In 2021 we continued to be reminded that we are literally not out of the woods yet, with fires […]
One of the most positive things that has come out of the last year for me, has been to watch the resilience with which so many families, couples, and individuals have come back from the Almeda fire. Loss is a terrible thing and yet, all the people we have been fortunate enough to assist—are testaments […]
How could a year have gone by so quickly? We are a brave crew, Heart Rising teams and their families. We have faced down the pandemic, rehousing disappointments, endless smoke-filled days, joblessness, food and shelter problems, schooling. and transportation issues, and still, we soldier on. Thank you to every volunteer who spent hours acquiring necessities […]
A year after the Almeda Fire, many families have decided to stay, despite daunting challenges and hardships—because this is where they find support and community. Because this is their home. And this point was never so clearly driven home than in the descriptive, documentary-style article the New York Times published on September 8, 2021. Some […]