WTH, Fuckery? Where's the money?

Camp Fire survivors say they could have used money donated to local foundation

In early January, Camp Fire evacuee Cherise Tamayo and her son went door to door amongst Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer homes at the Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds. They handed out grant applications to her fellow evacuees.

They filled out applications in January with the expectation that they would receive up to $500 from the Sutter-Yuba Community Foundation in the form of Visa gift cards.

That $500 might not be much, but to Tamayo it could help during her upcoming move from Yuba City to Florida.

For Brenda Kountz, the money could help in financing a new place to live, or supplement lost income due to the fire that started Nov. 8, killed 85 people and essentially decimated the entire community of Paradise.

As of today, many evacuees haven’t received funds they applied for and when inquiring about the status, haven’t received what they believe to be sufficient explanations.

David Little, communications director for NVCF, said the foundation has given $1.6 million in grants to organizations providing direct assistance, which can come in the form of debit cards, gas cards, gift cards, rental assistance and more.

Camp Fire evacuee Kim Secord, who applied in mid-December, and Edwards said not only are they concerned about the money, but the personal information — such as Social Security numbers and insurance coverage — included in the application that has now passed through the hands of three or four different organizations without alerting applicants.

“People continue to pass the buck, pass the buck, pass the buck, and no one is giving a straight answer to where the funds are,” Edwards said in a phone interview Tuesday.

“So the money that was intended to go directly to survivors got swallowed by foundations giving to foundations, etc., never to see a survivor’s hands,” Secord wrote in a Facebook message Tuesday. “The information about a new process for applications was never communicated to the survivors; the money just vanished …

https://www.chicoer.com/2019/05/02/camp-fire-survivors-say-they-could-have-used-money-donated-to-local-foundation/

North Valley Community Foundation - a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization

Board of Directors

Joe Wilson

Public Affairs Manager, Pacific Gas & Electric Company

https://www.nvcf.org/meet-nvcf/