Supporting the Communities Affected by Wildfires

In August 2020, the CZU Lightning Complex fires scorched more than 86,000 acres in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, displacing thousands of people and destroying more than 7,000 buildings. It took firefighters more than a month to contain the blaze. One of the treasured properties affected was Pie Ranch, a nonprofit sustainable farm in Pescadero that provides agriculture education for local youth and aspiring organic farmers. Pie Ranch’s 157-year-old farmhouse was destroyed, as was its irrigation system and greenhouse, among other losses.

“For close to 20 years, Pie Ranch has provided valuable farm system and land stewardship educational experiences to youth throughout our region,” says Manuel J. Santamaría, SVCF vice president of community action. “After the devastating fires last year, Pie Ranch’s services and practices are needed even more.”

When the wildfires hit the region in 2020, SVCF’s crisis response efforts were already in full swing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and staff were able to set up the Wildfire Relief Fund and raise $1.2 million in two and a half weeks. Emergency grants were given to local nonprofits, like Pie Ranch. Funding was also used to provide temporary shelter, emergency financial assistance, emergency childcare, transportation, animal services and more to thousands of residents in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. (Another complex of fires, known as SCU, burned for weeks in eastern Santa Clara County and Alameda County.)

SVCF’s relief fund held a clear focus on supporting organizations that served low-income and farmworker communities, and those working to battle the long-term psychological effects of the fires.

A Strategic Approach to Rebuilding Pie Ranch

Soon after the fire, Pie Ranch received a grant from the SVCF Wildfire Relief Fund to rebuild, and in the process, partnered with fellow SVCF grantee the Amah Matsun Land Trust to incorporate indigenous land management practices.

“Together, we’ve walked the region and had various meetings to look at the landscape beyond individual property boundaries and have a more strategic, thoughtful, regional approach to the fire recovery — not only for our immediate needs, but really looking at the strategies that will help us be more resilient in addressing climate change and the consequences of future fires,” says Jered Lawson, Pie Ranch co-founder and director of partnerships and strategic initiatives.

Raul L. Garcia, Pie Ranch’s director of development, says SVCF’s grant helped the farm take care of urgent short-term work while, at the same time, making investments in equipment and infrastructure that will serve Pie Ranch years into the future.

“SVCF’s grant meant we could quickly start clearing hazards and address relief and safety efforts,” Garcia says. “But after that, it also allowed us to plan. We were able to get the partnership going with the Amah Mutsun Native Stewardship Corps. We were able to acquire new equipment — for communications, chainsaws, a dump trailer and other useful tools. We needed all these things to restore the land and build the land’s resiliency, but it will also help us build our program’s resiliency.”

It’s a big job, but Garcia is optimistic about Pie Ranch’s future. “After debris removal, we’ll take the next steps with the Amah Mutsun to replant with native seeds, shrubs and trees as part of our land restoration plan. Ultimately, we’re recovering from the disaster while building resilience to anything disastrous in the future, not just wildfires.”

Planting the Seeds for Future Relief Efforts

As SVCF plans for the future of the Wildfire Relief Fund, the focus is on preparedness for the ever-present wildfire danger in the region. Its partnership with the Collaborating Agencies’ Disaster Relief Effort network (CADRE) is central to that effort. CADRE coordinates organizational preparedness planning in non-disaster times and activates with essential services during and after a disaster.

“We’ve also worked over the past decade to develop a list of pre-approved nonprofit grantees and meet with them to create disaster response and community plans,” Santamaría says. “We are currently working with other funders to create a more robust network of philanthropic disaster funders, and we are deepening our relationships with leadership in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties to pool funding for nonprofits, and streamline processes and communications to get funds quickly to affected communities.”