At the same time the Woolsey Fire was making its way toward the coast, effectively shutting Malibu down, people were already reaching out to Boys & Girls Club of Malibu Executive Director Kasey Earnest in hopes of sending donations and help.
This spurred Earnest to set up a relief fund—now known as the Malibu Emergency Relief Fund, which has given around $100,000 in grants to 29 different individuals and families as of Tuesday morning, Nov. 27.
“I didn’t have a lot of concept around it when we initially started because obviously it happened so fast,” she said in an interview with The Malibu Times.
Once the idea was born, Earnest and the BGCM worked quickly to solidify the fund. They partnered with The Malibu Foundation, an organization that was also raising funds for those affected by the fire.
Because the organization was being “infused with significant dollars,” Earnest said an oversight committee was created. The committee is made up of notable members in the Malibu community, including City Council Members Lou La Monte and Laura Rosenthal, City Council Member-Elect Karen Farrer, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District School Board Member Craig Foster, The Malibu Foundation’s Trevor and Evelin Neilson, and Earnest.
Additionally, BGCM consulted with organizations and people experienced in disaster relief, including Trevor Neilson, Waves for Water and Senator Mike McGuire’s office. (McGuire represents the second Senate District in Northern California, including the areas of Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino. “They deal with this every winter,” Earnest explained.)
In less than a week, a grants committee was also established to review applications for requested fund relief.
“The total amount of funds allocated to each individual/household will be determined based off of whichever tier of need they fall into,” a description of the fund detailed.
The first of the three tiers encompasses those with the most need: vulnerable persons, such as the elderly or families with small children.
Earnest stressed the grants were not large—“anywhere from $1,000 to $7,000 on the high end.” In these initial months, she said, “[the] intention is to be able to provide families emergency relief,” such as money for hotels and medical bills.
“Based upon what we’re seeing, people are just opening up their eyes from all of this,” Earnest explained. “Now they’re in the phase [of], ‘We’ve got to try to figure out what’s going on.’”
Grant applications are available by visiting bgcmalibu.org or emailing the organization directly at emergencyrelief@bgcmalibu.org. Residents whose homes were damaged or lost in the fires, or employees who suffered a loss of employment due to the fires, are eligible to apply.
This applies to “anybody who lives in Malibu, as defined by the geographic boundaries of the Malibu schools”—which includes unincorporated Malibu, anyone with children in Malibu schools (for example, Earnest said residents of Seminole Springs—technically located in Agoura Hills—with children in SMMUSD schools may apply) and generally “anyone who has an association with Malibu that’s verifiable.”
While there are no required documents, applicants are advised to attach supporting documents demonstrating financial need, such as photo identification, a utility bill (with the applicant’s Malibu address—regardless of whether the home is still standing) and bank statements as well as photos of the damage. Domestic workers in Malibu will need their employer to verify their home burned down, causing a loss of employment.
Currently, the awarded grants are not for rebuilding efforts—though, Earnest said, “that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be able to help with that in the future.”
The goal is to keep providing emergency relief as families need it for the next couple of months, though she expects it will be a year-long process, at the very least.
“The biggest learning [moment] for me has been all the challenges people are dealing with in daily life,” she mused. “Put a natural disaster on top of it and it compounds everything.”
Ways to help
Earnest said monetary donations are the most helpful as BGCM looks to set up a distribution center. Donations can be made online at bgcmalibu.org. On the home page, donors can select where to direct donations—the emergency community relief and emergency equestrian relief.
“Our goal is to have hours of operation,” Earnest said, explaining the club’s staff—some of whom have been displaced or lost homes—have been working “in the field” to register residents for emergency relief fund grants.
BGCM is also looking for volunteers. “If folks email us, we can follow up with areas in which they can help,” Earnest said. Information is also available on its website.
Once a center has been set up, donated items will be welcome.
Note: The Malibu Times will share updates online on this website and social media (facebook.com/malibutimes and twitter.com/themalibutimes).
This is the first story in a series on relief efforts following the Woolsey Fire.