TALENT, Ore — About 50 to 60 fire survivors and local officials packed the Talent Community Center this evening to hear about how Oregon plans to spend $422 million in fire recovery funds.
The money was appropriated from the US Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in November 2021 and awarded to Oregon's Housing and Community Services (OHCS) to help build back some of the thousands of homes lost in Oregon's tragic 2020 Labor Day wildfires.
In order to receive the funds, HUD will need to approve the state agency's Action Plan. A draft of that plan was presented at tonight's meeting.
"We will be spending all of that money in the counties that are most impacted by the 2020 Labor day fires," said Alex Campbell, Chief External Affairs Officer for OHCS. "HUD requires us to look at infrastructure, housing and economic revitalization."
He noted that after looking at the community's needs the agency has decided to focus primarily on housing. The plan focuses primarily on helping fire survivors considered to be low income, defined as earning $48k a year for a single household, $54k for a 2-person home, and $61k for a 3-person home. The plan also funds fire mitigation by making sure housing built is fire-safe.
Campbell noted that the agency is able to change the draft plan even after they submit it to HUD in June.
"We will learn a lot more as we start taking applications and learning who qualifies and what they qualify for," he said. He noted that because the agency will use an will be using "an equity first" approach it will also allow undocumented applicants to apply for the benefits covered in the plan.
The breakdown of the plan is as follows:
A full draft plan is available on OHCS's website and public comments can also be submitted there.
During a good portion of the meeting, officials heard from fire survivors and how they wished to see the money spent.
Julie Brown said she and her husband lost their home at Mountain View Estates 55+ community and have been trying to get back since but have been struggling with FEMA's bureaucracy. She did not detail what the specific issue was but supported the plan to fund legal help for fire-impacted residents.
"We are still dealing with it so I just want to thank the community and everybody who has been there to help and the police and the sheriff," she said in tears. "We've had nothing but trouble with FEMA there are a whole lot of folks here that have been trying to get help from FEMA that are entitled to help from FEMA."
Other residents complained about the lack of notice they received as the Almeda fire was encroaching and asked that funds be spent on better planning in the future.
"We were never told there was a fire coming our way one of my neighbors ended up dying in the fire with no legs because no one knew she was there," said Talent resident, Roy Soltz. "I would wake up with night sweats hearing her scream."
Some residents and representatives from Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development asked that 5% of the funds go towards fire-impacted businesses. The owner of A Street Arts building in Ashland, Victoria Kindall noted that her business insurance has skyrocketed since the fire and asked that lawmakers address the issue.