'It's Hard To See': Non-Profit Helping Fire Victims Needs Help Of Its Own
GRASS VALLEY (CBS13) - A Grass Valley non-profit, Hope Outreach, helping fire victims is now in desperate need of its own help. Their shelter has severe weather damage and is now making a desperate plea to the community.
Many in the area lost everything in the River Fire this summer. Some of them turned to Hope Outreach for a roof over their head. But part of that roof just gave way to weather damage, and with more severe weather headed this way, they're not sure how much longer they'll have a home.
Misty Dufour, secretary at Hope Outreach, said, "You can still see it kind of dripping and see up on the actual roof."
Dufour spent the day dumping buckets of water after weather damage sent rainwater pouring through a hole in the roof.
"When the rain was at its highest point, I was changing [buckets] every hour, hour and a half," said Dufour.
This crumbling house is where the non-profit Hope Outreach devoted its resources to helping people get back on their feet following domestic abuse, flooding, and most recently—wildfire destruction.
Aaron Small, one of the victims of the River Fire, said that he never experienced anything like it before, "It just hit hard and hit [our] home really quickly."
Small and his wife lost everything in the River Fire this summer.
They were relieved to find help at the non-profit, but now they are heartbroken again.
"It's hard to see. I mean they do all this helping for people and they're just as devastated as us going through a fire," Small said.
Hope Outreach founder, Kristina Halkyard, said she was at a loss for words.
"We're not putting people in [the shelter currently], but what do you tell them?" Halkyard said, through tears.
This organization was meant to help survivors of natural disasters but now they are the ones facing their own struggles.
"We've called about 10 to 15 contractors [but] they're unable to come out, they're too booked," said secretary Dufour.
"Now what do we do?" said Halkyard. "I think all it would take is some help from people in the community."
The shelter is now looking at roughly $20,000 to $25,000 worth of repairs. The fact that contractors want most of that upfront isn't making it any easier.
Unfortunately, all of Hope Outreach's funds have gone straight to fire victims.
Hope Outreach is currently accepting donations online and they say every dollar counts.
If you'd like to donate, click here to donate to their Go Fund Me page.
(CBS13.com cannot guarantee that the money donated to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering making a donation, you should consult your own advisers and proceed at your own risk.)
