Butte Strong Fund in final year of grants

By David Little North Valley Community Foundation, Executive Vice President

After four years of issuing grants for Camp Fire recovery, the Butte Strong Fund is refining the application process for what is expected to be the final year of grants.

The Butte Strong Fund was formed in 2019, two months after the Camp Fire. The fund, managed by North Valley Community Foundation (NVCF), is a partnership among three major fundraising efforts by NVCF, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

The fund has approved hundreds of grants totaling $33,530,759 since then. It expects to spend the remaining $6 million in the fund by the end of the year, at which point donations will be exhausted.

“We have been careful and deliberate with all our grants. We knew recovery would be a long process and we wanted to be able to help with meaningful grant investments,” said Jovanni Tricerri, NVCF vice president of programs. “We especially feel a need to be thoughtful with our final year of large grants.”

The Butte Strong Fund has issued grants mainly in six funding areas over the years (housing, health and wellness, case management, youth and education, economic recovery and community development) as well as many miscellaneous grants. See a list of funded projects at nvcf.org/ buttestrongfund-fundedprojects.

For the final year, grants will focus on two categories: housing and health and wellness.

“With input from our program officers and many partners in our communities, and especially our citizens committee, we decided the majority of what’s left should be spent on two recurring areas of need – programs that will make housing more affordable as well as wellness centers that help survivors find the resources they need,” said Tricerri.

For the large grants, there will be four quarterly cycles with defined application periods. For example, in the first quarter, the housing priority was defensible space projects. Organizations had to apply by Jan. 31 and grants will be awarded in March.

In the second quarter, the housing priority is land acquisition for nonprofits committed to providing affordable housing and the wellness priority is resource hub proposals. Applications for the second quarter are due May 1 and grants will be awarded in late June.

Qualifying organizations can still apply for grants of $50,000 and less in all categories.

All told, NVCF has funded $57.6 million in grants and projects through the Butte Strong Fund and several other funds and initiatives since the Camp Fire on Nov. 8, 2018.

Learn more about the Butte Strong Fund’s 2023 grant cycles and how to apply at nvcf. org/buttestrongfundapply.

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