FOUNDATION OF SUPPORT
T
he Friday going into Labor Day weekend, weather forecasters in Oregon were nervous. A hot and dry summer had resulted in several small wildfires springing to life across the state and the predictions for an unprecedented wind event had the potential to turn those small fires into destructive inferno. That’s exactly what happened. Coupled with low humidity, wind gusts reaching speeds as high as 40 miles per hour tore through the state – and the wildfires that had been smoldering for weeks quickly became a blaze that claimed at least nine lives, thousands of homes and physical structures, and over one million acres of land. The wildfires were indiscriminate, upending the lives of tens of thousands of individuals who were forced to evacuate their homes in order to move to safer ground. As Oregon firefighters continue to battle the blazes and bring them more and more under control, many cities and towns are now faced with the monumental task of rebuilding their communities, and many OEA members and their students have been left wondering how 14
TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2020
they’re going to manage to return their lives to some sense of normalcy.
THE OEA FOUNDATION
As students and educators have struggled in the wake of the disaster, our union has come together to support members and students who need help the most. One resource that has served as a lifeline for our students is the OEA Foundation. Established in 1995 through the charitable contributions of OEA members, the foundation has offered financial support to students in need for 25 years. As the toll of the wildfires continued to mount, the OEA Foundation opened grant applications so members could apply for wildfire relief for their students. As of this article’s writing, the OEA Foundation has been able to award over $53,000 in fire-related grants to hundreds of Oregon students. Foundation grants have been used to help students meet a wide range of needs as families cope with staggering losses as a result of the wildfires. After fleeing for their lives, some families returned to
homes that had suffered extensive smoke damage or to find rotten food in their refrigerator. OEA Foundation grants were able to help those families begin the process of restocking their pantries. These grants have been especially important for students from families whose immigration status makes accessing government support difficult or impossible. OEA Vice President Reed Scott-Schwalbach points to the special nature of the applications to support neurodiverse students. “For students on the autism spectrum, the quick nature of the evacuation has been particularly difficult,” said Scott-Schwalbach. “Familiar comfort items had to be abandoned, leaving students dealing with both a new environment and a lack of tools to help process the changes. OEA Foundation grants have been able to help those families replace those sensory items that are so critical for our students on the autism spectrum.”
OEA RELIEF FUND
Our union family has always made sure that we would be able to help one another
