Chico, a community of 90,000 is now home to 20,000 new residents seeking refuge from neighboring Paradise after the Camp Fire of November 2018. Chico, like many American cities, was dealing with its own issue of homelessness before the Camp Fire, plus a very low vacancy rate. Now Chico has a 20,000 person increase in population and officials and citizens are working on housing solutions for two distinct populations that are intersecting.
Tag Archives: Greensburg
Launching our Marketplace…
I sit here on this Saturday evening, excited and ready to launch the Close to Home Marketplace this coming week. This project is one that started for me back in 2011. It’s been a really interesting learning journey – one that I’ve taken with numerous friends, both old and new. The news cycles of the …
Inspiration in Greensburg, Kansas…
On December 30, Rachel visited Greensburg, Kansas, the town that rebuilt sustainably after being hit by a devastating tornado in 2007. Close to Home continues to find inspiration in the lessons that Greensburg has learned and shares with other communities that are rebuilding post-disaster. Rachel met with Mayor Bob Dixson and Greensburg GreenTown’s Jana Schwartz & Ruth Ann Wedel. …
INSPIRATION in Greensburg – Working Toward a Paradigm Shift
The City of Greensburg, Kansas, was struck by an EF5 tornado (winds in excess of 200 mph) on May 4, 2007. Ninety-five percent of the infrastructure of Greensburg was demolished that night – only three buildings remained, none of them residential. Eleven people lost their lives.
Rachel Stamm (Founder) and Erin Hulme (Advisory Board) traveled to Greensburg in March of 2013 to learn more about the story of Greensburg first-hand. Close to Home is a business that has been further inspired by the personal stories heard during that visit. The quality of disaster response has an important impact on a community’s ability to recover and restore post-disaster. That lesson informs our work at Close to Home. The story of Greensburg and its residents has become a beacon of hope as well as a valuable resource for other towns and residents recovering from natural disasters.
Post-Disaster Housing Solutions – Let’s Stay Close to Home
The idea that evolved into the business model that is now “Close to Home”, was sparked in the spring of 2011 during the rash of tornadoes that hit the United States. 2011 saw the second largest number of tornadoes recorded in one year’s time. I watched the news reports with concern. The tornado outbreaks occurred, …
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