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: post-disaster housing
The Building Aspirations of a Social Entrepreneur
It was back in 2011, when the Seattle real estate market was still suffering from the impact of the recession, that as a real estate agent, I had some time on my hands. I listened to news on the radio and read my local newspaper. But instead of tracking the local market, I became captivated …
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Introducing ASPIRE
At Close to Home it’s sure hard to turn off the news. It seems that every time you turn around, there’s another story of someone losing their home or dealing with the unattainable house. Whether because of a forest fire right here in our Pacific NW backyard, or watching the recent news on the multiple …
Tiny houses could play a big role…
In November I listened to an inspiring interview on NPR’s “The Takeaway”, hosted by John Hockenberry. The discussion was about disaster preparedness – or, more to the point – disaster unpreparedness. The severe weather over the holidays and the resulting chaos had me thinking about this interview once again. The discussion was about how few people are truly prepared to respond to a disaster. And the trick to this issue is that individuals and families really need to look to themselves and their communities as their own first responders. If it’s difficult for trained, professional responders to get to your community right away, then you will be dependent upon your own supplies for that interim amount of time. And if you are the home on the block that has prepared, might you not feel called to share that preparedness with the most vulnerable in your community? In fact, experts say that you should plan to do so. Essentially, you are preparing not only for you and your family, but also for those around you who will be in need of emergency supplies.
Tiny Home Movement Provides Potential Solutions
Back in 2011, the United States saw a housing crisis of sorts – a housing crisis that followed the rash of tornadoes that hit the United States in record numbers that year. The number of deaths due to the tornadoes was 551, with the damages totaling 28 billion U.S. dollars. Close to Home recognized the …
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PATTERNS in post-disaster communities
At Close to Home we are working to get our products out into the world – to the people who need them. We’ve spent some time this last fall learning more about the needs for housing in Pateros, WA a community that lost about 100 homes due to the wildfires of this past summer. They are one of the communities impacted by the Carlton Complex wildfires – which impacted numerous communities within the beloved Methow Valley (around 300 homes were lost in total). The recovery efforts are in full swing – especially with the coming of spring and better weather for building.
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 …
A Reflection…
We chose the name, “Close to Home”, last summer, during a group brainstorming session within the Seattle business incubator, “Kick”. We wanted to convey our work at its core – post-disaster housing solutions – available to help keep a disaster-impacted community as close to home as possible. We are motivated in our work to help …
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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