By Eugene Heathman
Ruidoso News
Recent wildfires and flash flooding have left many homes in Ruidoso, Alto and Ruidoso Downs destroyed or uninhabitable resulting in hundreds of residents displaced from their homes.
Immediate financial hardship to cover expenses leave residents needing a hand up. The Community Foundation of Lincoln County (CFLC) established a shelter fund to assist members of the community who have experienced the hardship of being displaced from their homes due to unforeseen disasters such as fire and flooding. When insurance claims and other Federal assistance may not meet the immediate need. The CFLC is quick to assist.
“Since the recent fires and floods, the Shelter Fund has assisted 258 displaced fire and flood residents with first round funding in the amount of $695,000. To date, we have raised approximately $1.4 million dollars and are preparing for the second round of funding residents in need,” said CFLC President Riker Davis.
Round One funding resulted in $1,000 distributed to each eligible applicant and the second round of funding is expected to be $2,500 with additional rounds of funding based on the amount of financial donations raised. The current goal is to raise a total of $2.5 million to support additional rounds of funding.
“Right now, we do not have enough money to provide the third round of funding,” Riker said.
Private individuals and other non-profit organizations are hosting fundraisers throughout the region and neighboring community foundations are providing additional assistance to the CFLC. Cynthia Clayton-Davis directs traffic at command central.
“ENMU has generously donated space for the Foundation to maintain an operations center for the numerous volunteers to field calls, process applications and serve as a distribution point for residents to receive their funds in person,” Clayton-Davis said.
Alto mainstay Flying J Wranglers hit the road and raised $35,000 during a July 1 event in Lubbock for the foundation that brought a gleam of hope from Ruidoso’s West Texas neighbors. Additionally, the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico based in Las Cruces has committed to the shelter fund assist with additional rounds of needed funding for flood victims which parallel the fire funding as those are two different disasters displacing residents, Clayton-Davis said.
To ensure as much money as possible is distributed directly to residents in need, the foundation essentially has zero overhead for administrative operations. Typically, 1.5 percent of regular donations are used for a working balance to cover postage, brochures and outreach. However, 100 percent of Shelter Fund donations go to the displaced residents.
The CFLC is a 100-percent volunteer non-profit organization with 100 percent of the money raised from the South Fork and Salt fires and subsequent flooding going to the residents in need. The CFLC Shelter Fund is typically only available for Lincoln County residents who have lost their places of residence and completed the application to determine eligibility.
Local full-time residents who have been displaced due to their homes being uninhabitable or destroyed can apply for Shelter Fund assistance funding, can download an application at www.cfolc.org/shelterfund, then submit it to cflcnm@gmail.com or visit them in room 203 at the ENMU-Ruidoso campus located at 709 Mechem Drive Ruidoso, NM 88345.
