As Boulder and much of the Front Range mark the one-year anniversary of the devastating 2013 flood, three foundation leaders – Josie Heath, Rich Lopez and Carmen Ramirez – offer their perspectives this week, setting the stage for other voices from our community to share their thoughts and experiences on this blog in the days ahead.
By Rich Lopez, Esq., city planner and attorney, and Foundation board member
I come from the standpoint of being experienced in grantmaking, and having worked with The Community Foundation to respond to community needs at the time of the Four Mile Fire in 2010. Since the fire was declared a disaster by the governor, the Foundation could allow grants to individuals, which we typically could not. We made sure to include in our grantmaking committee representatives – firefighters and citizens – from the three affected fire districts. When the flood hit, we fully articulated and formalized the policies, processes and internal considerations that allowed us to be fair, equitable and highly responsive to individual calls for help – from housing and repairs, to those who were impacted economically.
A lot of businesses were destroyed, and/or employees were stranded and couldn’t get to work. I recall a waitress who worked at the Gold Hill Inn – she couldn’t get to work for weeks, and suffered a significant loss of income.
Most important to recognize, however, is that the role of the Foundation is to fill the gaps that other aid efforts don’t address. FEMA, for example, assists with 75% of estimated losses – it’s not intended to make you whole again. Indeed, after disasters like the fire or flood of the last few years, it’s impossible to make everyone – and everything – whole again. But there’s a lot we can do.
The Foundation has earned the reputation of being a convener of ideas and programs. And when people want to help others in their community, they know they can come to us, and we’ll point the way. When there’s a problem to be addressed, people think first of their Community Foundation – and that’s key to building community resiliency.
