On top of keeping up with homework, schedules, projects and grades, there are Sonoma State students who struggle with the financial instability and mental health repercussions from the North Bay wildfires.
Due to a $150,000 grant by the North Bay Fire Relief fund awarded to SSU on February 26, the university is able to continue to help students who were affected by the wildfires. The grant will help aid students for mental health counseling, scholarships and other needs.
The North Bay Fire Relief Fund is the result of a partnership involving The Press Democrat, state Sen. Mike McGuire and the Redwood Credit Union, created to help the people and businesses affected by the North Bay fires.
According to Sonoma State University, the grant will help counseling services, establishing an emergency scholarship fund, and it will supplement the already existing Noma Gives Fund.
The wildfire erupted on October 8, 2017. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, insurers reported 4,712 that are total losses. Sonoma County suffered the most destruction with 3,963 homes destroyed.
An estimated 100,000 people were forced to flee their homes. The death toll for these fires was 43, according to Reuters. For SSU, 50 students and staff members, including university President Judy Sakaki, lost their homes, stated in the Press Democrat. The campus was closed for 8 days as firefighters worked to contain the fires.
Counseling services will receive some of the money from the grant to help students who continue needing mental health counseling as a result of the fires. Counseling and Psychological Services helps the mental health needs of students through counseling, consultation and outreach.
According to Laura Williams, the director of counseling and psychological services, the money will augment the budget and make it possible to hire temporary counselors to provide more therapy session to students.
“Distress from the fires led to longer wait times for first appointments and longer stretches between appointments,” said Williams. “These funds will allow us to better meet student needs.”
CAPS was already stretched and at full capacity, according to Williams, before the fires because of increased demand for services and levels of staffing that didn’t allow to meet that demand. In the fall semester, an additional 13 counselors came to SSU from other nearby California state universities.
Students who went to CAPS for help after being impacted by the fires continue to require counseling services, Williams says. While few new students are presenting for therapy with fire related concerns, CAPS continues to be stretched by the increased impact of students needing counseling. The funding going to CAPS, according to Anna Reynolds-Smith, director of administrative and financial planning, is part of a larger grant received to support the community.
The grant will help students that were affected by the fires by establishing an emergency scholarship fund. The scholarship fund is made to help students that are thinking of dropping out of school because of financial difficulties, according to Sonoma State. The emergency scholarships will help students stay on track towards graduation.
The $150,000 grant will be a way for CAPS to provide better help to students because the money will help the current strain of its resources. It will provide a financial resource for students who have either lost wages or employment, and provide other resources necessary that will help students in continuing their education at SSU. According to Hiramoto, the university scholarship office will put out an announcement this spring regarding when and how qualifying students can apply for the scholarship. There will be a form that needs to be completed and a statement detailing their need. A little more than half of the funds will go towards mental health counselors and one-third will go towards emergency scholarship funds and the rest towards immediate needs for other immediate needs.
