A pool of $28,300 in relief funds for people suffering major losses due to the record flooding of Suicide Basin is being offered by the Juneau Community Foundation, with the hope the money will provide some degree of help even for those facing enormous rebuilding and recovery costs.
Applications are due by Dec. 31 and funding to each recipient will be based on the number of applications received, Amy Skilbred, the foundation’s executive director, said in an interview Wednesday. She said the review process will include a check of where applicants live as a safeguard, but the hope is people will exercise good judgment in deciding whether to apply.
“I think people know if the impact that they had was a significant one for them, or if it’s something that, ‘yeah, we wish it hadn’t happened, but we can absorb it as a household.” she said. “And I think we are definitely looking at people to search their own conscience on it and see what they think, and apply if they need it for sure.”
The foundation will work with the Juneau Economic Development Council’s nonprofit arm, the Alaska Development Corp., on processing the applications, Skilbred said. She said hopes the funds will be distributed in early January.
Dozens of homes were destroyed or declared at least temporarily uninhabitable following the Aug. 5 release of more than 13 billion gallons of water from Suicide Basin that caused the Mendenhall River to rise about 15 feet. Many residents suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage — and some in the millions. A state disaster declaration allowed them to seek a total of $41,000 for housing needs and other assistance, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected a request for a federal disaster declaration.
The U.S. Small Business Administration subsequently announced in October low-interest federal disaster loans were available to flood victims, and the City and Borough of Juneau has stated it is continuing to seek millions in federal funds to protect public and private property from future flooding.
Fundraising by the foundation started a couple of weeks after the flood, at a time when many individuals and families were getting donations through GoFundMe accounts and other fundraisers, Skilbred said.
“We started this because we had a couple of donors and funders who wanted to provide us with funds, and that came to about $15,000 from just there,” she said. “And so instead of saying ‘no, we can’t do that,’ we decided to go ahead and take it, and then open it up and let people know that we have a Mendenhall River Flood Response Fund. We didn’t have a specific goal, we felt it was responsible to receive funds from anybody who wanted to give them to us — people that called us when they said ‘I don’t know who to give it to.’”
“Juneau’s a pretty caring place, people are very generous, and so we just wanted to make sure that we provided an option for those who wanted to help out with a monetary donation and weren’t quite sure how to do it.”
Applications are available online at www.juneaucf.org and are due by 5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 31. People with questions can contact info@juneaucf.org.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
