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An aerial view of the SR 530 Landslide, showing the entire extent of the landslide source area and path. Photo Credit: U.S. Geological Survey/photo by Mark Reid.

On March 22, 2014, groundwater saturation triggered a 4,400-foot-wide landslide near the town of Oso, Washington. Considered the largest and most destructive landslide in U.S. history, the event caused 43 fatalities, swallowed 49 homes and shut-down a portion of State Route 530 – giving the catastrophe its official name, the SR 530 Landslide. Search and rescue efforts lasted for weeks, as local and national disaster relief organizations and all levels of government stepped in to provide shelters and work out a temporary housing plan for the hundreds of displaced residents who lost everything in the disaster.

Local government officials in Oso and Snohomish County, Washington, did not play a major role in stewarding or distributing funds for temporary housing assistance, but instead played a key role in coordinating the dozens of local and national non-profit, charitable and faith-based organizations providing disaster assistance, in addition to the state and federal level programs put into place. Throughout recovery, localities should take advantage of small, local non-profit organizations to provide more immediate housing assistance to residents.

“The biggest issue is having the ability to respond to crisis in the moment, without the burden of rules and regulations,” explains Christie Connors, executive director of the Community Resources Foundation of Stanwood and Camano Island, Washington. “One way to do this is to cultivate relationships with smaller local, non-profit organizations.”

Temporary Housing Assistance in Oso

After the SR 530 Landslide, millions of dollars in donations poured into the United Way, the American Red Cross (ARC) and the Cascade Valley Hospital Foundation. A portion of the donations were donated directly to displaced residents, but much if it was given to 12 local social services agencies for distribution. One of these agencies was the newly formed Arlington Family Services Project, an umbrella organization spearheaded by Christie and the Community Resources Foundation.

In the wake of the Landslide, the state provided Section 8 vouchers to displaced residents, but most exceeded the income requirement to qualify and also had homeowner’s insurance. And although FEMA provided $1.6 million through its Individuals and Households Program (IHP), only $362,153 went directly to housing assistance; much of the housing relief effort fell to local and national charitable organizations.

“It’s just chaos at first,” says Connors. “Even people who have some financial means should be in a hotel right after disaster hits. People go to FEMA and the Red Cross for help, but they are big agencies with tons of rules and paperwork. An agency like us will just tell someone to find a hotel and we’ll pay the bill. To find a way to do that for people was really helpful,” she recalls.

Bringing Small, Local Non-Profit Organizations Into the Mix

Connors recommends that larger faith-based and charity organizations partner with small, local organizations to meet the temporary housing and other immediate needs of residents. There’s no doubt that national disaster relief organizations, like the Red Cross and United Way, are a saving grace for thousands of residents after any natural disaster, but they can take longer to assist residents simply because they have more hoops to jump through – paperwork, policies and legal requirements.

Smaller organizations, on the other hand, are community-owned and managed; “Since all of our money comes from community donations, we are freer in how we can use it,” Connors explains. Likewise, small local organizations have deep-seated relationships with the community and a history of working together. Not only are displaced residents familiar and more comfortable with local organizations, but donations can be spread between several or a dozen organizations to prevent any one or two from getting overwhelmed.

To help keep all relief organizations on the same page, Connors explains that representatives from all agencies involved met frequently to share progress and develop a long-term recovery strategy. To prevent politics and varying perspectives from hindering relief efforts, operations and decision-making should be based on the end goal – meeting resident’s needs to get them on the fastest-track to permanent housing. The Arlington Family services Project, for example, refused to fund the purchase of an empty piece of land for displaced residents to construct a new home because it would take longer than putting residents in pre-existing or renovated homes.

“If there’s an issue we address that issue,” Connors says. “Politics and religion don’t matter; we address people’s needs.”

The Arlington Family Services Project put the majority of their donations towards housing grants. Every family that lost its primary residence received $30,000, and the organization also paid for rent, mortgages and down payments on new homes. They were also able to assist with smaller needs on-the-spot, from paying for a new refrigerator and replacing a pair of eyeglasses to paying for temporary hotel stays.

And if an agency can’t provide immediate temporary housing assistance to displaced residents seeking assistance, Connors recommends thinking “outside the box” and being flexible – just give them something tangible to walk away with. When they couldn’t find an immediate fix, Connors says they often gave residents gift cards to a local grocery store and told them to come back again the next day.

“Think about what the organization can do to help the person who has come to you,” she says. “Nobody walked out of our office thinking, ‘Nobody did a damn thing for me.’”

Be Aware of the Common Obstacles

Although much of the organization’s distribution went smoothly, Connors and her team still struggled with some minor setbacks. The landslide brought out the best in many, as community members dropped everything to help those in need, but it also brought out the worst in some residents who tried to take advantage of donations.

“They all showed up when the money came,” says Connors. “Personalities changed. People got thousands of dollars who had never had money in their life. The greed was eye-opening for me, and I’ve been in social services for decades.”

The Arlington Family Services Project had a system in place to aggressively monitor who received assistance and what it was used for, but a few residents still found a way around the system. Distraught, displaced residents struggled to understand why some individuals and families were getting more assistance, some tried to “double dip” by going to multiple offices for assistance, and furthermore, some misused the money for purposes unrelated to losses from the landslide. It’s difficult to anticipate if and how displaced residents might misuse money, but be aware that it does happen and check back in with residents after they’ve received donations to ensure it’s being used properly.

Accountability and transparency were also issues common among all organizations and agencies providing disaster relief. Donors – both individual and large corporate organizations – wanted to know what their money was being used for. Most large organizations involved in the relief effort sent updates through their website and Facebook pages, and some mailed out tax receipts daily to let donors know the foundation had received their gift.

“We avoided the transparency issue by only taking money from the United Way and the Cascade Valley Hospital Foundation,” Connors recalls. “We only had to be accountable to them.

In some cases, Connors notes that “there is no accountability.” Although it can be difficult to monitor all groups raising money for relief efforts – residents selling t-shirts or collecting money outside of grocery stores, for example – be aware of the issue and ask residents to report to law enforcement if they see suspicious fundraising efforts.

Connors also notes that political issues can arise if local elected and appointed officials push to be in the spotlight.

When it comes to temporary housing, Connors says that ideally, the role of the local government should be to “call in the experts and get out of the way.” Local governments should play a key role in coordinating NGOs and faith-based organizations working to distribute funds, but they should let the relief organization’s leaders be the spokesperson for their own agencies. However, if local leaders do decide take to center stage, ensure they’ve been briefed beforehand to send a consistent message about the community’s housing needs and what the donations will be used for.

“You can’t save everybody,” Connors reflects. “You just have to stay professional; respect people’s cultures and be compassionate.”