Santa Cruz County Disaster Fund

Debris washes ashore after part of the Santa Cruz Wharf collapsed on December 23, 2024. Photo: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

The Santa Cruz County Disaster Fund is dedicated to supporting residents impacted by storms, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, debris flows, and other disasters in Santa Cruz County and the Pajaro Valley. Donations to this fund will be disbursed as grants to trusted local nonprofit organizations working on the front lines of disaster response, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. Your support will help benefit those most affected and offer ready resources to organizations responding to local needs.

The Disaster Fund was activated during December 2024 to support those affected by the destructive ocean swells that damaged the Santa Cruz Wharf and Harbor.

As we did through COVID, the CZU fires, and storms of 2023, we worked closely with responding nonprofit organizations with deep roots and strong experience serving those disproportionately affected by disaster. A big thank you to Community Bridges for vetting residents’ requests for disaster relief and stepping up to quickly get help to where it was needed most.

Thanks to your generosity, we worked with Community Bridges to support those who rely on wharf employment for their livelihood, and low-income residents of harbor boats that had become substandard or unlivable. Affected residents earning 80% or below the Area Median Income for Santa Cruz County received $500 Visa gift cards. Full-time wharf employees, part-time wharf employees with multiple jobs, and harbor liveaboard residents with no other home were prioritized. In total, we provided $121,000 in aid to 200 wharf employees and 19 harbor liveaboard residents.

We still welcome donations to our Disaster Fund to bolster response efforts in the future.

We will continue to prioritize support for responding nonprofit organizations with deep roots and strong experience serving those disproportionately affected by disaster.

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CFSCC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. TAX ID# 94-2808039

Mailing Address: 7807 Soquel Dr. Aptos, CA 95003