While there may be some debate about the cause, more and more people are accepting the fact that a changing climate is leading to erratic weather with more intense storms, prolonged drought, and rising temperatures¹.

There are many important steps you can take to help protect your property and your family from the major effects of storms and fires.

Keeping your home well maintained is essential to withstand the vagaries of weather. You can find a wealth of information about creating defensible space and home maintenance tips at the California Casualty Resource Page, www.calcas.com/resources.

Hello,

My thought and prayers are with all of you, our members and families.  This is an unimaginable tragedy for the residents of the five county (Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake) affected area and I thank each and every one of you for all that you are doing for our members in such a time of need.

There are so many heroes among our ranks.  Many educators whose school sites have been closed but who have not suffered a direct loss are volunteering by going to seniors to give them comfort, helping out in evacuation centers, helping out in animal evacuation centers, collecting food, clothing, toys and other basic essentials for distribution to others.  There are many opportunities to help and our members seem to be finding them.

Please remind everyone that both members and non-members alike can make charitable contributions to the CTA Disaster Relief Fund which helps our members in this dire time of need.

Although the Cordelia and Santa Rosa Regional Resource Centers are closed CTA is still there to help.  First, please feel free to call/text/email me anytime.  For calls which you would have made to Cordelia RRC and or Santa Rosa RRC, please call the CTA Region 1 office with any questions at 650-552-5720

Just wanted to quickly let you know of a change in the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) that is being allowed for the current fire situation.

During this current fire situation, with the member’s full knowledge and consent, a chapter officer/representative may complete, sign and fax/send in a DRF application (The member does not need to sign it in this case).  If you are unable to access supporting documentation from the county assessor’s office then just go ahead and fax/send in the application so the process can begin.  In the case where members have lost their homes, please indicate an address and phone number where the can currently be contacted.  The link to the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) application is:

http://www.ctamemberbenefits.org/Life%20Events/Disaster%20Relief%20Fund

Please call/text/email me if I can help in any way.

Jerry (707) 380-7440

Good morning.  With the strong smell of smoke in the Bay Area this morning and news about the new Northern California fires, it occurred to me that you may need the current information on our Disaster Relief Fund.  (Scroll down to see a map from the Cal Fire website this morning.)

The DRF provides grants for damage to primary residences and to classrooms.  Attached is the most recent brochure and an application.  You can also invite members to use the IPhone and Android Phone APPs to start the application for the grants.  To get more information about the Fund and the grants, go to:  www.CTAMemberBenefits.org/drf .

These applications require the signature of a chapter representative, are processed by the F.A.C.T. Foundation quickly, and checks are usually sent to the chapter for distribution to the member.

Also attached is information I received from California Casualty this morning to assist our members (covered by California Casualty) affected by these fires.

Let me know if you have any questions or if we can provide any additional assistance.

Diane

Diane Morte, CEBS

Member Benefits Consultant

650-552-5430

dmorte@cta.org

CTA DRF Brochure 517

Disaster Relief Fund App Interactive User May2014

Northern CA Fire Storms Info 100917

September Rep Council Meeting Minutes for September 26th

Exec Board Agenda for October