Out of the Ashes....

[Out of the Ashes]

Hello -

My name is Norene Beaver and I am Director of an organization called Out of the Ashes that was started out of the ashes of our second home fire. Having been through two house fires, I have acquired alot of knowledge with reguard to first steps to take, next steps to take, dealing with insurance companies, reading the fine print and between the lines of what insurance companies are not telling us.

Several months after our fire I started feeling a gentle (okay maybe not so gentle) push towards helping other families that are recovering from home fires. However, I was not exactly sure how to go about it and what the whole scenario would look like. So, while I was at church one Sunday our Pastor related a story of a family near our church whose home had burned down the prior Wednesday. I knew that was it - a sign that it was time. So that afternoon I asked around and was finally able to find out where the home was. I was lucky enough to arrive when the father was there. I related to him who I was and what I had been through and that I wanted to help he and his family through this if they would allow me. Explaining that I wasn't one of the ambulance chasing private adjusters - that I would not accept a fee for my services - that it was just something I felt I was being led to do. I was very blessed to spend several hours with this family and continue to work with them through the stages of recovery.

This contact sparked my excitement and now I have had the pleasure of working with not only families in our local area, but have also travelled to other states to work with residential victims of wildfire. Daily across the country the media covers 15 - 25 fires. I have been able to tap into that media to get into touch with those families and have been able to help many through their recovery process. I have also started hosting community outreach meetings to help prepare homeowners for fire and to make sure they have the right coverages in place. It has been a wonderful experience to be able to make something wonderful out of something so tragic.

We have finally received our 501(c)3 status approved and are now hoping to find funding to continue our work and to grow.

I would appreciate any input from those of you here! My hope is that someday I can travel all over the country not only responding to fires and helping homeowners, but to conduct the meetings in every state to help them prepare for something that will change their lives forever.

More information on us can be found at www.outoftheasheswa.org

Blessings

Norene

[jam24u]

Sounds very worthy. Am curious as to how you landed in the grants and funding section with your first posting?