Issue link: https://blog.providence.org/i/1367431
25 experienced changes expanded services to recently displaced individuals, those who recently lost their job as a result of the fires, older adults, and those with a moderate income. CBOs that developed new programs in response to the wildfires did so in the areas of mental health services (yoga, meditation, crisis counseling, free mental health services, school-based mental health services); disaster preparedness/relief services/toolkit development; disaster case management; financial coaching; workforce services; food insecurity; and policy advoca- cy. Several respondents indicated a stronger relationship with the COAD in Napa. These efforts and others by CBO leaders and staff constituted veritable rescue and relief services in a time of tragedy. Today, two years after the fires, there are unmet needs still remaining to be fulfilled and not all CBOs will remain in the field of long-term recovery and resilience. Many are exhausted from their response to the relief and medium-term recovery call. The question is who will remain involved and lead beyond the period of disaster case management? Equity and Evaluation Although the CBOs were not surveyed about their engagement with evaluation and equity, five CBO leaders were interviewed on the topics. In terms of evaluation, two of the five organizations had completed evaluation, one would be evaluating soon (at the close of the official "long-term recovery" period), and two organi- zations did not prioritize evaluation. Those organizations that did evaluate said that it was required and part of their infrastructure to do so. They were also more familiar with disaster response and thus, know the concepts and goals of this response better, which might have allowed them to evaluate and learn more readily. The other organizations did not because it simply wasn't prioritized, and/or they didn't have the capacity. This could indicate an opportu- nity to incentivize evaluation and to build organizational capacity to evaluate. When asked about equity, three of five organizational leaders expressed that they prioritized equity in their relief, recovery, and disaster case management efforts. They used a variety of criteria to identify most in need, including minority racial/ethnic groups, low-income, LEP individual demographics. One leader indicated that their organization served "vulnerable" populations, which doesn't necessarily translate to the above groups. Finally, the fifth leader indicated that for equitable disaster response to actually occur, that systems need to change. This individual's perspective was that equity needs to be institutionalized and the policy level before it can be implemented through philanthropic, CBO, and government actions. Partnerships and Collaboration In theory, partnerships and collaboration can make hard work more efficient and effective. Survey and interview findings point to a high level of partnership and collaboration between CBOs to fulfill relief and recovery needs. The most common CBOs mentioned with regard to partner and collaborative relationships include: Catholic Charities, On the Move, UpVal- ley Family Centers, Red Cross, Community Action Partnership, and Redwood Community Health. The strongest relationships were those that were pre-existing before the fires, which underlines the importance of pre-disaster relationship building and planning. 70% of survey