By Camille Von Kaenel, Chico Enterprise-Record, October, 25, 2019
The North Valley Community Foundation’s Butte Strong Fund has approved $1.8 million in its latest round of grants, with most going to local government programs for trauma response and rebuilding.
The largest of the grants, worth $1 million, is going to Butte County’s first responders to provide expanded counseling and health and wellness services in the wake of the Camp Fire. The Butte County First Responders Trauma Response Program was requested by Sheriff Kory Honea. He said that the effects of the disaster a year later are growing, though first responders may be reluctant to ask for help.
“These funds provide us with an opportunity to proactively address emotional trauma among Butte County’s first responders and promote strategies to protect mental and physical well-being throughout the span of their careers,” said Honea in a statement. “The emotional trauma visited upon first responders as a result of the Camp Fire added significantly to the cumulative trauma prevalent among them due to the day-to-day rigors of a stress-filled occupation.”
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