At Hope City, our mission is “Rebuilding Homes and Restoring Lives.” When teams are in camp, most of their attention is focused on doing the physical labor of building homes. It’s usually at Family Night on Thursdays that our teams really have a chance to hear our homeowners’ stories. That doesn’t mean that our teams […]

While NCCC Blue 6 stayed with us in Middletown, we thought it would be a fun exercise and an insightful look at the community to have the team’s media representatives conduct an interview and write a short article. The three of them did a magnificent job and we’re proud to present their work here. “You […]

Updated October 12, 2022 We’re in the final months of 2022, and this can be the driest part of the year. We are praying for precipitation across the state, and for a continued quick and effective response to all fire activity. We are seeing the largest amount of volunteering since the beginning of the pandemic, […]

UPDATED 11/4/19: ALL EVACUATIONS LIFTED Thank you for your concern for HCRN, our staff and our homeowners. Although we are experiencing power shut offs, high winds, and fire, at this time everyone is safe. We appreciate your offers of help and please follow our Facebook page for updates. All shelters are currently at capacity. With the on going […]

UPDATED 11/4/19: ALL EVACUATIONS HAVE BEEN LIFTED Thank you for your concern for HCRN, our staff and our homeowners. Although we are experiencing power shut offs, high winds, and fire, at this time everyone is safe. We appreciate your offers of help and please follow our Facebook page for updates. All shelters are currently at capacity. With the […]

HCRN came to Northern California following the Valley Fire that destroyed much of Middletown and the surrounding area. This is a rural community in the poorest county of California. The Valley Fire swept through the neighborhood of Anderson Springs and destroyed 179 homes, leaving only 19 standing. It is a neighborhood with one entrance and […]

It’s time again for our favorite story to tell: another person getting home! Today we welcome Janis Irvin into her home and celebrate with her and all of the organizations who came together to make it happen. Janis lost her home in the Valley Fire that swept through the Cobb Mountain area and destroyed much […]

It’s time again for our favorite story to share: a homeowner coming home. We were proud to celebrate the home dedication of Bill Raby and his family. They lost their home in the Redwood Valley Fire of 2017, and today they have a brand new home and a fresh start. HCRN was proud to host […]

The process of long term recovery is not always easy for fire survivors. HCRN and our rebuilding project, Hope City, work to relieve some of the pressures homeowners face as they work to get home. It’s thanks to our volunteers who donate their time and labor to work on homes that we’re even to do […]

When disaster strikes, the people responding aren’t always well versed on how to handle everything. Many of the civilians involved are just trying to do whatever they can to help their community feel safe. When a new volunteer, someone who hasn’t had experience with disaster, first comes to assist, they can feel overwhelmed. When Wallace […]

This year HCRN and our building project, Hope City, were proud to be cosponsors of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) with North Coast Opportunities (NCO). We hosted a total of four teams, as these 18-24 year olds donated nearly a year of their life to serve communities across the US. On July 30, […]

Volunteer teams are the life blood of HCRN’s disaster recovery and response work. This week, we were blessed to have volunteer teams in four counties. Each county is at a different point in the recovery process. To have this much support on these projects means so much to us and to the communities our volunteers […]

We love hosting AmeriCorps teams. For the last several years, HCRN and our building project, Hope City, have been host to AmeriCorps teams from NCCC. This organization allows young adults to give a year of service and experience a wide variety of projects aimed at bettering communities. Their service is broken up into three rounds […]

Today, we’re welcoming Deanna Jones back home. Northern California has been plagued with what seems like a new record breaking fire every year. So much of the national focus falls on these large and horrendous fires, and many of the, by comparison, smaller fires have been forgotten. The Clayton Fire ripped through Lower Lake and […]

Every person we get home is one step closer to a community that feels whole. Charlotte Frost lost her home in the Valley Fire that nearly destroyed all of Middletown. As Frost has worked to get back home, she has dealt with cancer and treatments, as well as a number of other medical issues. Her […]

HCRN first came to Lake County after the Valley Fire that nearly destroyed the whole of Middletown. In the time since we arrived, we’ve been able to meet and assist some amazing people. Today we want to showcase some of the homeowners we’re working with on their journey back home: Jerry and Martha Hotchkiss. The […]

Rebuilding homes has always come with it’s own set of challenges, and each and every home we build is a learning opportunity. Not just for the way we build, but the way we minister to our families. Today, we’re incredibly happy to celebrate the Thibodeau home being completed and our first ADA compliant build in […]

Lake County has been our home base since the Valley Fire raged through Middletown and the Cobb Mountain area. Through all the struggles and challenges of rebuilding after such an awful disaster, one thing has remained constant: our desire to get people home. Today we are proud to celebrate Jocelyn French coming home. This home […]

HCRN and Hope City do a lot to bring in volunteer labor, and a large portion of our volunteers don’t get to see what all their efforts produce. That’s why we’ve taken to doing these segments on Home Dedications. And, honestly, these are our favorite stories to do: families coming home. Today, we welcome Katherine […]

When the Camp Fire raged through Northern California, it received national attention. It would go on to be the deadliest fire in California history, with the lives of over 80 people lost. The fire ran through Paradise, CA and has left this community reeling. In the days after the disaster, HCRN was on the ground […]