Tait Comes Home

2020 is a year of miracles! There is nothing more miraculous than the work we are able to accomplish through God and with each other. Today we celebrate the miracle of Denise Tait coming home! This was also our very first live-streamed home dedication, and it allowed so many more of our friends to take part in this celebration. Denise lost her home in the Tubbs Fire of 2017, along with many of her neighbors. Today we dedicate her home and give her a brand-new starting point for the rest of her life!

The Tubbs Fire of 2017 destroyed almost all of Tait’s neighborhood, and the fire destroyed about 5,000 homes in Santa Rosa. It was a devastating fire, and without the quick actions by local government and other organizations, the recovery process would have been nearly insurmountable. Adam Peacocke, who has been a driving force in the recovery of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, welcomed Tait home saying, “We celebrate the incredible compassion and diligence and love of the volunteers who built this home. It’s such a tribute to [our] strength and the capacity to come together.”

Like all of our homes, there’s no way they could be finished without our fantastic donors, volunteers, staff and of course partner agencies. There are so many partner organizations to thank and not all of them were able to send representatives, but we’d like to mention a few of them by name here: ROC Sonoma, American Red Cross, United Way of the Wine Country, Redwood Credit Union, CAP, Catholic Charities, The Salvation Army, Redwood Credit Union, and the Sonoma County Community Foundation. Thank you so much to these organizations for seeing the needs in their communities and stepping up to fulfill them.

Many of the volunteers who stepped on to Denise Tait’s property were only able to come for short periods of time, but they’ve left a lasting impact on her and her family’s future. We’d like to recognize the volunteers from Santa Rosa First United Methodist Church, Bayside Church, The Bridge, Fannie Mae SERVE, and of course AmeriCorps. Our greatest asset is our volunteers. Without them, none of the labor necessary to get fire survivors home would be able to happen. Thank you all so much for being a part of Rebuilding Homes and Restoring Lives in Sonoma County.

We were blessed to have the Mayor of Santa Rosa, Tom Schwedhelm, attend this dedication. He welcomed Tait home and spoke briefly on the efforts to get Santa Rosa to its new normal, and get people back home. Disasters are a learning curve, but the City of Santa Rosa was so thankful for the guidance they received and have been paying that forward to other parts of the state as fires continue to be widespread in the summer months of California. The Mayor said, “What has got us here today is neighbors helping neighbors.”

Last but certainly not least, Denise Tait had a chance to speak. She was a bit overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and how many people were involved in getting her into her rebuilt home. She simply said, “This is a wonderful, I’m so excited to finally be home. I want to thank everybody. I can’t even put it into words how thankful I am.”

Everything we do is about relationships. When disaster strikes it takes cooperation and understanding and patience to fully recover. Thank you again to everyone who had a hand in getting Denise Tait back home, your efforts will have a lasting impact, and we hope to work with you again!

If you’d like to be a part of Rebuilding Homes and Restoring Lives, you can donate to our efforts here.