Help Great-Grama Cretia Rebuild After House Fire

On September 8, 2020, at age 87, our mother’s home burned in the middle of the night during the Oregon wildfires. She lost everything except the most precious thing, her life. She has maintained an incredible attitude, even shortly after the incident saying, “this is just one of those things that happens in life”. This tragedy was not only catastrophic, the timing was horrific! Due to the pandemic, supply chain interruptions, skyrocketing material costs, and labor shortages, her home is taking much longer to complete than originally predicted and the budget has about doubled from that originally provided to her.

Although she had a “replacement cost” home insurance policy, what she received only ultimately covered approximately 60% of the cost of her very modest new replacement home. There are no funds left to replace her several outbuildings that she once had. She has also had to forego many of the custom features that she loved in her old house in order to keep costs down, and the majority of her new furnishings have been purchased from consignment and thrift stores.

Since being widowed in 1995, Cretia has lived independently on the Little North Fork River and has always wanted to live there for the rest of her life. The new home should allow her to do so, but the cost of it has made a significant dent in her life savings, so much so that she now has concerns that she might not be able to afford the in-home care that may eventually be needed to assist her so she can live out her days on her beloved river. Of course, her kids are going to continue to help her as much as possible.

Cretia’s house is still not done and the invoices keep coming. The hope now is that she will be able to move in before the 2nd anniversary of the fire. It was difficult to choose a fundraising goal. Our best current estimate of the cost of the new home less the amount she received for the rebuilding from the insurance company and the much-appreciated grant money she has been awarded is nearing $200,000.00. Any level of support would be greatly appreciated to help alleviate her burden. 100% of the funds will go directly to Cretia Benolken and she will be eternally grateful for your help.