Hurricane Recovery - Sayulita Families by river

HURRICANE ROSLYN RELIEF FUND PUBLIC FINAL REPORT:

In the early morning of October 23, 2022, Hurricane Roslyn hit the coast of Nayarit. While Sayulita was not the epicenter of the storm, the main river flooded, inundating nearby houses with up to 4 feet of water and mud. Its strong current carried trees and cars to the sea. The devastation was worst in Tamarindal and Mangal, with hundreds of people left without clothes, food and the necessities of daily life for sleeping and cooking. The Hurricane Relief fund was designed to assist affected families in Sayulita and San Ignacio who suffered significant damage during this storm and who had no other way to recover.

Early the next morning, the amazing Sayulita community quickly started working together to dig out homes, to feed people, to fix streets and to assess what affected homes and families needed. Approximately 300 volunteers showed up over the next few weeks to assist with cleaning homes, doing a complete needs assessment and to distribute the items purchased by the fund. The Hurricane Relief Fund was initiated immediately after the storm.

Through the Go Fund Me page and local donations, a total of 97,496.20 USD or 1,852,427.74 pesos was raised. All funds were distributed through a 501(3)c, or legal not-for-profit organization in the US, managed by ProSayulita. A management committee of 10 volunteers, informed by the needs assessment, worked with ProSayulita, Delegación Sayulita and many more local volunteers to source, order and distribute household items to affected homes and families. The information below serves as a final report for the Fund.

The needs assessment identified 113 homes, including a total of 330 people in need of some kind of assistance due to storm damage. While we were doing the hard work of getting the funds accessible, donation centers were created and all items were sorted, cleaned and distributed. Most of the items collected by donations included clothing, hygiene items, towels, sheets, food and cleaning supplies. Once the funds were available for use, we were able to begin ordering and delivery services. Both Sayulinda Hotel and Koranay stepped up to offer critical storage facilities at no cost to assist in these efforts.

The following items were purchased by the fund and given directly to families:

134 mattresses and bed frames

20 emergency sleeping pads

71 refrigerators

37 stoves

62 washing machines

100 pillows

120 blankets

65 sheet sets

96 kitchen kits (pots, pans, silverware, glasses, utensils, etc)

additional glasses and silverware

30 boxes of plates

4 gas cylinders

21 fans

16 roof laminas

Below please find additional information on how funds were used:

(See chart)

In January 2023, the Hurricane Relief Fund committee will again be partnering with ProSayulita and meeting with an engineer to assess what can be done in the river area to prevent this kind of damage in the future. As you can see in the chart above, a small amount of funds have been reserved specifically for the purpose of beginning to move from crisis to prevention. When we have additional information about potential prevention efforts, you may very well be hearing from us again!

In the meantime, thanks again to all the donors, all the volunteers, all the amazing families that, while suffering unbelievable losses, stood strong in this community. The entire committee would like to acknowledge our honor in being able to serve this community as best we could. We understand this, and many community efforts, are not perfect and we are so proud of the efforts of so many to do our best! Let’s all look forward to working together on pro-active and preventative solutions that keep our community and its members strong!

We have paused the Go Fund Me for Sayulita Families for now as we reached our goal BUT DONATIONS ARE STILL NEEDED FOR SAYULITA INFRASTRUCTURE REPAIR Please continue to donate here to Pro Sayulita's Hurricane Roslyn Relief Fund: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=F8XZ9SEBZ22PE&fbclid=IwAR1JkUTyTASmAJ4XECpisov_0IA4MPFbovdvoC-UvzOyP7ynQAgzJ7no8WQ

This fundraiser is raising money to support Sayulita Families who have been impacted by Hurricane Roslyn to get back on their feet. So far, we have counted 274 people within 80 households who need help. Funds will be spent helping them clean and sanitize their dwellings, provide building materials and replace crucial household items which were lost because of the storm. This includes trucking out mud and some tractor work. Additional funds (if there are any) will be used in a structure creation and repair directed towards the prevention of this happening again.

Funds will be sent through Friends of Sayulita Inc., a registered non-profit in the United States who have a Mexican non-profit arm in Sayulita and is administered by a volunteer committee.

Dec. 5 2022

Thanks again to all our amazing volunteers and donors.

It was great to see those of you who made it to the volunteer appreciation gathering this last week and, for those of your that were unable to attend, we still wanted to share a brief update with you!

We are about 90 percent done with purchasing and distributions and a final report will be available when the project is complete!

We have helped:

330 people

113 households

For now, this is where we are with the distributions:

So far, we have bought*:

132 mattresses and bed frames

20 emergency sleeping pads

57 refrigerators

30 stoves

30 washing machines

100 pillows

120 blankets

65 sheet sets

96 kitchen kits (pots, pans, silverware, glasses, utensils,etc)

additional glasses and silverware

30 boxes of plates

4 gas cylinders

21 fans

after this week, we will assess the need for ordering more items

*Funds have also been expended on:

ProSayulita street cleaning fund (trucking out mud from the affected areas)

Food Train supplies

Cleaning supplies

Gas and distribution costs

Taxes, accounting costs and fund transfers

Thank you for all your support and continued efforts. The affected families are well on their way to recovery thanks to your contributions and efforts.

Best wishes,

Sayulita Storm

Nov. 12 2022

It has been a busy week!! Four distributions to affected areas have occurred to provide families with both purchased and donated items. Sixty families have already received new mattresses, mattress bases, sheets, towels and clothing.

Thanks to Koranay Hardware Store, we now have a large and secure storage site which will allow us to bring in larger orders of items and be more efficient. This weekend, the final order of beds will arrive for families!

In total, 137 new beds will be provided. Phase 2 is already in process and kitchen items such as stoves, refrigerators, fans and kitchen utensils will begin arriving as early as Monday.

If you are in Sayulita, please join us for a large distribution of items Monday at 8pm, at our new storage center on Carretera Punta de Mita y Calle Valado, next to Mason de Perro. More distribution details will be announced after Monday. Thanks again to local volunteers and donors for making families understand that we care!

Nov. 5 2022

The Hurricane Relief fund is so relieved to be able to share additional delivery news with you! While homes and roads have now been cleaned, many families remain without critical household items. The focus of this last week, and upcoming weeks, is to address those needs! Phase 1 ordering and delivery is replacing mattresses and bed frames that we either swept away by the storm or rendered unusable. This week, funds were distributed to purchase new mattresses and bed frames and distribution occurred in the Mangal, North River and San Ignacio communities. Distribution to the Tamarindo neighborhood will begin on Tuesday.

Phase 1 will continue with purchasing and distribution until all mattress needs identified in the needs assessment is complete. We are partnering with the Delegada and local volunteers on these distribution efforts and are very grateful for their time and commitment to this community; mattresses and bedframes are not an easy thing to move around! In these distributions, donated sheets, towels, clothes, and other household items are also being delivered to families.

We are also already preparing for Phase 2, which will focus on kitchen items, such as stoves and refrigerators. We hope to enter Phase 2 in about a week and will continue to keep this site updated with information.

For individuals in Sayulita, the donation center at Sayulinda Hotel remains open 9-7pm. Current needs include children’s clothing, blankets, sheets and towels. Distribution efforts will continue to need people and trucks if anyone is interested in lending a hand this week!

Nov. 2 2022 HURRICAN ROSLYN RELIEF FUND UPDATE

Our community continues to work hard to move past this crisis phase of this disaster and recover. Sayulita and its residents are strong, and all are grateful for both physical donations, volunteer time and donated funds. The love keeps pouring in.

The current needs assessment for Sayulita and San Ignacio has documented 274 individuals, representing 80 homes, in significant need. This needs assessment was conducted house per house by a team of local individuals and documented by photos. Local volunteer teams remain in the community should any family affected by the hurricane feel that they have been missed, please contact us for an assessment.

A full budget of household items that will be replaced by this fund has been created and purchasing/ordering has begun with the first delivery and distribution happening today. We would like to thank our partners ProSayulita for not only stepping in to help clear streets in affected areas, but also by agreeing to help manage the complicated process of responsibly getting donated funds to vendors to supply what is needed here on the ground.

Completed actions to date:

• Full needs assessment of Sayulita and San Ignacio

• Coordination of local volunteers to clean homes and provided cleaning supplies

• Fund distribution for food stipend for food service to affected families (many other local residents also donated food and funds to make this happen!)

• Establishment of local donation sites (acopios), an inventory system to track donations and a distribution system to get donated supplies to families in need.

• Phase 1 of mattresses and bases ordered and will be distributed today

• Pricing of household items needed to be purchased so that a thoughtful ordering and distribution, in phases, can be continued.

• Establishment of responsible fiscal system to ensure that donated funds can be received where they are needed, please note that funds will not be distributed to families, only items.

Thanks again to all the amazing volunteers, many who have experienced damage from the storm themselves, but have still chosen to show up for their neighbors. As Sayulita celebrates Day of the Dead, our community is honoring its ancestors and celebrating our community.

Update 10/29/22

Almost one week past Hurricane Roslyn, a lot has been accomplished and there is a lot more to do! This week has focused on home and street cleaning, providing emergency supplies and food, recruiting, and organizing volunteers and making a thoughtful and responsible plan to use donated funds to replace critical items that were lost in the damage.

We would like to thank our partners ProSayulita in taking the lead in cleaning the streets in affected areas and local families for taking the lead in organizing meals for those affected and volunteers. Yesterday, a full needs assessment of families in Sayulita and San Ignacio was completed.

A total of 234 individuals, making up 68 homes have been identified with significant need. The most common items needing to be replaced include mattresses, refrigerators and stoves. There are many more. Now that we have a full understanding of need, we have a team working on pricing and ordering and critical items will be provided in phases to cleaned homes as early as next week.

If you know a local family in need who may have been missed, reach out to us here right away. Local collection sites or acopios remain open! We do have sufficient clothing donations and we were able to make a clothing donation to communities north of us. We are currently looking for sheets, towels, kitchen supplies, shoes, and new underwear. If you have any of this to give to local families, you can bring it to Sayulinda Hotel.

Our plan is to keep this page updated weekly so we can continue to share activities, action steps and information about volunteer opportunities. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

10/26/22

PRO SAYULITA paid for 77 loads of mud to be trucked out of Tamarindo yesterday alone at a cost of 800 pesos per load, or a total of 61,600 pesos! Along with the Equipment Rental, PRO SAYULITA paid a total of 67,900 pesos! This was well beyond their anticipated bill for equipment rental of 15,000 pesos per day. A lot of the soil and debris PRO SAYULITA is paying to have removed, has been contaminated by black water. It is most important to get this removed ASAP before sickness begins to spread to the community. PRO SAYULITA urges you all to dig deep into your pockets and donate here to this fund to help us cleanup and keep our residents and visitors safe and healthy.

Sayulita is feeling the love! So far, GoFundMe funds have been spent on cleaning supplies and sanitary sleeping conditions for families. We are now completing a full needs assessment and hope to have a plan and timeline in place by the end of the week to get the resources to the familie! Please continue to follow this page for updates.

SayulitAnimales (paypal address: [email redacted]) was devastated by the hurricane and in need of replacing supplies and equipment to continue their important work of taking care of our furry friends as well so please also keep them in mind for your donations.

Thanks again and stay tuned!

10/25/22 8pm

Wow! Amazing community, the GoFundMe has surpassed our goal and we have temporarily paused the donate button in order to get our numbers finished and costs calculated before we continue to accept donations.

While mud relief digging, cleaning and addressing survival needs continue in the trenches, a needs assessment is being conducted among the affected families so that a thoughtful, effective and responsible response can be completed with the funds raised.

So far local vendors and community members have been donating food and clothes. Where we have spent some money already on cleaning supplies for the families and digging teams, we are going to try to use donations where possible first before spending money on larger infrastructure items such as beds, stoves, sheets and building materials.

It will take a while to get the money from the gofundme to mexico and we are currently investigating the proper way to channel it through a local non-profit to get it here from the US as to avoid losing a chunk of the money for taxes. A committee is being formed to help manage the money with local folks that have done it before - some of the people were part of the Food Drive during Covid that lasted eight months and raised over $100,000.

The distribution of supplies and goods is going to happen through trusted local methods, led by a local man who has spearheaded most of the local relief efforts during the past few years. His team will confirm the needs and distribute the replacement items to the families over the coming weeks. For now efforts are on collecting data about what is needed and getting survival needs met.

We are creating a Facebook page for updates on what's happening with the funds and what is needed. Join here to follow along: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1138298890158886/?ref=share

Thank you for your outpouring of support!

 Update 10/24/22: 

 - A first round of cleaning supplies have been purchased and are being distributed to the affected houses now. 

 - We have about 85% of the affected houses censused: detailed lists of household members (including kids shoe sizes & ages), and what they urgently need to be able to eat, sleep, and be clothed. Two other gals cropped up that have experience working for international relief orgs; they offered to help us align all the efforts. First step is putting all needs into spreadsheets and collating totals. Then purchase and distribution system for donations and in some cases help w structural repairs.

 

 - Working on organizing a system for tallying up things that are being donated at collection sites (if other than clothes) to make sure that dovetails with what will be purchased using gofundme $. 

 - urgent needs are cropping up as follows: refrigerators, stoves, table/chairs (if washed away), mattresses (including sizes), sheets, blankets, pillows, fans, clothing and shoes.We are aiming to align all Sayulita relief efforts via creating a master list of affected families and needs. Part 2 of the plan involves tackling the affected families needs in order of survival priority: clothing food and shelter first, then once that's established 

-household items as the funds allow.Whenever possible the needed items will be donated and if not purchased and delivered to the families in need directly to maintain maximum accountability. 

 

Emily Glos, Amy Rodgers and Amy Daniels have been working on organizing and cleaning and cataloging needs in the Tamarindo.Esperanza Mares is working on efforts to provide relief in the Mangal neighborhood. 

As for my personal intentions, I just had a new baby 4 days ago and thus am relegated to the armchair at the moment - so managing this fundraiser is my contribution. Thanks everyone for your concerns and support if you want to contribute and can't figure out where to plug in I can try to help you resource or point you on the right direction. 

With love, 

Sayulita Storm (I was born here during a storm and named after the town) a mama, concerned community member and real estate agent 

Origional post 10/23/22

I'm fundraising to help local low-income Sayulita families affected by Hurricane Roslyn raise money to recover after the storm. In the Tamarindo and along the river there are many families with no other resources available that need support w basic financial assistance, to buy blankets/ mattresses/furniture, building materials and funds to rent tractors to get the debris out of their yards as a result of last night's hurricane. We are focusing on helping families that have lost everything get their basic needs met. But if we meet our goals will also be able to help many families restore their existing homes and obtain basic household necessities which may have been lost in during the flooding.