Almost three years after an EF3 tornado ripped through Naperville’s Ranchview neighborhood, the city is using lessons learned in its wake to better tackle relief efforts should disaster strike again.
A new program being created in partnership with local nonprofit Loaves & Fishes Community Services received unanimous approval from city leaders at Tuesday’s Naperville City Council meeting.
It was spurred by the twister that struck the city in June 2021, leaving hundreds of homes uninhabitable or damaged, eight people injured and an untold number of trees destroyed. The disaster put Naperville’s emergency preparedness to the test and exposed areas needing improvement, especially in the recovery process.
The disaster relief program approved this week is a product of hindsight reflection, staff members for both the city and Loaves & Fishes say.
“The city is always looking … internally as to how we can improve emergency response,” said Marcie Schatz, assistant to the city manager. “This is a great example of how we work with and leverage partners in the community that excel in their various spaces.”
For Loaves & Fishes, which has been providing food support to Naperville and surrounding communities for the past 40 years, that’s getting assistance to those that require it most, a resource Naperville needed three years ago.
After the tornado, the city found itself in a philanthropic dilemma: lots of people around the community wanted to help but there wasn’t a locally-devoted place where they could direct those efforts, Schatz said.
There was some direct relief facilitated by way of gift cards doled out to affected homeowners as well as opportunities to donate to the Red Cross, which aided Naperville in its disaster relief response. But there wasn’t any organized donation program or fund that would have allowed philanthropic-minded neighbors to personally contribute to the recovery, Schatz said.
The city’s joint venture with Loaves & Fishes addresses that shortcoming. Per terms approved Tuesday, the partners would launch a relief fund for those impacted and in need of immediate financial assistance should another disaster occur. The fund would cover basic needs support, including food, shelter and counseling.
Loaves & Fishes would be responsible for working with donors and managing and administering the money collected. The city’s role would be to provide fund information and updates to the public.
Whether an event activates the disaster relief program would be determined by a standing advisory committee composed of city and Loaves & Fishes personnel as well as two community members. The committee would meet on a needed basis.
Schatz said potential members and roles for the committee have been discussed but what it will look like and who will be involved are among next steps to be taken.
Janet Derrick, Loaves & Fishes executive vice president of programs, said Wednesday, “Even though it could be years before another disaster happens, we want to try and get this program (and our committee) set up so we have it in place. You don’t want to set it up as the disaster is happening.
“We of course hope that disaster never happens … but what this program does is give people more clarity on how to help if it does,” she said.
Meanwhile, as one door opens with disaster relief, another closes.
Earlier this year, a months-long effort to replace and revive dozens of lawns left devastated by the June 2021 tornado finally concluded. The remediation project was headed by the volunteer-led Naperville Tornado Relief, which came together in 2022 to make sure homeowners hit hardest by the diaster got the help they needed to fully recover.
Its work was commemorated with a proclamation from the Naperville City Council in January. And just last week, the DuPage County Board honored the group’s organizers — Kelly Dougherty, Kristy Kennedy and Selvei Rajkumar of Naperville — with a proclamation of its own.
The proclamation was presented at Ranch View Elementary School on June 1 by District 3 County Board member Lucy Chang Evans on behalf of board Chair Deborah Conroy. Evans said this week that delivering the proclamation felt like “a healing moment.”
Dougherty, speaking over the phone Wednesday, echoed Evans.
“It’s been such a long healing process for this community,” she said. “I think that it was kind of the perfect book end, so to speak.”