Why Skookum Is Doing Disaster Recovery

In 2021 heavy rain from winter storms led to historic flooding of the Nooksack River and nearly 2,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. The Nooksack flooded again in 2025 and 1,248 homes were damaged or destroyed, many for the second time in four years. The governmental response to these two events has been quite different. Between the two events, The Whatcom Long Term Recovery Group (WLTRG) was formed and the Healthy Children's Fund (HCF) was adopted by voters and established in Whatcom County. When the rains came last year, WLTRG was on the ground and ready to help families both navigate the days of crisis and rebuild their lives in the aftermath. And HCF dollars—locally controlled and highly flexible as they are—were ready to go in support of recovery efforts.

Among the flood-impacted families, there were many whose lives were hard before the storms. Flood waters do not  flow around the houses where drugs, violence, and poverty are already making life difficult. Such families need home repairs like everyone else. They also need the support that will allow them to escape a pattern of struggle that we recognize. And we have some experience cheering on families as they establish a new normal for themselves, one far from the conflict and chaos of their past. Usually, we support families after CPS has left their doorstep. But with HCF funding over the next year, we will support a small number of families after the floodwaters have receded.

 While disaster recovery might seem like a departure for Skookum Kids, in fact it is a natural next step in our year's long effort to move "upstream" to support families earlier in hopes of preventing the need for CPS ever getting involved in the first place. The methods we use have an eye-popping 1:1500 cost-benefit ratio, meaning that for every dollar we manage to invest in this kind of prevention, more than $1,500 of public benefit is created. We're thrilled for the chance to help.

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If you know a family who might appreciate help recovering from the flood, email us a tip.