Puerto Seguro Safe Harbor helps its neighbors hit by South Fork fire

When the South Fork fire hit Ruidoso on June 17 displacing countless families, Puerto Seguro Safe Harbor jumped into action alongside the city of Socorro and Socorro County to help their neighboring county.

“I am beyond impressed by the mobilization from churches, organizations, restaurants, and individuals who quickly took action to bring the community together,” Shay Kelley, Puerto Seguro board president, said in an email to donors.

Kelley created a donation link a couple days after the fire started and said she was shocked at the response.

“I sent to just 18 people,” Kelley wrote, “Together, you raised $4937.06…You all have proven, once again, that Socorro means help.”

In the first week after the fires, those donations covered 13 people, including children and a dozen animals. Evacuees stayed at the Days Inn in Socorro, some for up to five nights, which covered their stay until the evacuation was lifted on Monday, June 24.

Puerto Seguro staff and volunteers cooked and delivered hot meals to the displaced families. They also had access to gasoline donations, clothing vouchers from the thrift store, and the donation center the city and county had organized.

Kelley shared a quote from one evacuee who said, “Socorro has been so good to us. I am amazed. The people here are wonderful; I’ve been blown away by the kindness shown from every direction. The food, hotel room, clean clothes.... yesterday we all went to the laundromat and they covered the cost of our laundry. We went to eat at a local restaurant and the business paid for our dinner. I’m just so grateful. This has been especially hard on those of us with young kids, and Socorro has made it easier.”

Hygiene supplies, socks and cases of water were also distributed locally and sent out to emergency shelters in Roswell and Mescalero.

Kelley said several families lost their homes to the fires and subsequent flooding, especially in the low-lying mobile home parks. She is working with case managers in the area and hotel owners to help people get a FEMA ID and offer free rooms.

“There are families who have been staying in shelters for almost a month and are in desperate need of a private place to get a good night’s sleep,” Kelley wrote, “We anticipate the need will continue in the area. However, we are closing this fundraising link, as we believe we have enough funds to meet the needs that will arise in the coming months. There is still $3393.03 remaining from this fundraiser, and we will continue to use it for this purpose, providing relief directly to the people displaced by the fires in Ruidoso.”

She is grateful for the overwhelming support, “I am hopeful that if we ever find ourselves in the position that Ruidoso or Roswell found itself in, that Socorro would respond as swiftly and with as much organization as they did during this crisis.”