SPOKANE, Wash. — Walt Worthy will help establish a wildfire relief fund to help families impacted by recent fires, which will give ‘direct, unrestricted grants of $10,000 will go to households who lost their homes in the Spokane Complex Fires.’ It’ll be called Karen Worthy Memorial Community Fund at Innovia Foundation, named after Walt’s late wife.
The fund was announced Thursday at Balboa Elementary School, where Karen Worthy taught first grade for more than 20 years. Innovia says it was “a fitting tribute to a woman whose legacy in Spokane reached far beyond her professional accomplishments.”
Innovia, Greenstone Corporation, and the Spokane Region Long Term Recovery Group (SRLTRG) will help disburse the funds.
We’re told Innovia will host and administer the fund and ensure charitable and fiscal compliance. Greenstone will develop the fund’s website and online resources. And the SRLTRG will manage the application process and distribute the funds.
“We’re trying to get this done as soon as we can, because people need this,” Worthy said. “We look forward to getting these checks in the mail.”
The $10,000 grants are available to eligible households whose primary residence was destroyed or rendered a total loss by the Old Trails, Autumn Lane, or Fairview Fires.
Innovia wrote in a press release, “the grants are designed to move quickly and without strings attached. Funds are intended to help affected households cover urgent, immediate needs, temporary housing, replacement of everyday essentials, and other recovery costs — while insurance claims, FEMA assistance, and other aid are still being processed. Grants are intended to address the loss of a primary residence, whether owner or renter occupied.”
Additional eligibility details and the application are available at
www.karenworthywildfiregrant.com
Innovia wrote:
Walt and Karen Worthy have been prominent business and community leaders in the Spokane region for decades. They’ve made investments in hospitality and development — including the celebrated restoration of the historic Davenport Hotel — the Worthys helped preserve treasured pieces of Spokane’s history while fueling the continued growth and revitalization of downtown Spokane.Karen’s impact reached well beyond development. She lent her leadership andexperience to organizations and initiatives across the region working to make Spokane a stronger place to live, work, and visit. For more than 20 years, she taught first grade at Balboa Elementary School. Before Indian Trail Elementary School was built, many of her students lived in the Indian Trail area — a community now among those devastated by the wildfires.
“Spokane gave us so much — more, I think, than we can ever give back,” said Walt Worthy. “We built close friendships and business relationships here, and so many people helped us make these projects happen — people we’re still close with today. Karen was a big part of all of it. I’m proud and pleased that we have the opportunity to step up and do this. If she were here to see this, I know she’d be proud and pleased, too.”
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