November 10 Update on Olympia Place Fire Response and Campus Support

On November 10, Chancellor Javier Reyes sent the following message.

To the UMass Community,

I want to recognize the tremendous outpouring of support from our community for the 230 students affected by the fire at Olympia Place this weekend. This event has had, and will continue to have, a deep impact on those who lost their homes and belongings. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the thousands of students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members who have come together to offer care, resources and encouragement as those affected begin the road to recovery.

On Saturday, when I spent time with Olympia Place residents and their families at the Emergency Resource Center, it was clear just how profound the financial, academic, and emotional toll of this fire has been. But I was heartened by the sense of urgency and care that was evident in both the Emergency Resource Center and among the members of the Emergency Operations Center working next door to support our students during this crisis.

Since early Saturday morning, our teams have concentrated on assessing students' immediate needs and helping them access housing, food, and medicine. Nearly two dozen students shared that they did not have available housing; they were all offered on-campus accommodations. Our Off-Campus Housing Office is ensuring all students are connected to properties with immediate availability.

We are now turning our focus to the next phase of recovery.

Next Steps for Olympia Place Residents

Each impacted student has received daily communication from the Dean of Students Office with updates and information, including through scheduled one-on-one meetings with university staff to assess and respond to immediate, short-term, and long-term needs. If you are an Olympia Place resident who has not yet scheduled a meeting, please know that we are working as quickly as possible to connect with everyone. If you are an Olympia Place resident, know that you will not be alone in your recovery-our entire campus community stands with you.

Five coordination groups-Basic Needs, Academic Support, Student Support & Wellbeing, Donations, and Communications-have been established under the umbrella of the Emergency Resource Center (ERC). To ensure the ERC's effectiveness, we ask that all schools, colleges, and departments direct their support efforts through this central resource.

In addition to addressing essential needs such as food, housing, transportation and healthcare, the ERC teams are also helping students obtain temporary laptops and phones along with replacement course materials, legal documents and other critical items potentially lost in the fire. Olympia Place residents have priority access to counseling and support services at CCPH; more information can be found here.

The on-campus Emergency Resource Center will re-open Wednesday and Thursday of this week to distribute materials and continue connecting students through a central location to on- and off-campus resources. We are inviting property owners with available units to the resource center to meet with students. Representatives from the Red Cross and Salvation Army will be available at the center. Members of the ERC coordination groups and campus resource providers will also be on site to provide immediate assistance.

The location and hours of the resource center will be shared with Olympia Place residents, and the center will only be open for those students.

How You Can Help

We have been deeply moved by how quickly our community has stepped up to support our students in need. We are reaching out to student organizations and individuals who have organized clothing and essentials drives across campus. University employees will collect these donations and bring them to New2U, our student thrift store, for processing and distribution.

Effective immediately, donations of material goods-including clothing, kitchenware, and school supplies-can be brought to New2U, located in the Southwest Concourse on the second floor of Hampden, across the main lobby from the Hampden Art Gallery. Volunteers are needed to help sort donations and staff the store.

Food donations, which can be madeup until November 18 at 10 campuswide locations, will be delivered to the campus food pantry.

Our Student Care Supply Closetis also accepting donations through their website.

If you would like to make a financial contribution, please consider giving to the Student Care & Emergency Response Fund (SCERF), which supports students facing critical needs like this. The university has temporarily suspended the normal grant process to expedite assistance for Olympia Place residents. All funds raised will go directly to students in need. Since Friday evening, more than 1,600 gifts have been made to SCERF, totaling nearly $154,000.The Dean of Students Office is temporarily pausing the standard SCERF microgrant process to develop a streamlined procedure that assesses each student's financial need and distributes grants on a case-by-case basis. We will share information directly with impacted students.

We are profoundly grateful to our donors-your generosity is felt deeply as we help our students recover and rebuild.

As recovery efforts continue, we will keep the community updated through our Olympia fire response website, which will serve as the central source of information on ongoing support and progress.

Thank you for your compassion, generosity and care for one another during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Javier Reyes
Chancellor