SOUTH LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A very large and unexpected donation will help a humanitarian organization meet its goal of building more than 100 new homes for people who lost their residences over the past two years in Lake County’s wildland fires.
Hope City has received a $1 million donation to assist with its rebuilding mission from the new owner of Langtry Farms.
Hope City, a ministry of the faith-based Hope Crisis Response Network in partnership with a number of area churches, arrived in Lake County in 2015 to rebuild homes destroyed in the Valley fire, a mission that has since been extended to the Rocky, Jerusalem and Clayton fires, according to Hope Crisis Response Network founder and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Cox.
Cox said the Lake County project aims to rebuild between 100 and 120 new homes for community members, which will take place over five years at an estimated cost of about $7 million.
The fundraising effort still had a ways to go to meet that budget goal. That is, until Cox got a call on Friday, April 28, letting him known that the new owner of Langtry Farms wanted to make a donation.
Last year, Chinese developer Yiming Xu purchased thousands of acres in the Guenoc Valley. County records show that since August the property has been held by Guenoc Valley Inc., a company that Xu formed last year.
According to a report to the Board of Supervisors late in April by Community Development Director Bob Massarelli, Langtry Farms’ new owner plans to build a project on the property that is expected to be “a high-end, low-density development consisting of a boutique-style hotel, spas, sporting facility, town center, cultural facilities and residential development.”
On the same day as Cox got the call that Xu wanted to make a donation, Xu and the principals of his company feted dozens of community leaders at a dinner at Langtry House to introduce themselves and give a general outline of the project.
While the company’s principals declined comment about the project when contacted by Lake County News – explaining that they are still very early in the process – they nevertheless took the public step of making a deciding to make a donation to Hope City.
Cox said he was told that the Xu family was deeply affected by the impact of the wildland fires on south Lake County.
“Their heart was broken for our community and they felt compelled to help with the rebuilding of the community,” Cox said.
The family began to ask around to find out what the community needed and where they could best make a donation to help. “Apparently our name came up,” said Cox.
The company did its fact-finding and then Cox got a call from one of the firm’s architects, telling him they wanted to give a check.
The amount, however, wasn’t what Cox had expected.
He thought it might be something in the range of $50,000.
It was $1 million.
“It was absolutely unbelievable,” said Cox. “Things like that just don't happen.”
On April 29, Cox joined the Yiming Xu, his son Alex, Supervisor Rob Brown and Supervisor Moke Simon for a check presentation at Langtry Farms during a barbecue held for the community as an introduction to the project.
Alex Xu had told local leaders at the dinner the night before that the donation was meant to signify their commitment to Lake County.
The donation from the Xu family brings Hope City’s fundraising total to $2 million, which when joined to the $4.6 million that has come through the CalHome grant awarded to its building partner Hammers for Hope and a couple hundred thousand from other partner organizations, brings them to within striking distance of their monetary goal.
“We’re almost there,” said Cox.
While Cox said some people have suggested that this changes everything for Hope City, it really doesn’t.
He explained that the Hope Crisis Response Network has had very large donations before. What this really means is, that they can see Lake County’s project through to the end.
“This is a blessing of the community because now we have the money to finish the project,” Cox said.
Identifying the need and preparing to respond
Cox said Hope City identified 450 homes – of about 1,550 destroyed in all of the fires of 2015 and 2016 – that could use its assistance in rebuilding. However, so far they’ve actually had 72 building requests, with capacity for nearly 50 more based on the estimated project size.
Most of those home builds are for the Valley and Clayton fire areas. Cox said they are doing two homes for Rocky fire survivors, but so far have not received requests from those in the Jerusalem fire area.
He said a lot of families have been discouraged by the rebuilding process and decided to walk away. Others are rethinking that decision.
“We just want to be prepared to meet the needs when they arise,” he said, adding that people can still apply for a home rebuild through Hope City.
The group is now moving forward on its dormitory project at the Middletown Central Park Association property. The Lake County Planning Commission approved the plan for the 6,000-square-foot building in September, as Lake County News has reported.
When Hope City’s project is over, that building will be donated back to the association for community use.
Work on that and other Hope City projects was hampered by the very wet winter weather. “The rains finally let up,” said Cox, and the dormitory now has a roof and they’re working to get it done quickly, with volunteers needed.
Cox said they’re moving forward as rapidly as possible to complete the dorm because a lack of housing for the volunteers who form the corps of the network’s building team has resulted in the organization losing many potential volunteers from around the United States and Canada.
Those volunteers are vital to the plans to build as many as 27 homes per year, Cox said.
He said the Middletown Lions Club and Middletown High School have been gracious in offering space to house volunteers when possible. However, Cox said it’s nowhere near the room needed to house all of the volunteers.
Besides those issues for out-of-area volunteers, some volunteer contractors from the county and the region had to forgo being involved due to the need to get back to work after the extended rainy season, Cox said.
Optimally, they try to have between 25 and 35 volunteers per week. Cox said they will need between 40 and 50 volunteers a week to meet their building goals. Once the housing is in place, Cox believes they can meet those numbers.
Once they have all of their volunteers in place, they will divide into three different building units and work on five homes at a time, he said.
“We’ve never done it before but we’re going to do everything we can to make it happen,” he said.
So far, they have completed six homes and currently have four under way, according to Cox.
The Lake County rebuild is unique in that it contains the largest number of homes to be built in a single project that the Hope Crisis Response Network has done since its 1999 founding. Cox said the most the Hope Crisis Response Network has built in its previous projects is 40.
The organization also does a lot of remodeling after disasters. In response to Hurricane Katrina, Cox said they did more than 1,400 remodel and repair projects.
Cox said Hope City has done far more work early on with cleanup and minor repairs, and is now really focused on the home builds themselves.
“This is the slowest that it’s ever taken us to build,” he said.
Originally they had challenges working with the county’s building department, but since then the county has turned into a “phenomenal partner,” said Cox, with all of their housing blueprints approved.
There currently is an AmeriCorps team of 10 unskilled workers and a team of nine from California Human Development, Cox said.
The teams are working six days a week, with Cox going to speak to local churches on Sundays, he said.
“We stay busy pretty much around the clock,” he said.
They will be pouring 10 more foundations during the summer time, which will allow them to keep building through the winter, Cox said.
He said they are really excited to be able to begin in June to rebuild in the Clayton fire area, where they’ve identified homes they can help rebuild. Hope City case managers are putting the finishing touches on the paperwork for those projects now.
‘Wild Bunch’ at work on the mountain
For the past year, every Saturday – like clockwork, Cox said – a group of Seventh-day Adventist Church members and building volunteers from Angwin make the 45-minute drive to Lake County to work on Hope City projects.
On Saturday, members of “the Wild Bunch,” as Cox calls them, were working on a home on Starview Loop on Cobb Mountain.
The Wild Bunch includes Ken Cox (no relation to Kevin Cox); contractor Jim Clifton; Ron Priest, whose company Priest Construction is working on a clinic remodel in Clearlake and on the historic Francis House in Calistoga; contractor Keith Cordis; and Gloria Kim, who team members called “fearless” for her ability to do any of the building tasks, including driving equipment.
“It’s a good group,” said Kim.
Saturday’s project is the ongoing build for the home of Mike Duval, whose previous home – which originally sat a short distance away – was burned in the Valley fire.
Duval said the property has been in his family for 40 years. He was able to move the location of his home when an elderly next door neighbor sold Duval his lot, not intending to rebuild but instead to move out of county.
For nearly two years, Duval and his family of four, plus two dogs, have been living on the property in a fifth-wheel trailer.
He said he’s been volunteering on other home building projects while he’s waited for his own to get started.
Duval said it seems like those who are rebuilding are younger and more able to deal with the delays and challenges, noting the rebuilding process has been a frustrating one.
Before moving to Duval’s home build, Ken Cox said the group had been working on the Hope City dormitory project.
He said they’ve had to deal with variable weather this season. Last weekend they were pouring 35 yards of concrete for Duval’s foundation in 90-degree weather.
On Saturday, it was breezy and cool, and they were removing the forms off the concrete foundation and taking off the metal snap ties.
Cordis estimated Duval’s home will take about four months to complete. He said another nearby home has been under construction since October.
Projects using volunteer labor take longer to complete, Cordis said. “We need experienced people.”
Duval’s foundation is 40 feet by 28 feet. It will be a one-story 1,120-square-foot home, but they said the decision was made to build the house 30 inches taller so Duval can eventually build a finished basement underneath the main floor.
Clifton said networking has help them bring in volunteers and donations. His connections with Wells Fargo led to donations of money that helped pay for a skid loader used at the Duval building site.
Ken Cox said they’ve gotten generous help from many people in the trades, such as Dennis Grove of Hidden Valley Lake, who owns a concrete pumping business and turned down paying jobs to work on Hope City projects.
All of the Wild Bunch’s members work full-time during the week but make time to come and volunteer on the weekends, Ken Cox said.
“It’s what we do” said Cordis.
Additionally, Priest said he’s now in remission after fighting cancer for the second time, just recently completing a round of treatments.
After a long week of work and his health challenges, Priest was feeling a little tired on Saturday afternoon, but after a short rest would get up and get back to work. His determination has earned him the admiration of his fellow volunteers.
While Saturday is the sabbath for members of the Seventh-day Church, and the day when they usually attend services, the Wild Bunch believes they can serve a better purpose working on the home builds.
“We go to service church rather than church service,” said Cordis.
Clifton, a deeply spiritual man who had dedicated himself to reflecting on God’s love, said his personal philosophy is that a person should do everything they can during their life to help others.
“What service you don’t do here, you’ll never do,” he said.
Besides, he added with a smile, “I can’t stay awake in church.”
How to volunteer; how to apply for assistance
Hope City is in need of skilled volunteers – particularly those with experience in carpentry, Kevin Cox said.
“It’s more than just a willing heart, you’ve just go to have a little bit of know how,” he said.
Those wanting to join the volunteer team can visit http://hcrn.info/network/ and sign up.
Cox said they also continue to welcome applications from people who lost homes in the fires.
Hope City now has its offices set up in the former sheriff’s substation, at the corner of Calistoga and Callayomi in Middletown.
To apply for assistance, stop in at the Hope City offices, visit http://hcrn.info/request_assistance/ to fill out a form online, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 877-936-HOPE to speak with a case manager.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.