Introducing the Wood River Community Fund
When it comes to the Wood River Valley, one thing is certain: community means everything. In a town as tightly-knit as ours, it’s important to find ways to not only work together, but also support local individuals and businesses who might need a helping hand. In some cases, it’s as simple as choosing to shop small—in others, it’s about overcoming personal hardships, sudden difficulties, and unexpected emergencies.
Today, we are excited to announce the Wood River Community Fund (WRCF), an initiative to help support our neighbors, friends, families, and all of those who are lucky enough to call this valley “home.”
With the Wood River Community Funds’s first nomination cycle starting June 2021, we will be awarding our first round of local recipients later this summer.
Why we created the Wood River Community Fund
Founded in the spring of 2021, the WRCF was born out of incredible financial difficulties felt all across our small mountain town. And with less than 25,000 full-time residents across all of Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, and Bellevue combined, we saw an opportunity to connect individuals and businesses with the resources they need most, each nominated by others in the community.
To help support our mission, we are partnering with a select group of organizations, nonprofits, and other businesses across the Wood River Valley. From offering additional financial support to other resources and aid, these companies will play an important role in expanding our local reach and impact. If you’re interested in learning more or would like to find a way to get involved, please contact our team directly.
What kind of expenses or needs are eligible for financial support
From personal and professional rent assistance to covering new appliances, vet bills, groceries, gas, daycare, insurance, medical bills, and more, we want to do our part to help our small mountain community grow and thrive.
With increased demand and limited housing supply, finding a place to live and work in our community has created a stressful and sometimes impossible environment for tenants across the Valley. As our community continues to face a challenging housing market, we have decided to dedicate our first round of support to local individuals, families, or businesses seeking rental assistance. For this series, multiple nominees or applicants will be chosen to receive one month of support to cover their residential or commercial lease.
If you have questions about eligibility or are interested in applying or nominating someone for a need that is unrelated to rental assistance, please get in touch.
How to apply or nominate someone you know
The Wood River Community Fund is open for both applications and nominations through the Stephanie Reed Real Estate website. Following this first pool of nominations, we will then award additional aid and financial resources every three months.
To apply or nominate an individual or business, please visit our Wood River Community Fund page.