San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo partnered with Team San Jose to aid fire and evacuee victims who have been displaced by the Bay Area lightning complex fires with San Jose Cares reduced hotel rates, according to an Aug. 21 news release.
Team San Jose is a company that includes San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau, hotels, arts, labor and venues and promotes San Jose as a destination to stimulate economic development, according to San Jose’s official website.
Kerry Adams Hapner, San Jose director of cultural affairs and board member of Team San Jose, said the San Jose Cares hotel rates are available at 16 local hotels including AC Hotels, Marriott and Best Western Plus which are offering $89 to $99 per night as opposed to the regular price of $150 per night.
SJSU mechanical engineering sophomore Tyler Erwin said he was evacuated from Felton in Santa Cruz Countyand even though he was not aware of the San Jose Cares reduced hotel rates, he was able to get a local $100per-night hotel rate.
“I evacuated to a hotel about 10 minutes away from downtown [San Jose] . . . Element Marriott Santa Clara,” he said. After a few evacuation orders were lifted on Aug. 28, Erwin was able to go home.
John LaFortune, Team San Jose’s chief operating officer, said he quickly reached out to local hotels the morning of Aug. 21, to ask if they could accommodate reduced rates and the San Jose Care rates were introduced hours later.
“We will continue the San Jose Cares program and rates as long as our displaced residents and neighbors need them. There is no expiration date for the program,” said Laura Chmielewski, vice president of marketing and communication at Visit San Jose.
According to Monday’s updated blog post from the American Red Cross’s Northern California Coastal Region, the Northern California lightning complex fires have “burned almost 925,000 acres, destroyed or damaged more than 3,000 structures and forced the evacuation of more than 61,000 people,” as of Sunday.
Chmielewski said while less than one-third of hotels partnered with Team San Jose have reported their number of evacuee stays, 1,100 room nights have been booked with the San Jose Cares rate.
She also said Team San Jose has partnered with the Red Cross to offer additional services for residents.
The Red Cross also stated in the blog that it’s supporting “[nine] congregate (traditional) shelters, 23 non-congregate sites (in hotels or similar facilities) and [three] Temporary Evacuation Points” throughout Northern California.
According to the Silicon Valley Chapter Red Cross, it has also provided more than 18,000 meals and snacks plus 9,000 “comfort kits” containing hygiene supplies for those who lost their livelihoods during the fires.
The Red Cross stated in the blog that Red Cross teams have helped more than 4,000 people in the Silicon Valley region secure housing through San Jose hotels and received wildfire relief donations and volunteer help from Northern California residents.
“We know that hotels in other towns or cities may be raising their rates right now sadly, given the increased demand for a room,” Liccardo stated in the Aug. 21 news release. “We’re going to take the high road here.”
He said he will continue to update residents on the wildfires and any available aid.
“We’re so grateful our community comes together in times of peril and let’s face it, we’ve had to come together an awful lot in the last six months during this very very difficult time,” Liccardo said.
