By Jondi Gumz
Reeve and Jessalyn Lively have been praying — a lot.
They came to the area in February, renting an apartment in the redwood forest on Empire Grade in Bonny Doon, when Reeve, who is 26, became youth pastor at ReGeneration Church in Scotts Valley. Jessalyn, 22, works at Baymonte’s Early Childhood Learning Center in Scotts Valley.
Food has been donated for evacuees. On Saturday, Operation BBQ, offered to provide lunch and dinner for evacuees “for the foreseeable future,” Pastor Matt Valencia said. • Photo Credit: Reeve Lively
They felt prepared for power outages because they have a generator, but they didn’t expect a historic 84,860-acre fast-moving fire would mean evacuation for them and 77,000 people in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties.
The night Boulder Creek was evacuated, the fire was five miles from their home. By 5:30 a.m. the next morning, the fire was less than a mile away.
Firefighters knocked on their door, saying, “You have to leave right away.”
The young couple, with their English black lab Piper, are among 75 people who found refuge at ReGeneration Church, which leases the Green Hills Event Center, 1500 Green Hills Rd., in Scotts Valley.
Landlord Bob Slawinski has been accommodating, supplying eye drops, cases of water and dog food, as evacuees parked their cars and RVs and temporarily moved in.
Families came with their pets, eight dogs, plus cats, a chameleon and a fish.
The community donated tents, blankets, sleeping bags, meals and gift cards.
As of Saturday, Operation BBQ is providing lunch and dinner for evacuees for the foreseeable future.
Reeve and Jessalyn Lively thank firefighters for saving theirhome in Bonny Doon. He’s youth pastor at ReGeneration Church in Scotts Valley. She teaches at Baymonte Early Childhood Learning Center in Scotts Valley.
What helped all this come together like clockwork was a group of 12 pastors. They had been meeting virtually due to COVID-19: Pastors from Santa Cruz Bible, Twin Lakes, Hope Community, Santa Cruz Baptist, Vintage Faith, Covenant Community, Transform the Bay with Christ, ReGeneration, and from over the hill. City Councilman Derek Timm joined them in a daily conference call.
San Jose churches sent 54 trucks filled with supplied. Half went to the county, and the rest to the congregations.
When they heard of a need, they would meet it, Reeve Lively said.
Mount Hermon Conference Center, closed this summer due to COVID-19, provided cleaning supplies, air mattresses and toilet paper.
Evacuees pitched in. Kids helped clean up and unpack cars of new arrivals.
“Even people who lost homes wanted to help,” said ReGeneration Pastor Matt Valencia.
Young and old got to know each other better, playing card games.
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Initially the fire was moved so fast that Scotts Valley west of Highway 17 was evacuated. Jessalyn retrieved all her lesson plans and returned to ReGeneration Church, which fortuitously is on the east side.
After Cal Fire created a fire break protecting UC Santa Cruz and the city of Santa Cruz, the Scotts Valley evacuation order was lifted and Pastor Brandon Johnson at Convergence Church in Capitola organized a community thank you.
Children and adults from Convergence, Vintage Faith and ReGeneration made nearly 200 colorful posters thanking first responders, firefighters and law enforcement for protecting the community.
They put up the posters on Mount Hermon Road, the gateway into the city, and the intersection with Scotts Valley Drive and a big balloon arch at the fire station on Erba Lane.
Reeve Lively went to put up posters at the Four Points Sheraton, where some firefighters were staying.
He struck up a conversation with one, and learned this firefighter, a volunteer from Capitola with the name of Forest, had been assigned to Empire Grade Bonny Doon, where he had seen the homes in their neighborhood with flames 150 feet away.
“The first night, he thought everything would burn,” Reeve said.
Reeve showed him a photo on his cell phone showing the home was still standing.
“God spared our home,” Reeve said. “We had people praying all over California. It’s definitely a miracle.”
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Not all homes survived the fire. Several of his neighbors’ homes are no more.
Pastor Valencia — he prefers Pastor Matt — has been in touch with pastors in Santa Rosa, where a fire destroyed the entire neighborhood of Coffey Park three years ago and some people are just getting into a rebuilt home.
Reeve heard it took a year-and-a-half to break ground.
People who have lost a home are in a difficult situation, but the hardest times may be ahead, waiting to rebuild.
A recovery center is open at the Kaiser Permanente Arena, 140 Front St., Santa Cruz, staffed by agencies to help start that process.