(Photo courtesy of Silver Rail Children’s Fund)
One month after October 15, Silver Rail Elementary families are feeling a second wave.
Some parents have not worked in a month. They stayed home with children who could not leave their side. Some children still are not ready to walk back into school, so their parents still cannot go back to work. Most families who applied for Paid Leave Oregon have not been paid yet. The paychecks they were counting on are not coming.
The requests reaching the Silver Rail Children’s Fund have changed. In the first weeks, parents asked for counseling and a chance for their kids to see their classmates. Now they ask for groceries. For help with the power bill. For gas, because some families have stopped going to therapy and to events with their children’s friends when they cannot afford to fill the tank. One mother has already been evicted.
“These are working families who have never asked for help in their lives,” said Nicole Ybarrondo, a Silver Rail mother of two and president of the fund. “We don’t want to be on welfare or food stamps. We just need a hand up during the hardest month of our lives. Families kept hitting walls. Forms, waitlists, proving it again and again. It felt demeaning. So we made it simple. Sign up, show up.”
“We aren’t asking for much,” Ybarrondo said. “Just some support for the next 90 days, almost like disaster relief, so these families can get back on their feet.”
90 days of emergency victim services, with a low barrier
For the next 90 days the fund is providing emergency help with no paperwork to wade through and no welfare office to sit in. A family needs only to be registered with the fund and show Oregon Crime Victims’ Compensation approval, or be verified another way, such as by one of the fund’s parent volunteers. From there:
- Groceries, gas and utility bills, paid directly to the store, the station or the utility
- Help with urgent moves, house cleaning and handyman tasks
- Thanksgiving and holiday help
- Help with Crime Victims’ Compensation, Paid Leave Oregon and FMLA paperwork, in English and Spanish
- Small group counseling for children and parents, including Spanish-speaking, dads, special education and neurodivergent parent groups
- Tutoring with Tutoring Club of Bend and Mathnasium of Bend, so kids can catch up after a month out of school
- Therapeutic play and time with classmates, with Deschutes County Health Services counselors at every event
Who the fund is for
Silver Rail Elementary students who were enrolled or present on October 15, the children of Silver Rail staff and teachers, the siblings of those killed or affected, and Silver Rail teachers and staff, whether or not they return to the building.
By the numbers
- More than 140 Silver Rail children and siblings registered with the fund
- More than 200 families served each week
- More than 80 Silver Rail kids made flowers for their teachers before school reopened
- More than 70 families signed up for tonight’s gas and dinner
- 27 parent volunteers. No one is paid.
What we started as, and what we had to become
Silver Rail parents started the fund in the days after October 15 to give every child who was in the building a chance to heal and feel like a kid again, through play, time with classmates and trauma-informed care. That is still the heart of it. But as the weeks went on and paychecks stopped, parents saw that their kids could not heal in a home that was falling behind on rent and groceries. So the fund grew to meet families where they are, with direct help for the whole family.
How to help
Fill a Silver Rail family’s tank: https://givebutter.com/fill-their-tanks-feed-their-families-5esvgi
Give to the Silver Rail Kids Fun Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/silver-rail-kids-fun-fund-nve6k
100% goes to Silver Rail families.
About the Silver Rail Children’s Fund
The Silver Rail Children’s Fund is a parent-run Oregon nonprofit started by Silver Rail Elementary parents after October 15, 2026. VictimsFirst serves as its 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. The fund provides long-term, child-centered support, trauma-informed care through play, small group counseling, help applying for Oregon Crime Victims’ Compensation, tutoring, and direct emergency help for Silver Rail families, teachers and staff. It is run entirely by parent volunteers, and it pays providers directly. https://silverrailchildrensfund.org
